Anne E Currie's "Panopticon" series, books 1 and 2 reviewed

The books are set in the relatively near future - 2025 onwards - and revolve around three key events:

the creation of the Panopticon, the all-seeing surveillance state, which some love and some hate. Crime is almost - but not entirely - wiped out.
the "Hot Summer" of 2036. The author describes this as "The Hot Summer: fires, floods, ice storms, and tornados engulf the globe. Over one billion are killed. Mass exoduses occur from many land masses and areas. The refugee population surges." More here.

I bought book 1 following an earlier tweet from Neil. There are not many people in the world whose opinion I would trust on most things, but Neil is one of them.