The future is a result of all the choices that you and others make; the idea of seeing a year in the future may be enticing but it has consequences in Dan Frey's The Future is Yours.

Seemingly unlikely best friends Ben Boyce, a charismatic, enthusiastic, and determined go-getter, and Adhi Chaudry, a hyper-intelligent, introverted, and inquiring mind, are struggling to make their mark in Silicon Valley as outsiders until they create a computer with the ability to connect with itself one year in the future. After Ben reads Adhi's dissertation that discusses an application for quantum computing the friends team up to create the device and form a business that aims to provide the device to consumers. In the course of doing so, the pair use the prototype they created to prepare and stay a step ahead of challenges they'll face, but using the device highlights the dark potential of the world's future, as well as the future of their friendship.

The large, sweeping topic of time travel, and the related causality and paradoxes associated with it, is explored through a speculated practical application of quantum computing processes presented within the pages of this novel; the discussion of a science-heavy topic such as time travel doesn't get bogged down in trying to be overly technical as the story looks primarily at the social and moral implications, and cost, of the technology. Ben and Adhi are provided with some interesting character backgrounds that help speak to who they are and how they behave, but it isn't satisfactorily delved into or addressed, particularly in relation to the start-up culture that'd likely provide experiences of adversity to them. The format the story takes includes transcripts of hearings, emails, text messages, blog posts (filled with pop culture), and various news articles, all of which provide variety that allows the narrative to progress rather quickly and make it a quick and entertaining, if cliché, read.

Overall, I'd give it a 3 out of 5 stars.

I really liked this book!  It had science in it, but not too much to make it dull.  It had intrigue, well developed characters, and a great story line!  I will definitely be recommending this book when it comes out and I’ll be checking out the author’s catalog for more great reads!

If you could look one year into your future would you? 
If it were me, I think me being as curious as I am that I would absolutely have to!

Wow, I can’t say enough how much I loved this book....and that fully took me by surprise because at first I honestly didn’t think I’d get into it. This book is written in exchanges of emails, texts, court documents, and even tumblr posts! That is something I haven’t seen in another book, so it took me a minute to get into but wow I got hooked strong. 
I could not put it down because I just had to know what would happen. 
The story is about two friends who join together to start a new kind of tech that could change the world. It takes us through their friendship as the struggles of partnership in a new start up tech company begin to weigh on them. I don’t want to give anything away because this book is best gone into blind! 
Again, I can’t express how much I loved this and wished there were more pages for me to read! The ending leaves you thinking and makes you want to reread knowing everything you know at the end. 
Thank you so much to Dan Frey and Netgalley for allowing me to read this wonderful novel before it hits shelves next year! If you love books like Dark Matter then you have to read The Future Is Yours.

3 1/2 Stars

The Future Is Yours is an intriguing novel written in epistolary form that examines the moral complexity of technology and brings to mind the well known saying: Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. While there weren’t many surprises, the ambiguous ending was a brilliant twist that will leave readers wondering. All in all, although a little rough around the edges, it’s still an entertaining read.

I read an ARC of this book provided by NetGalley, so details may differ in the published version.

Starting with positives. It's compulsively readable—I basically finished in one sitting. I can see it as a movie, and I'm not surprised the author is a screenwriter as well. There is a real sense of suspense that propels you quickly through the pages. The story is told in found fragments of emails, texts, news articles, social media posts, etc., all framed by a congressional testimony, and I enjoy unconventional narratives. The author has done a decent amount of research in the startup/science/tech cultures. If you like Silicon Valley the show, you may enjoy this.

The book is very much set in our real present, mostly in 2020 and 2021. Covid is listed as a search term (next to "Ruth Bader Ginsburg alive", now startling and sad to read and should probably be changed), but not ever mentioned as something that actually has an effect on anything, so perhaps there was a vaccine in this universe and everything went back to normal. I'm guessing that the author wrote the book a while back, then one Covid mention was added to make it seem more realistic and "now", but it actually seems less realistic that everything is totally back to normal in 2021. Continuing on the need to be ultra-real-world, there is a Reddit AMA pretty similar to real ones. The Twitter feeds are full of current celebrities like Elon Musk and Kanye reacting in reasonably realistic ways to a company that sends info from the future. There's a pretty good investor pitch deck, with cartoon graphics, all hype, and no substance. YMMV on whether these will appeal to you.

This leads me to a big problem I had with the world being selectively ultra-realistic. The two main characters, Ben and Adhvan, are African-American and Indian. Adhvan is your typical super smart and shy nerd. Ben is a generic frat bro—brash, charismatic, uppercases words randomly, and doesn't ever think about the consequences of his actions. When Adhvan tells him something is impossible, he tells him to MAKE IT HAPPEN, never mind logic and the laws of physics. There is no real exploration of any discrimination they might have encountered in the tech field.

Mild spoilers in this paragraph: Ben's family and identity almost don't come up in the story at all—his mother died from illness before the story started, and his absent father showed up when he became famous to extort money from him. That's about it. Adhvan's shows up occasionally as very misspelled messages from his super poor dry cleaner parents, whose only desire in the world is that he brings home a nice girl. Given the very up-to-date 2020 references strewn throughout the book, and because there is a plotline on misogyny and inappropriate boy's club culture in Silicon Valley, it's interesting that the author decided to avoid any mention of racial discrimination in tech and BLM. In one case, in fact, Ben invokes the "I'm Black" card to defend himself against accusations of sexual misconduct. This sort of selective exploration of systemic inequalities is troubling to me. It's almost as if the author wanted to have a diverse protagonist without fully committing to addressing what it's actually like to be Black in tech.

On a lighter note, Adhvan writes these unintentionally-hilarious tumblr posts after each significant event in the book, where he vents his feelings via super obvious allusions to pop culture like high school book reports. Again, these take me out of the story because they're what some people might think super smart nerds write, rather than what they are actually likely to write, but hey, you do you Adhvan.

The author does a decent job of depicting the startup/science/tech cultures. By which I mean, if you are not in said culture, it might look reasonably accurate to you. As someone with a background in exactly this stuff, the premise is ridiculous and the details absurd at times. The amount of money they spent to get the prototype running is hilariously small. A character just sends in a PhD thesis apparently without guidance and supervision, and the university decides to not let him defend despite not having any criticisms of his work on a scientific level. Academia doesn't think "time travel research" automatically means you're a quack—closed timelike curves in quantum information are an active area of theoretical physics research. 

And the main sci-fi idea of the book relies upon a common misunderstanding that collapsing entangled quantum states sends information instantaneously (it most definitely does not). I could go on and on about the technical inaccuracies that take me out of the book repeatedly, but I will stop since this isn't really the point. On a storytelling level, the author does a good job of establishing the sci-fi rules and then adding twists. But time travel in popular media brings up the same tired set of paradoxes and philosophical meanderings on free will and self-fulfilling prophecies, which this book is unable to avoid.

Also, a detail that should be fixed: Bipolar Personality Disorder is mentioned at one point and later abbreviated as BPD. Bipolar Disorder is not a personality disorder, and BPD in fact refers to Borderline Personality Disorder, a completely different mental disorder.

Tl;DR if you like technothrillers and pop culture depictions of STEM culture that you can binge in one sitting without thinking too hard about it, you might enjoy this. Look too closely and the cracks will overwhelm you.

The Future Is Yours by Dan Frey is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary. I found the concept of this book very intriguing and it opened up a lot of questions about what would happen if this was real. Those same questions are addressed in the book. The book is presented not in a novel format but as transcripts and notes. A unique way to tell the story but also the only flaw I found. It was a bit different to follow at times.
The story has two guys building a computer that could look into the future to exactly one year from the date. They want to market it. Government steps in. Friendships wobble. Very intriguing and imaginative! Trouble all the way!

Very quick read. I would enjoy a reread to capture the nuances of the plot.  The structure of the novel is reminiscent of the writing of Max Brooks and Sylvain Neuvel, and FlashForward.. I always enjoy novels about time travel and this one was unique. Thank you

The Future is Yours was a fun read - all told in blog posts, emails, text exchanges, and news articles, Through the things shared you get a really good feel for the characters. Adhi and Ben are the epitome of startup guys - Adhi with the brains, the tech knowledge, the almost superhuman grasp of a complicated issue (quantum physics). Then you have Ben, the big schmoozer, the guy who sucks up to investors and gets so caught up in selling his GREAT THING that he lets his personal relationships suffer. The other characters are well done too - the wife, the investor, the consultant who comes in and writes a report on branding strategy.

Dan Frey has written a remarkably fun novel. Where I found it suffers a bit is that it's almost too clean, and some of the decisions made by the characters seem a little too in line with progressing the plot. I mean, come on, not one single dive into trying to make money with their sort of "time travel" device? Not one, "Let's test the lotto numbers" or "let's place one bet"? When you pull an article from the future to prove the device is real, why would you pull one about yourself or your company? It's the one thing you are trying to buy credibility for, and you bring out an article that just sings your praises? 

So three stars overall. I enjoyed the ride.

I was drawn to the high concept premise and the story had a few entertaining twists and turns, but this title wasn't for me (for multiple reasons, chief among them that I was expecting something much more sophisticated, and more importantly because I loathed the two protagonists). But I did enjoy some of the dialogue and occasional moments of humor--the author is a screenwriter and the book reflects that--and it's at its best as a satire of startup culture.

If you could Email and talk to your past self to set yourself up to the future would you? If you had the knowledge of what to avoid and what to pursue would you give yourself the chance to make yourself better. Dan Frey, first of all the research you must have done to create this work is really amazing, I would put the research of this book on par with Ernest Cline, and that's saying a lot because RPO was jam packed. As a fan of WW Z I do appreciate the writing style. The perspectives and first person views on each situation were done very well. I do not agree with the other reviews that this panders to minorities. I think this is a fresh take on how intelligence is not raced based. 

I could not put this down all weekend, I was so excited when I got the email and as soon as I started I was enthralled with the ideas and concepts. Not to give to much away but I would like a follow up on how the information Ben is given at the end changes what we just read. 

Overall I would rate this book 5/5. I will actually be reading this again but at a slower pace, I tend to catch things I miss the second time around.

I found THE FUTURE IS YOURS to be entertaining.  It took me a great while to get past the format.  I couldn't get into the story due to the format.  It's definitely different.  I get that it's supposed to be like you're the one who has been handed all of the documentation of the past year and that it's up to you to decide whether or not to proceed with making the "time machine computer".  Much like the ethical decision brought forth in the movie, Tomorrowland.  I plugged through the book... skipping entire sections as it wasn't difficult to figure out where the story was going.  Personally, not a book I'd ever re-read.

I love books written like this, in the form of, I suppose you'd call it a "World War Z" type of narrative, through the emails and texts of the people involved instead of an actual narrative. Overall, great read, very engrossing, I finished it in 2 days because I wanted to see what happened next and the twist at the end really sealed the deal. I'm only doing 3 stars because at times it could be a tad slow and cliché' but overall it was a great book and I look forward to his next book. My only other complaint is that I'd love an epilogue but then again, if you wrap everything up nice and neat you leave no room for imagination. 

To address other's concerns, yes it does pander to the "American Dream" of 2 minorities from poor families being smart / good enough to pull themselves  up by their bootstraps, but overall it was an entertaining read.

I really enjoyed this! I had a hard time putting it down in fact. The story was exciting, and the main characters were brilliant but flawed human beings. The concept of seeing ones future is always a curious adventure. At our core, I think most of us would agree that we would want a glimpse to see what our future has in store for us. But to do so would truly present us with a conundrum. Does knowing our future set us on an inevitable path to whatever that future is supposed to be? Or can we change the outcome? Would you want to know your future? Part of me says yes, but since I am a reader and have read many books about seeing the future, time travel, etc., my brain screams, No! Don’t look at the future, just let it happen. Whatever will be, will be. But the pull to look would be insanely hard to turn down.

The author of this book must have done an incredible amount of research to put this together. The research into the science of quantum physics, the tech world, sci-fi TV shows and books that he used as “blog posts” within the book, research on senate hearings, the business of startup companies, etc. It had to have been a crazy amount of work! I applaud you Mr. Frey!

If I could present some constructive criticism, I would say that the book should have less information about which way specific characters lean politically. There were a few references to CA Liberals, and mentions of the DNC and Planned Parenthood. You tend to alienate readers when you very specifically note which way your character leans politically. I didn’t see the need for this in the book.

Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Best of luck to you! :)

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I am so in love with the novel-through documents format it is my absolute FAVORITE form of storytelling. 

First, this novel had me absolutely shaken to the core with every twist and emotion it pulled out of me. I was angry and worried and hopeful and SUPER HECKING ANNOYED by Ben which brings me to my next point--

The characterization is a work of art. I loved some, I hated some; just like any real person, I reacted to these characters in a very real manner, and devoured this book as a result. Considering every single part of this novel is a form of documentation and there is no description or dialogue in their common forms, the author has woven a story that feels real and tangible. 

I have spent my fair share of time sifting through government documents and transcripts and, for starters, it's not fun. But this book was the highlight of my week and a large part of the reason my homework isn't done.

Thank you for making this glorious piece of art.

I absolutely loved this book! It has it all, friendship, romance, high-stakes business deals, technology, time travel...The story is told through emails and text messages. 

Ben & Adhi have been friends since both attended Stanford undergrad. Adhi's post graduate work was on building a "time machine" and the two men decide to make their dream a reality, but in their wildest dreams they can't begin to imagine where all this will lead!

I don't want to giver any spoiler alerts so suffice it to say that this was a really, really fun read and I highly recommend it!
Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for allowing me to read the digital arc of this title.

This book is written differently than most books I read, but it really worked for me. It was fast paced and kept me interested throughout. I truly wanted to see what The Future would be for those involved.

Review: The Future Is Yours by Dan Frey

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for offering me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Ever since I started reading this book, I have asked everyone I have talked to, “If you could look into the future one year, would you?” Surprisingly, everyone I asked (albeit not a large number of people) said they would not be interested in seeing the future. I agree with them. And the longer I read, the more I am sure that I would not want to access any future information about myself or the world in general. I am certain there are people who would disagree both before and after reading this book. 

I had some misgivings about reading this book but decided to give it a shot. My misgivings were about the format of the book. The format was described to me by the publisher before I accepted the book. The entire book is a series of email threads, text threads, blog posts, and excerpts from transcripts of a congressional hearing. This sounded strange to me and a bit dry. I was wrong, and I am glad that I decided to go ahead with the reading. I hope you won’t let this dissuade you from reading this book, either.

I really liked this book (see star rating below). In fact, I couldn’t put it down. I was engaged from the first page. The format is easy to follow and, actually, a very good way to write a book that by its very nature is nothing but conversation between pairs and groups of people. The book is about time travel, so you can expect the time to move pretty fluidly forwards and backwards. Again...I normally hate this type of book, but this was different. Every thread and transcript is fully dated in order to keep the reader on track. The date changes were not an issue for me. Naturally, there is some scientific conversation. I am not a computer scientist, and these bits did not turn me off. One of the main characters writes an anonymous blog about science fiction. These blog posts were great! They added a bit of pop culture that I thoroughly enjoyed. Each post is a reflection of what is going on in the main narrative that I found very creative and offered great insights into the true feelings of this character.

If you are still reading this review, I hope you will read the book. It’s a good one! 

My star rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

The Future is yours…if you can afford it. Because it’s now a technology, not even a near future Future tech, but present day, the novel takes place in 2020/2021. Which is when two bro cliches, an entrepreneur and a computer wiz, comes up with a device that can make computers communicate with their future versions going forward up to one year. Imagine knowing immediate outcome of your every action and decision, every winning lottery number, every investment, every major political decision. People would just stumble through their lives in a sort of Calvinistic daze of their fate predetermined and unchangeable. Free will…dead and buried. So yes, in short, it would be the absolute worst technology invention ever, at least as far as its effects on the very fabric of society. But the bros love it, so the bros go all out trying to establish their company with the goal to make The Future available for everyone, thus leveling the playing field. But of course they are looking to sell it and not cheaply, so it isn’t exactly as altruistic and proletariat and democratic as all that. And so this is the story of the bros and their invention, their time in the sun short lived, but epic, as far as such things go. Told through interviews, emails, texts, etc., the format that is explained in the end, it speeds by, hitting all the cliched checkmarks on the way, the bros are racially diverse (one black, one Indian) from low socioeconomic statuses, with much to prove. The black one is a marketing genius, schmoozer extraordinaire, brash, obnoxious and arrogant. The Indian one is a computer genius, who figured out quantum entanglements, a socially challenged introvert with latent conscience. Together they are a force until the reality, both pecuniary and moral, comes crashing in. So that’s the basic gist of the story. It’s written by a screenwriter and reads like a movie, same dynamics, same prioritizing of glitz over substance, the same snappy (though not all that clever) dialogue, the same heavy concentration of action over things like character development, etc. Actually, the characters are developed to an extent, they are just so freaking unlikeable. And yes, I know, they are young, but still…there’s something so brash and arrogant about them. Maybe it’s the tech bro Silicon Valley thing. Most likely. I quit that tv show after one episode, just didn’t care for the antics of the boys and their toys, the immature soulless sort of atmosphere. In the book, Boyce especially, is positively hubristic, not at all the sort of person you’d want to succeed,  he’s just asking to be cut down to size for all his swaggering obnoxiousness. So yeah, the characters are cliches, loathable at best,  the plot follows an all too familiar premise, there’s even a prerequisite love triangle, the tech is based on some questionable quantum mumbo jumbo and is just essentially a terrible, terrible idea. This book reads easily and quickly, but has a strong angering effect. The characters don’t always have to be lovable and charming, sure, but this is just too far on the opposite end of the spectrum. So this book didn’t really work for me. And it definitely doesn’t deserve comparisons to the infinitely superior Dark Matter. It’ll work for some readers, people who are fascinated by Silicon Valley’s (lack of) culture, insane inventions, epic bromances, rude arrogant dude cliches or brass(ish) balls and swinging eggplants, a certain type of nerds, etc. And it might be interesting to discuss the sociopolitical ramifications of The Future, in theory. But other than that, this was a disappointment. And normally I like this sort of thing too. But this story was just too busy strutting in self importance to really concentrate of important things and grand ideas. And morality hastily delivered at last moment didn’t quite save it…though it tried. Oh well, for genuinely fun time traveling bromances we’ll always have Bill and Ted. Thanks Netgalley.

Review Copy

I'm a sucker for time travel. I started with Madeline L'Engle moved on to Robert Heinlein and David Gerrold and ST and the rest is um history. Sorry, had to get that in.

Anyway, THE FUTURE IS YOURS is fiction that reads like non-fiction. It's written in emails, texts, blogs, congressional hearings and catapults the reader to the end in a way that kept me hoping right up to the final page.

The science seems to be there. I want it to be there. I want to believe. Try it yourself and see.

There is too much Ready Player One vibes in this book, am I wrong? 

Just like Haliday and Sorrento’s entrepreneurship to create something unique to rock the world, Ben and Adhi leave their jobs to build a business from scratch by providing a groundbreaking device for the usage of consumers all around the world. And of course all those cultural references were mentioned have such resemblances with the same book.

This wasn’t a unique or original read. But it was still gripping, exciting, balanced paced story keep you in your toes. As you may imagine after seeing the dark side of machine they created, Ben and Adhi have to make a decision because the monster they created can drag the entire universe to a vicious apocalyptic destruction. But they already hate each other’s guts because greed, jealousy already destroyed what has left from their partnership! Will they unite for a greater purpose and let the bygones be bygones or will they fight against each other which may destruct the human beings’ entire future? 

It was one of my fastest readings! The story doesn’t bring something unconventional, extraordinary to the table. It’s a little predictable. You can expect how the story will improve and conclude from the beginning. 
But it was still promising, entertaining, above the average kind of moving experience. I went back and forth between 3 and 4 stars and I finally rounded up 3.5 stars to 4! 

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing/ Ballantine/ Del Rey for sharing this entertaining arc with me in exchange my honest review.