REISSUES
Pick of the paperbacks: THE THIS (★★★★★, 10 November, Gollancz) by Adam Roberts. In the near-future, a social media app allows people to post just by thinking, via an implant. Further in the future, the dimwitted Adan just wants to play games and have sex with his smart-companion, but has to enlist in the US army to fight sentient robots. We said: “At first, with its disparate threads, it’s a little frustrating. But the connections do start to emerge, and the novel goes from very interesting to extremely interesting… Could change the way you think.” Rachelle Atalla’sPick of the paperbacks: