The book's format will work for some people. It is essentially epistolary with extra documents. Texts, emails, transcriptions, formal documents, etc. This format messed with the pacing for me. But the larger problem was that the ending didn't really deliver.

Keeps the action pulsing with enough intrigue to make it hard to turn the virtual pages fast enough. Thoroughly fleshed-out characters you tend to either like or dislike with enthusiasm. A great bedtime read that'll keep you engaged till the very end. Highly recommended!

*This book was provided free of charge in exchange for my honest review. My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to participate in this program.*

Two best friends create a computer that can predict the future. But what they can’t predict is how it will tear their friendship—and society—apart.

If you had the chance to look one year into the future, would you?

For Ben Boyce and Adhi Chaudry, the answer is unequivocally yes. And they’re betting everything that you’ll say yes, too. Welcome to The Future: a computer that connects to the internet one year from now, so you can see who you’ll be dating, where you’ll be working, even whether or not you’ll be alive in the year to come. By forming a startup to deliver this revolutionary technology to the world, Ben and Adhi have made their wildest, most impossible dream a reality. Once Silicon Valley outsiders, they’re now its hottest commodity.

The device can predict everything perfectly—from stock market spikes and sports scores to political scandals and corporate takeovers—allowing them to chase down success and fame while staying one step ahead of the competition. But the future their device foretells is not the bright one they imagined.

Ambition. Greed. Jealousy. And, perhaps, an apocalypse. The question is . . . can they stop it?

Told through emails, texts, transcripts, and blog posts, this bleeding-edge tech thriller chronicles the costs of innovation and asks how far you’d go to protect the ones you love—even from themselves.


Review:

One year. How wonderful would it be to know what will happen one year into the future? We would know the results of the presidential election. We would know where the world stands with the COVID-19 crisis. And yes, we would know the winning lottery numbers. Yes, that would be wonderful!

But why can we only see one year into the future? Has something happened? Is it a glitch with the software? Did we cause it?
Quantum physics is used to explain the ability of information to travel from the future. Don’t let that worry you though. There are only a couple of places where the science gets heavy and it does not disturb the flow of the story. I am not a scientist. I know the words/concepts they use, but I do not understand the science. Not understanding did not disturb the flow of the plot at all.

Underneath what is a wonderful science fiction story is a slow building tension. What really does happen in the future and does the “time machine” affect it? Can it, should it, be fixed?

I never saw the ending coming, but I should have. The clues were there. I just didn’t put it together.

This is not just a science fiction novel, but a novel of human relationships. There is jealousy, both professional and personal. There is a fear of the future and how this science can and will influence that future. There are politicians, scientists, and the common man. Everyone is involved!

I generally don’t care for books that are not written in straight prose. This one, however, makes the variety of styles work. The only thing is you have to pay attention to the dates because they jump around and I found that confusing at first.

Would I recommend this book? Definitely, but only to readers who enjoy science fiction. I don’t think this is a book for the general populace. I think that it would only be appreciated by readers who enjoy science whether they truly understand it or not.

This book was sent to me by NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This was a super fun read and really got me thinking about the possibility of data traveling through time. If you could look one year into your future, would you do it? This story is told through correspondence via emails, texts, transcripts, and memos. It's told mostly from the perspective of the two friends who create the technology that would allow us to search the internet up to one year in the future. Don't steer away from this book if you're not a science fiction lover; it's an enjoyable read that focuses on their relationships and the "what if" of time travel.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

The book was interesting to read. It is told in letters and interviews form. It follows two friends who invented a time machine of sorts where they could log in into their computer a year from now and read what is going to happen in the world at the time. Interesting how they go about the issue of predetermination - can they change the future they read about and do you really want to know what will happen? It has interesting premise, and the story was quite exciting to read. It has good satisfying ending.

A strong scifi entry with time travel. There's a decent amount of suspense, and the pacing is good. I like the author's imagination and enjoyed this tale overall. A good bet for scifi fans.

I really appreciate the ARC for review!!

"The Future Is Yours" is a sci-fi/thriller book centered around two friends who build a computer that predicts the future. I found the concept of this to be very intriguing, as I love reading books centered around technology. The story did lose my attention a little bit later on, but I still thought that the plot was great and I still find it interesting. I think that the format of the story and the way it was written was partially the reason why I kind of lost attention. It is told through things such as emails and transcripts, and while that makes the story unique, I felt a bit confused at times while reading through everything that was exchanged between the various characters.

Rating: 3.5/5

Wow. This book is a banger, I tell you. There's a lot of themes crammed in these pages, from the dangers of technology, to mental health, friendship and human relationships in general, but it is done the right way.

Writing a book about two minority boys with several handicaps who not only excel at one of most prestigious universities but also endeavour to build a company that would change life and tech as we know it is a bold move.

Dropping names like they do here is even bolder. As is telling the story through documents instead of a first person or outsider narrative. And that is certainly not my fave style, but it worked really well here, even if I did not pay attention to the dates like I should have.

The most impressive part of this all isn't even the sheer amount of knowledge pne has to have to qrite about quantum computing, scifi, Hinduism and all that. Neither is the ability to make every character have a distinct voice through documentation alone.

The most impressive part of it all is the twist at the end - mind blowing stuff there.

I'd say the future is very bright for this author.

I must admit to a bit of the technology being above my pay grade as far as what I want to or need to know, so I did skip over much of the quantum computing specifics, but I was still able to follow along with what was happening. There are some greedy people out there and Ben is one. When his friend comes up with a dissertation on time travel as far as accessing the future on a computer, Ben is all for getting the money together to launch the start up. When his friend has misgivings, he tries to push the friend out. By the way, the friend is also in love with Ben's wife, but Ben doesn't know.
It got a bit deep towards the end, which seemed to take a long time to get to, but then it got a bit confusing for a while until I caught on, but still the ending was a bit of a surprise.
Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

disclaimer – i received a copy of this book via random house publishing group - ballantine in exchange for an honest review.

make no mistake, dan frey is one of the authors to add to your to be read list in 2021. his new novel, the future is yours (publishing 02/09/2021), tells the story of ben boyce and adhi chaudry, friends since college, who can potentially change the entire world through the invention of a computer called 'the future'. with it, you can travel exactly one year into the future - see how your job interview went, see what stocks are a good investment, see which politicians are in power, see if your marriage will survive. the story details the creation of the computer, the friendship between its inventors, and the circumstances of its use.

an epistolary novel, ''the future is yours', uses the framework of emails, chats, texts, and congressional testimony to tell the story. reading these, we begin to understand the characters' motivations, wishes, desires, and maybe some some of their secrets. we get to follow along, practically step by step, as their journey to create 'the future' reveals the consequences of the choices they make in that endeavor. frey gives us well-rounded, complicated characters and as we get deeper and deeper into who they are, and who they want to be, we're able to connect with them and feel vested in their journey and its ultimate end.

five of five stars

five of five stars

I really enjoyed this book. Reading the synopsis left me feeling like it could go one of two ways: Either the book would be really well done and I would enjoy reading it, or it could be overdone and cheesy in the time-traveling sense and ruin a really great premise. Fortunately, the book was really well written and ended up being a great read.

The story is told through various forms of media (interviews, news articles, text messages, voicemails, emails, etc) which is something that I have not previously encountered. It was fun and intriguing and left me curious as to how each of the various forms of media would all come together in the overall story. There is still dialogue through emails, texts, etc., so there is still a bit of storytelling in a traditional sense. It is just presented in a manner that plays into how the overall story is written.

As for the plot and storyline, it was great. It went about as I expected it would based on how the book synopsis read. There were still plenty of twists and turns that left you guessing or wondering how things would play out. The dynamic between the 2 main characters was engaging and strange at the same time. It definitely plays well with "opposites do attract". Their dynamic could be humorous on one page and infuriating on the next...which for me shows great character development.

The moral subtext throughout the book is a good one, even if it is pretty standard for time travel...just because we can see and possibly affect the future doesn't mean we should. The 2 main protagonists fell on either side of this dilemma which impacted their decision-making and ideals throughout the story. The author did a great job exploring this dilemma from both sides while developing and shifting the characters' thoughts and actions throughout.

Highly recommended.

that was the perfect way to use scifi and computers to create a creepy atmosphere. The characters were great and I really enjoyed the plot.

Being a huge fan of Sylvain Neuvel’s Sleeping Giants, the format of this book as told in media form using transcripts, texts, emails, blogs, articles, etc., was familiar to me and I loved it. And being a huge fan of Blake Crouch, the futuristic sci-fi storyline was exciting as well.

I’m going to venture to say that this book is my favorite read of 2020 so far!

Two best friends discover a way to look at the internet one year ahead in time and see what happens in the future. This storyline takes them from idea to reality, to becoming billionaires, to building the computers, and through to marketing. The government steps in and holds a hearing to determine if being able to see the future is a security issue. Can the friendship survive?

This was exciting stuff and I couldn’t get enough. I got serious goosebumps at the ending, and I still can’t stop thinking about it.

Well done, Dan Frey! I’m adding this author to my must read list of authors.

*Thank you so much to Del Rey Publishing and NetGalley for the advance copy!*

I liked the idea behind this story. I thought it would be very interesting. The writing style did not work for me, I found it to choppy and lost interest in the story. I specifically disliked the text/email parts between Ben and Adhi, they were just hard to read through.

I do not think that this was the book for me. I couldn't connect with the mixed media format or the non-linear time line. No matter how many times I picked it up and tried to read it, I really couldn't get into it. The writing was broken up quite a bit by not giving any sense of atmosphere or setting. I do apologize for not being able to finish this one. I do see the connection to Andy Weir, but I did not like The Martian. I loved Artemis. Thank you for letting me give this book a go.

A very unique story told in the form of emails, text messages and snippets from congressional testimony. The story flows rather well and keeps you engaged the entire time. I really enjoyed the way everything is eventually revealed while still keeping it interesting. I recommend it to anyone who loves light sci-fi reads.

WOW! I could NOT put this book down. I really loved the layout of the book, the back and forth of emails, the texts, and the senate committee discourse gave me the racing feeling of impending doom.
This book also made me think of all the new ways that the internet could be used.
Also, would you want to learn about something you did ONE YEAR in the future?
This book really made me think and got my heart pounding.
I Loved it and can't wait to read more from this author.

Trying to get my head around the tech concepts in this book at times made my mind feel like a pretzel. But in a good way. I read quite a bit of science fiction. I thought I'd read many of the storylines that are commonly used but this, like the book, The Immortals, asked the question' "do we really want to know what the future holds". and what would we do with the information if we had it. This story revolves around a very few main characters, the two prime ones being a genius tech wizard and his best (and seemly only friend) who together develop a computer program that can pull data and allow them to gain knowledge of events one year in the future. Instead of using this knowledge to gamble or corner the market they choose to begin a start up company, seek venture capital monies and begin the task of giving this knowledge to the masses by founding a tech company they believe will make them billions. They launch this venture with what appears to be an over abundance of naivete and an inability to foresee how this knowledge even between the two of them will lead to nothing but problems. I found the concept of this story both mind bending and possible in a way that much science fiction is never able to achieve.
The story gives a small glance in how knowing future is not exactly what you expect. I gave the concept and much of the execution of the idea 5 stars. Some of the problems were to be predicted but the writer came up with a wide variety of events that were both unique and imaginative examples of all that could go wrong. The writing was straight forward and easy to understand. I wish I had paid more attention to the dates that head each chapter as toward to end I began to see their importance and had to go back and see if I had missed exactly how these played a part in the storyline.
I came to know these character and even care about them as the story progressed. I found this hard at first as the story is written in emails, texts and blog posts. While the style was appropriate and worked well with the content I found it initially to keep me at a distance as my own tendency (and I think it is true for many) to skim emails rather than read them carefully. That for me was the primary flaw that made this slow going at first but about half way thru I became invested and was anxious to see how the story would evolve.
All in all I found it a particularly appealing Sci fi work and felt it was an exceedingly strong debut by this author.

The Future is Yours is all about tech gone mad. Frey's talents in screen writing and design, might have been the impetus leading to the epistolary style of this work. Told in a retrospective view, the emails, articles and data from Senate hearings allow the reader to reconstruct the rise and fall of a Silicon Valley company that changes the world. What if a device existed that would transmit information from the future to the present? What if a person knew when they would die? or what stock would tank in a week? or.. what troops were mustering on foreign soil?

The start up company, The Future, combines computer design with quantum processing to engineer a device that in fact can do these things. The men involved are more boys than men. They are young Silicon Valley tropes.: one filled with machismo and sliding ethics (Boyce), the other with soul cringing introspection (Aldi) Together this unbalanced pair show the perils of pushing a concept while leaving ethical considerations behind.

Frey's ear for dialogue provides banter between the two is very reflective of current language, as are the more formal speech patterns from the Senate hearings . For me, both protagonists were unlikable, and perhaps that was the point. The reader was left pondering what indeed would happen to the world if the Future was part of our now. Certainly not golden age science fiction, with fumbling robots and space pirates, this novel present s the sticky issues of our rapidly changing times.

Full disclosure I received this review copy from netgalley and Del Rey in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for this opportunity.

Adhi Chaudry had an incredible idea for his graduate dissertation. But because it was believed to be utterly unrealistic, it was not approved. However, Adhi knows it is, indeed, possible. When he tells his friend, the charismatic Ben Boyce, about it, they decide to use the idea to get rich. They plan to market Adhi’s special computer that can see one year into the future. After all, who would not want to see the future? This is Adhi’s story.

This story is told only through emails, articles, and other such forms of communication. This method seemed strange, at first, but it certainly makes the story feel very, very real! There is another reason for this format, too. An awesome one that you will discover at the end of this book!

Very realistic characters and this mysterious format really make this book an incredible experience! It truly makes you think!

I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.