Lexicon (Max Barry)

This story reminds me a little of Flame Alphabet by Ben Marcus, in its premise that words can have profound, devastating effects on people's minds. I enjoyed this one more, though, because it wasn't as relentlessly dark and hopeless. It tells of two people, a street-wise runaway girl and a stoic Australian EMT, caught up in an international conspiracy of people who learn to use the power of words to control society. Some of the characters' transformations seem a little weakly justified, and some of their antagonists seem a little mustache-twirlingly evil, but overall I found the story more than just entertaining. It explores some of the challenges of being a good person in trying circumstances, and the difficulty of knowing just what a good choice might be. I quite liked it.