'searingly brilliant . . . [ísberg] like george orwell and anthony burgess before her, lets the dystopian ironies speak for themselves.'tls 'absolutely stunning.' hernan diaz 'a masterpiece.' kaveh akbar a debut novel of urgent big ideas imbued with pacy plotting and atmospheric power, by an exciting new talent. the icelandic psychological association has prepared a test. they call it a sensitivity assessment: a way of measuring a person's empathy and identifying the potential for anti-social behaviour. in a few days' time, iceland will vote on whether to make the test compulsory for every citizen. the nation is bitterly divided. some believe the test makes society safer; others decry it as a violation. as the referendum draws closer, four people - vetur, eyja, tristan and ólafur - find themselves caught in the teeth of the debate. each of them will have to reckon with uncomfortable questions: where do the rights of society end and the rights of the individual begin? when does utopia become dystopia? no matter which side wins, they will all have to find a way to live with the result.