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.

If you like epistolary novels, skip this review because I do not. I don't even like reading my own emails so to have to read through 300 pages of emails, text messages, and worst of all senate hearing transcripts, actually stressed me out.

What I did love was the idea for the product the book is about- a quantum computer system that lets you read news from the future. There is a section where the characters try to find out if they can change the future or if it's set. That was an interesting idea and I would have loved to read a whole book about them experimenting with that. But transcripts from senate hearings? No thank you.

This was such a breath of fresh air for an epistolary sci-fi novel! It stayed light hearted and breezy, even when the fate of the world was at stake.

I loved the way the characters all operated, and how easy it was to understand their motivations. Even in the longer segments of speech, I knew exactly who was speaking. The texts and emails all felt realistic and I had so much fun with the way the tone shifted--especially throughout their emails with investors.

The plot held together throughout with just a little bit of suspension of disbelief. There was one moment that mentioned Covid that made me sigh because alas the author didn't have access to the Future, but other than that, it was easy to get sucked into this world.

Del Rey sold this to me since I liked Blake Crouch, Rob Hart, and Sylvain Neuvel, and I wasn't disappointed. This has the fast-paced, easy writing of Sylvain Neuvel; the thought-provoking question marks of Rob Hart; and the easy-to-digest yet super clever science of Blake Crouch.

I was invited to download this book based on books I had previously read. The action was fast-paced and it was a quick novel to read, but it just didn’t hold my interest. The characters and plot didn’t work for me.

I requested this because of an email I received marketing this book to fans of Blake Crouch. After reading it, I think this was an apt recommendation. This book checked a lot of boxes for me: soft sci-fi (not too technical), its written in an epistolary style of emails, articles, IM chats, etc, and it deals with time travel. Overall, I found this to be a quick read and I enjoyed the story and the characters.

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.
----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.

This was very fast packed book for me.
It was an amazing concept. The story was great, And it really had me drawn in from the first page.
I liked how this had some twist and turns to it, the charterers were also really believable which is a plus for me.

Overall---- Great Book .

Big thanks to Netgalley for this advance copy! I love books that are told in a non-traditional way. I’m not a fan of reading a sentence then flipping to a footnote or endnote, but books like S. and Night Film and Attachments (and Rainbow Rowell in general) are really interesting reads because they are epistolary in nature, but also tell the story through multiple media forms. The Future is Yours is exactly same.

From Goodreads: Ben Boyce and Adhi Chaudry are outsiders struggling to find their place in Silicon Valley. But when Ben reads Adhi’s graduate dissertation about an obscure application for quantum computing, he has a vision of a revolutionary new technology: a computer that can see forward through time by communicating with its future self.

The two friends quit their jobs and team up to form a business, building a company that will deliver their groundbreaking device to consumers around the world. Rival tech giants try to steal their innovation, while government agencies attempt to bury it–but Ben and Adhi are helped by their own cutting-edge technology, staying a step ahead of the competition and responding to challenges before they arise.

As the tension mounts, Ben and Adhi’s friendship begins to fracture under the weight of ambition, jealousy, and greed. Most frightening of all, they discover the dark side of the machine they’ve created–the ways in which viewing the future sets them on a path toward unavoidable disaster of epic, apocalyptic proportions. Unless they can disrupt the technological system they’ve created, there won’t be any future at all.

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

This book was great. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It reminded me a Blake Crouch’s work, which is a huge compliment, because I’ve read almost all his books. The way the story is presented through the various documents is really creative and adds to the entire point of the book. This comes out in Feb 2021, and I will be recommending it to a lot of people at that point.

NOTE TO AUTHOR: The goodreads summary has Adhi’s name as Teddy….I fixed it here. And my favorite person on Twitter is mentioned, Lin-Manuel Miranda, but you have his handle as @LinManuel, but it’s really @Lin_Manuel. And there’s really a @BenBoyce on Twitter. Haha.

Fast-paced and engaging enough that I finished this book in one day; unfortunately, the story was fairly formulaic and used too many of the "friends turned business partners" tropes you often see, which made it quite predictable. An over-explainy "this is how I did it" ending didn't help its case much. It also didn't really add anything new to the discourse on the ethics of actually being able to see into the future.

The epistolary format worked well enough and the various pop culture and tech references were thankfully not awkward the way you sometimes see in this sort of novel. Overall, it may be a page-turner but won't leave much of a lasting impression. 2.5 stars.