Detonation speaks to our fears about a world destroyed by human pride and ignorance. There is a lot to this tale. A great part of the premise is that superintelligent machines would possibly override humans to obtain their flawed objectives. This is indeed plausible. I won't spoil the story by telling you if that is the case or how it plays out. 

The characters are well fleshed out. You learn about them slowly as their past failings and strengths are added to the backstory. There are several factions, so be patient, or take notes, but trust that it will all come together into quite the story. Surprises and plot twists abound as you make the connections and see into what is "really" happening.

I liked the fantastic elements. They show Otto's creative mind in taking all of these realistic possiblities and then adding these elements you'd never imagine like the retchers and the statues. I also liked finding out why the bike towers existed. I won't elaborate, but you'll see.

The story timeline is fluid, moving back and forth to fill in the backstory and then updating current happenings. It starts toward the end of the beginning of the tale and seems like a modern war story involving an operative who is trying to keep the world from ending. That's not my kind of book, but I read on and the story was actually one of friendship, betrayal, the dangers of modern technology, and how different ideologies affect followers. I'm definitely glad I kept reading.

I would recommend this book to many different types of readers. There is some sex and of course violence, so I would say keep this one for young adults or adults. If you don't have much time to read, take character notes to avoid having to flip back to see which kid is which. It's not that daunting, but it could save you precious reading time. But definitely read this if it seems like it might appeal to you at all. I was so pleasantly surprised. (I received this book in a goodreads giveaway.)

“A highly entertaining and absorbing combination of philosophy and action featuring robustly individualized characters.” 
“…a future world that vibrates with conflict and ideas.”
“...Otto’s reflections on hubris and warnings about artificial intelligence have a chilling plausibility.”