What an interesting way to tell a story! The Future Is Yours is told through emails, letters, congressional hearings, and texts. The premise, two college friends invent a machine that can see one year into the future. Imagine the possibilities: knowing the winning lottery numbers, picking stock market winners, being prepared for a pandemic....the list is endless. Of course, who decides who has access to this wondrous machine? The wealthy or academics or the government or any number of choices.
If you think about it, in the wrong hands it could have catastrophic ramifications. Even those without nefarious intent have issues with the havoc this could bring to people's lives. What if you saw your own death, could you somehow change the future, and if not, what would be the point of living. So many questions and not nearly enough answers.
You know what that means, it is time for government involvement, and this is how we will learn all about this invention. What could go wrong?
This was a quick read based on quite a thought-provoking premise. It seems like a given that most people would want to be able to see the future, but there are many things that I never even considered. Not my usual genre, but a very entertaining read.

Amazing story. Well developed characters that are in a twisted engrossing thriller. Highly recommended. Super suspense that comes to a satisfying end! Highly recommended . A true roller coaster thrill ride

I didn’t need to read the complete description before I requested this book. Creating a computer that connects to the internet one year in the future? Then marketing it to the public? My mind was spinning with ideas before I even read the first page.

The way this story is told – through emails, texts, transcripts, and blog posts – may put off some readers, but I’ve read other books with similar formats and it’s a style I enjoy. I think it works particularly well with this novel. You may have to read between the lines in a couple of places, but it’s not difficult to figure out. The characters’ distinct personalities come through loud and clear.

Ben and Adhi seem like a perfect team – Ben with his business expertise and Adhi with his genius brain. I enjoyed seeing how they got this business off the ground, but I enjoyed reading about the science behind it even more. Yes, disbelief must be suspended, but this science nerd was doing a happy dance. Imagine having a console in your home that allows you to see one year into the future. You’ll know who wins the Super Bowl, find out which companies to invest in, see the state of the world. You may also discover obituaries of loved ones or even yourself or come across pictures of your spouse/significant other with someone else. What can go wrong with this concept? Think about it. Then consider how free will may or may not be connected to what you learn.

At its base level, this story is also about friendship – the good, the bad, and the ugly – and the lengths people will go to hang onto it. The ending is everything and left my head spinning. It’s perfect.

The Future Is Yours is easily one of the best sci-fi books I’ve read this year. You’ll be thinking about it long after finishing the last page.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

3.5 stars, rounding up because I’m feeling charitable, and while the book shouldn't wain any awards, it is mostly what it purports to be: fun, mass-market sci-fi that explores what might happen if were possible to see up to a year into the future but not be able to change anything. Clever construction alternating among a few time frames and told through text-messages, e-mails, news stories, and congressional hearing testimony.

Characters are mostly straightforward, thin figures, but their interplay is fun enough to watch, and I particularly enjoyed watching the author shift among the various types of documents that told this story (at times reminding me of American War. A bit too much tell, not show, especially at the end (details omitted to avoid spoilers).

One other super minor gripe but that took me out of the world: a bit character is a Senator Greg Walden, who is a Democrat representing Oregon. But in reality, there’s a (soon-retiring) Representative. Greg Walden, who is from Oregon also but a Republican. Imagine the name stuck in the author’s subconscious and he didn’t realize he inadvertently included a real figure with some weird details off, but given all the other congressional figures had fake names, this annoyed me more than it probably should have should.

Thanks, NetGalley for the free ARC. Nothing earth-shattering, but a largely enjoyable way to pass a morning.

A modern day cautionary tale meant to be gobbled up in a few chunks. Best college friends Adhi Chaudry and Ben Boyce have created a prototype device that can connect to the internet a year in the future. Adhi is a virtual genius in Computing science and has developed the technology through quantum computing and quantum entanglement, while Ben provides the entrepreneurial skills to start up the company they call The Future. Their vision is to have this technology available to everyone with an affordable desk top device. But, do they realize the possible implications to society and the future? Even with putting guidelines in place is this truly enough? Will there be individuals who use financial information to profit by speculation? Imagine how a terrorist group could use such information. Does the mere presence of such technology refute the existence of free will? Even before the consumer roll-out they find themselves as virtual billionaires and in receipt of an unwelcome buy-out offer from a national megacorporation.
Dan Frey spools out this page-turner in an usual format ... utilizing emails, texts, blogs, news articles, and even congressional transcripts. The main drawback to this approach is the diminishment of characterization of our three main protagonists ... Adhi, Ben and Leila ( college girlfriend and eventually lawyer, then wife to Ben). However, motivations of one of our protagonists are uniquely provided in a blog on Tumblr: " Musings of an anonymous sci-fi Superfan " Frey provides multiple reveals, illustrating that there are consequences to "poking the bear". Thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing an Uncorrected Proof of this innovative novel in exchange for an honest review. ( at readersremains.com)

I quite enjoyed this mind bending sci fi, near future, near apocalypse tale told primarily through emails, text messages and news clippings. The format was inventive and not in any way distracting from the story being told, plus the author's revelation at the end on the format really ties it together. This is a deep thinker that will leave you pondering our relationship to technology and future developments in that area.

Love love love the format of this book. I'm always drawn to books that are written as letters, emails, text messages, and any other format other than typical prose.

I have seen some say that they had a hard time connecting with the characters because of the format, but I had the opposite effect. I really enjoyed getting to know these characters in a different way and seeing how their relationships evolved over the course of the story.

I am always on board for a book about time travel or bending time. It makes my brain hurt in a wonderful way, trying to think through the repercussions, and this book was no exception. It gave me a Black Crouch type of feel which I love.

-I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Dan Frey, and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to review.-

This book was amazing, it is unconventionally written. It uses everything from emails, text messages, and letters all the way up to articles and congressional record.
Our story follows Adhi, Ben, and Leila from the beginning of their path (creating a machine that will connect to the internet a year in the future) through to their product's inception, all the way to having to meet with congress (Promise it's not a spoiler.)
The book is very well-written and an absolute blast to read. I had a great time and found myself laughing out loud at points and actually gasping. I honestly would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Sci-Fi that is written surrounding new technology. If you loved Ready, Player One, I think you would definitely love this. I demolished it in less than 24 hours and I hope you will too!

Special thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

I found this novel a bit difficult to get into at first (it may be the writing style, which is mostly emails, texts and written conversations). Once I got into the swing, I found an interesting plot that could have been a lot more engaging but I felt fizzled out.

The Future is a company created by two best friends. They designed a computer that can look one year into the future. Who wouldn’t want to know what’s going to happen in their lives?! But while creating the company and moving forward with their prototype; the reader is also witnessing Ben, one of the creators during a Senate hearing in the actual future. And things aren’t looking good.

Two college friends invent a computer that will predict the future. Their company, The Future, attracts much attention and investors. They find themselves to be billionaires before the computer is ever released to the public. Is it moral or even legal to offer such a machine? Told through emails, text message transcripts, and congressional hearing records, the story follows the fascinating journey of what it might mean to the world if the future could be predicted.

I tried to read this but it doesn't have my interest. I won't be reviewing it. I'm sure that those who do a lot with computers and software will love it.

This was a fast read, which I'm sure is in part due to the quick memo/text/email format. The plot was interesting, though missing something. I've been trying to put my finger on just what didn't work in this book, for me, and I think it mostly has to do with the idea that a device that connects the internet of today to the internet of a year from now doesn't seem really all that interesting. I can't really imagine anyone being all that interested in paying some huge amount for a personal connection to a single year from now. I also can't imagine the world allowing a tech like this to exist for the lay person. There are SO many potential hazards that it seems like something specifically Black Ops. Though I suppose if a code breaking machine was invented during a time when social media is as it is today, perhaps that wouldn't have been kept secret, either. I suppose it's quite a thought experiment to think about something this groundbreaking, in terms of tech ability to see into the future at all, getting commercialized.

I have to say I didn't really care for the characters much. The "bro" nature of the conversations were really annoying to me. Add in the predictability and unoriginality of best-friends-forever-turned-crush-turned-love-triangle with workplace cheating, etc, etc, and blah. Could have done without that.

So on the whole, it was an okay read and an interesting thought experiment, but missing something to really get it great. It's a bit like a Blake Crouch read, from the sci fi tech standpoint, with a whole lot of "Devs" (Amazon Prime's series about using quantum physics to create a predicting machine).

The Future Is Yours by Dan Frey is a superb read with well-defined characters and plotline. Definitely a page turner and well worth a read!

The plot premise for this book was unique and intriguing: Imagine communicating with the future through computer communication links!

Unfortunately I found the format (emails, texts, testimony) to be distracting: I often had trouble telling whose voice I was reading (an issue perhaps only with the ARC?) and I kept looping back to pick up the narrative thread.

I didn't find any empathy hook: A character or an incident that would tie me in to the reading until I could get fully engaged. Ultimately I did not finish the read.

This lack of engagement may be my fault: current life situation or lack of patience. The premise is, as I said, very intriguing. Others might find no hesitation in jumping right in. I'm not posting this review socially. I don't want to negatively influence the publication without adequate reading.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the author Dan Frey for having the opportunity to read the advance copy of this book.

This is a work of science fiction, involving the creation of technology based on quantum computing to transmit information from the future to the present.

It is an easy, fast, engaging read. The dialog brings you onto the story, and keeps you wanting to turn the page to see what is next. The characters are developed to the point where I found myself relating to them and caring about what happens to them.

I definitely recommend this book. It offers escapism for the mind and has a nice reveal at the end that I won’t spoil.

I was really intrigued by this concept and very excited to start this book. I love time travel and the concept of an exactly one year time travel machine send offer cool potential. Unfortunately, the format of the book just did not work for me. I tend to struggle with non traditional narrative styles, but was so intrigued by the concept here that I was willing to give it a try anyway. But the format of testimony, emails, notes to self and the like just left me feeling like I was missing half the story all the time... It didn't allow for much character development and left me feeling like there were gaps in the story that never got filled when I needed them to in order to stay engaged. I'm definitelynot the right audience for this one...

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book received in exchange for an honest review.

The Future is Yours centers around two friends who launch a start up to create technology that can pull news reports, emails, social media, etc. one year into the future. The book itself is written as a series of emails, text messages, and news articles. The author's use of this epistolary style makes this an extremely quick and easy read. Don't be fooled though, this book addresses all of the implications this type of technology could impose. I really liked the dichotomy between pushing forward and the concern for the implications of the technology on society and the future. Overall, there was a nice flow and progression to the climax. I had no issues connecting with the characters even though the style was limited to emails and texts. This style helped wrap up the story very nicely and I loved how it end.

The Future is Yours by Dan Frey caught my attention right away. Told in epistolary style using mixed media format, it follows two friends that have developed a unique way to look in to the future. Using quantum computing, computer genius Adhi discovers a new technology that allows a computer to see forward in to time by communicating with its future self. Mind blown yet?

When Adhi’s college roommate and best friend, Ben urges him to follow through with his college dissertation, it starts a chain of events that will lead to mass mayhem, greed and, yep, pending apocalypse. Imagine if all one had to do is search the internet to find out what happens a year in the future? The stock markets? Current crisis and elections? It’s insane to imagine! But as I said earlier, the mayhem that would ensue would be just that, insane and if it was only available to the wealthiest? Well, imagine that as well. Needless to say, my mind went all over the place while I was reading this. Obituaries? Yikes! Email yourself or a loved one? This is in fact, how the creators verified its authenticity. Sending myself an email today to be read a year prior is mind blowing to say the least. Anyway, I digress! It’s not just the science and all its implications but there’s also a very personal story at heart, here. There is a friendship, there is love, there is jealousy. I’d like to add that the ending literally blew me away! Bravo!

This is a solid read, strong in sci-fi but at its core, a suspenseful and satisfying story of friendship, love and personal ethics. Highly recommend this to any fan of the genre.

Teddy Chaudry is a tech genius on a scale so high that he doesn't fit in even with other tech geniuses. Ben Boyce is Teddy's best friend, who has rescued him periodically and helped pave the way Teddy to navigate the tech world (including helping him get a job with an industry giant). When Chaudry tells Ben that he's developed software that allows a user to access information one year in the future.

Knowing that Teddy is not one for hyperbole, Ben forms a company, begins fund-raising for the device, and convinces Teddy to quit his job at a tech giant to focus on what Teddy is calling a Time Machine. And as with any tech, Teddy begins work on the next upgrade before they are even live with the one-year-in-the-future tech. Peeking two years in the future seems possible, and Teddy even hints that it might be possible to use the same process to actually send a person forward in time, but that's got a lot more research to look into.

It all seems pretty golden, but there are some problems. When someone searches their own name and reads an obituary, depression can set in and more than one person commits suicide based on what the see in the future. And when there are deaths related to new, high-profile technology, the government steps in, and Chaudry and Boyce are called before Congress for investigation. Except no one knows where Teddy is.

Books about time travel are nothing new - there will be a lot of them in the future! - and I've read some of the best of them, and they all have a huge challenge of making this credible and dealing with some of the conundrums of meeting a future or past self. This gets around some of that by having the time travel be digital rather than physical.

The story is told through multiple sources - congressional hearing transcripts, emails, news clippings. There is no narrator other than Boyce's testimony to congress.

For me, the problem with this kind of story-telling is that it's hard to really build excitement and energy this way. Just as we maybe start to get interested in what we're reading, we change formats and point of view. It makes for chopping reading. While author Dan Frey writes in this style about as well as anyone could, it still just lacks energy.

Noting at the end that Frey is a screenwriter suddenly makes sense. There are very few screenwriters who are also successful novelists (there are some, but they are few and far between) because the formats of story-telling are so different.

Overall, this was a decent read, but there's nothing too new or exciting here to make it a 'must read.'

Looking for a good book? The Future is Yours by Dan Frey is a decent by not overly exciting novel of time travel via software.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I thought The Future is Yours was a creative plot that was entertaining to read. The story is relatively fast paced once it gets going and I finished it in a few hours.

This is an epistolary novel and while I think this makes for a unique reading experience and helps make it a quick read, it doesn’t allow for much character development or depth. The characters are exactly who they started out as and the reader does not gain much insight into why choices are made. This also made it a bit difficult to connect to any of the characters, there is only so much you can connect to over text, email, meeting note or memos. The author did do a great job of creating a unique voice for each character - even without name labels, I would know exactly who was talking. I also liked that while this is a science fiction book, there was also a lot of focus around human relationships and interactions.

There were some interesting moral questions raised and discussed. I also appreciated that for the most part they keep things to a lay person level of understanding regarding what they build and how it worked. I did find myself skimming the sections that did contain the science heavy documents and data. With several timelines involved, you did have to pay attention to the dates on the media to understand when events were taking place but I didn’t find the plot overly complex or hard to follow.

I did have some suspicions on the way the plot would wrap up, but the ending was still a bit of a surprise. I was definitely entertained by this book and would read another book by the author. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books for providing me the eARC in exchange for an honest review. 3.5/5 stars rounded up to 4.