Condition: Excellent
First published: 2023
Pages: 432
ISBN 10: 0008309140
ISBN 13: 9780008309145
ABOUT THE BOOK:
"The new novel from the Womens Prize-winning, bestselling author of The Power, The Future is a white-knuckle tour de force and dazzling exploration of the world we have made and where we are going.
The Future is where the money is. The Future is a few billionaires leading the world to destruction. The Future is a handful of friends hatching a daring plan.
The Future is the greatest heist ever? Or the cataclysmic end of civilisation
The Future is here."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Naomi Alderman is an English novelist, game writer, and television executive producer. She is best known for her speculative science fiction novel The Power, which won the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2017 and has been adapted into a television series for Amazon Studios.
REVIEWS:
The New York Times:
"Aldermans Sodom is our own polarized, plutocratic world. Some names have been changed instead of Bezos or Musk, we have Lenk Sketlish, Zimri Nommik and Ellen Bywater as our unsavory tech tyrants but the pressure points are the same: A.I., algorithms, deadly pandemics and the existential threat of climate change, all bound up with the rise of an increasingly unaccountable billionaire class. Whether by divine will or not, The Future finds the earth barreling toward fiery destruction.
The stage is therefore set for a reckoning not unlike the one in Aldermans previous novel The Power, which charts the worldwide paradigm shift that occurs when women gain the ability to shoot electricity out of their hands and begin to rebel against abusers and dictators alike. Alderman, who began writing The Future the Covid-19 pandemic and more than four years before the emergence of ChatGPT, evidently has a knack for anticipating the zeitgeist. The white-hot, giddy fervor felt by the women of The Power, published in the United States in the same month as the first Harvey Weinstein allegations, seemed to encapsulate the anguish and hope of the then nascent #MeToo era.
But no such fever pitch is reached in Aldermans new novel, whose outlook is decidedly more reformist than revolutionary. Instead of a bottom-up social movement led by young women, change in The Future comes from the top down, engineered entirely by a small group of do-gooders close to the tech giants family members, a personal assistant, a disgruntled ex-C.E.O. who secretly leverage their positions to sabotage their malignant overlords" The Guardian: "An AI program predicts the end of the world in this wobbly rollercoaster ride from the author of The Power.
After a trio of small-scale novels Alderman hit the big time with her fourth, 2017s The Power: a global bestseller, winner of the Womens prize for fiction, chosen as book of the year by Barack Obama and Bill Gates. The novels premise is that one day teenage girls develop the ability to make electricity inside themselves, and can project this power outward to hurt or kill. It traces the various ways this changes things: a world in which men rather than women must live in constant fear for their physical safety. Written as a blockbuster thriller, full of incident and variety, it rattles along very readably.
The novel opens, boldly enough, with the end of the world. Three tech trillionaires are fleeing the disaster, jetting off to their lavishly supplied survival bunker. They are the improbably named Lenk Sketlish, CEO of a hybrid of Facebook and X/Twitter called Fantail; Zimri Nommick, CEO of Anvil that is, Amazon; and Ellen Bywater, CEO of Medlar, the worlds most profitable personal computing company
Lai Zhen, a tech journalist and online influencer, meets Martha Einkorn, Lenk Sketlishs right-hand woman. The two become lovers. Zhen is investigating what the tech bosses are up to, and comes close enough to the truth for an assassin to be sent to kill her. Martha, we learn, was raised by a doomsday cult in Oregon. Her father, Enoch, the cult leader, preached the coming end times, when the urban world would fall like Sodom. He divides the world into foxes and rabbits, and urges humankind to rediscover its wholeness. Martha escaped the Enochites as a teenager, eventually rising to the eminent commercial position in which we find her at the start of the novel, but when she was a child Enoch taught her a raft of survival skills which will, the reader does not doubt, come in handy as the story develops."
duffRUNStough:
The Future by Naomi Alderman is an absolute gem, and I cant help but gush about its brilliance. This book is nothing short of phenomenal. Alderman, the genius behind The Power, brings her A-game once again, crafting a story set in a world where three tech CEOs reminiscent of real-life figures like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos are gearing up for the end of the world. The narrative unfolds with a fast-paced, non-linear, suspenseful rhythm, employing short chapters and a version of Reddit that adds twists upon twists, keeping readers on the edge of their seats. But hold up, its not your typical doomsday scenario where the rich ruin everything Alderman throws in a curveball that challenges the usual survival narrative.
The emotional rollercoaster that unfolds artfully employs the story of Lot from Genesis and echoes of Lord of the Flies to underscore the significance of solidarity in the face of an unpredictable future and the importance of sticking together when the going gets tough. Aldermans narrative prowess shines through as she paints a vivid picture of characters grappling with pollution, climate crisis, and corporate greed. And let me tell you, Alderman doesnt miss a beat with her trademark realistic fantasy.
The complexity of the plot is a testament to Aldermans storytelling finesse. Its a page-turner, alright, with unexpected twists and a satisfying, thought-provoking ending. The way Alderman seamlessly weaves in real-world issues, like the power dynamics of tech billionaires and the looming threat of AI, adds a layer of relevance that hits close to home. The fragility of societal structures and the consequences of unchecked power are explored with finesse, making you reflect on our present and the choices that could shape our future.
I couldnt help but draw parallels with Aldermans previous masterpiece, The Power. The immersive world-building without losing focus on the main narrative is a stroke of genius. This sophomore novel of hers is a captivating journey that solidifies Aldermans position as a literary force to be reckoned with. If youre into intelligent thrillers and speculative fiction, The Future is a must-read trust me, its a game-changer.
