Where the Axe is Buried: Thoughtful SF spy thriller

Where the Axe is Buried by Ray Nayler

Ray Nayler’s 2025 SF geopolitical spy-thriller novel, Where the Axe is Buried, explores totalitarian regimes and the role of AI in a dystopian near-future. The story moves among many characters; Lilia, a scientist; Palmer, her London boyfriend; Zoya, a famed activist in the repressive Federation, now living in exile; Nurlan, a government functionary who is deeply in love; Nikolai, the Federation president’s personal physician, and Krotov, the president’s head of security.

The Federation is ruled by one man, who regularly transfers his consciousness into new bodies, and the regime is chillingly repressive. It manages the populace, basically, by controlling each person’s social media popularity, which, in turn, controls where they can go. When we meet Lilia, she has had her social influence reduced by 30 points, and the physical places she can go are accordingly reduced. She is basically under house arrest.

Other nations in Europe do not face the problem of a human dictator. They have chosen to implement AI Prime Ministers. After centuries of struggling with issues of resource allocations, migration, and individual freedom versus greater good, human politicians have decided to give AI a chance—maybe forgetting that AIs were ultimately programmed by humans. The benefit of AI, they’re told, is that it isn’t human and so can “think outside the box,” making decisions no human would think to make. Nurlan, when we meet him, is dealing with the consequences of AI thinking. He is trapped in a building along with members of the governing body, while outside demonstrators protest the AI PM’s increase in energy costs. First it doubled the costs, and now it’s announcing a plan to double them again. It almost seems like the AI has lost its mind, or is purposely pushing people into social unrest. Nurlan, meanwhile, embarks on a frightening mission, led via text by his new girlfriend Hazal. As he follows her texted breadcrumbs, the protest becomes a riot. Nurlan believes he is striking a blow for human freedom.

Nanites reach out to Lilia and help her escape her father’s apartment. In London, Elmira, agent and assassin, visits Lilia’s boyfriend Palmer. When Lilia made the risky choice to return to the Federation to visit her sick father, she entrusted Palmer with her final invention. Many groups want it, and Elmira works for one of them. Meanwhile, deep in the Siberian taiga, Zoya also has a visitor, who makes a novel proposal.

Ray Nayler

Lilia, Nikolai, Palmer and Zoya are part of a daring and dangerous mission that, if successful, will change the direction of the Federation. It’s also unlikely to succeed. Nurlan’s story is connected to theirs, even though he has no idea how. Before the book ends, we will watch the Zoya scheme unfold. Nurlan’s clandestine actions, which are not what he thinks they are, will cost him Hazal and lead to a devastating change in the PMs. It will also explode Nurlan’s personal life.

Nayler spends much of the book demonstrating the mechanics of oppression, directly through Zoya’s flashbacks, and less directly via Nikolai’s forced conversations with both the President and with Krotov. Life in less restrictive nations, like the United Kingdom, is not much better, although there are more freedoms, as Palmer shows us in his sections.

I enjoyed following the intricate plot, trying to figure out how the pieces fit together. It’s like a first-rate spy thriller, and the SF bits, such as the mecha-style “walkers” and Elmira’s nanite wasp device, added to the excitement. The story was gripping; the theme is thought-provoking (and depressing to read in the United States of America at this moment, I might add.)  Generally, the characters here were not as interesting or rounded as Nayler’s characters in The Mountain in the Sea. The difference between a book I loved and a book I enjoyed is the difference between The Mountain in the Sea and this one.

Nayler holds an MA in Global Diplomacy and worked in many eastern European countries, and his familiarity shows here. If you’re looking for a spy thriller vibe, and some good insights into the nature of dictatorship, with great SF details, check out Where the Axe is Buried.