3.5 stars
My first book by Naomi Alderman and wow this dystopian aspect of this book really got me instantly hooked. The book does have a lot of background information as well as many characters being introduced. The theme talks about futuristics thoughts, issues, and concerns which I though was interesting.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this e-ARC in exhcange for an honest review

This was great! Thank you to S&S Book Club favorites for the gifted copy and the netgalley copy. I loved The Power when it was published, a surprisingly dark commentary on power and women and ... lots of important topics. The Future is similarly strong and I applaud Alderman's deft skill at telling interconnected stories so well, her ability to draw on large and abstract ideas about tech and our future/society and make then grounded and relatable stands out here as timely and important, without feeling preachy. What I like is that her writing invites us to not just read a good story but to think about the messages and ideas woven into the story, to reflect on ideas she raises... I leave feeling like I need to talk about the book without feeling like I was told what to think, how to react... just invited to think and ponder.
A great book, a favorite writer, and a strong recommendation for your 2024 book club lists.

Ugh, I wanted to love this. I even received a physical arc. But I'm 50% through it and I have no idea what is going on.😔

Not as good as The Power, but still loved it. It took me a bit to get into the writing, unlike her other book. But once I got used to it I was hooked.

I was so excited for this book, but it was sort of difficult to get into at first. It was more slower paced than I expected. Still a solid read but maybe just not for me. I’d still suggest others check it out as it seems to have a bunch of fans.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the arc.

Unfortunately, I did not like this book at all.
First, I found the writing style to be drawn out and difficult to follow. The long, drawn out religious passages were tedious and broke up the momentum of the book. I felt like I was being lectured and it often felt condescending and pointless to the story.
There were no times or timelines throughout the story so I was confused with time jumps and the relativity of the plot points were hard to keep straight. I couldn't tell if days, weeks, or years occurred between events.
All of the characters were under developed and unlikable. I found none of characters likable and they all lacked substance. They all felt like caricatures of people rather than actual people. Event the narrators, Martha and Lai, felt underdeveloped, despite spending time in their minds.
Overall, this was a tedious, overly drawn out book with boring characters. I would recommend picking up this authors first book, The Power, instead.

Naomi Alderman https://naomialderman.com is the author of five novels. The Future was published on 7 November 2023. It is the 107th book I completed reading in 2023.

Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to scenes of violence, mature situations, and mature language, I categorize this novel as R.

The plot is complicated. The principal characters are Martha Einkorn and Lai Zhen, though there are a few other significant characters. Lenk Sketlish is the developer and head of the company Fantail. A social media giant. Zimri Nommik created and heads Anvil. Anvil began as a product delivery company but has expanded into consumer goods, electronics, and robotics. Ellen Bywater heads Medlar, a computer and lifestyle electronics company. She didn’t start Medlar but took it over in a coup against founder Albert Dabrowski.

Sketlish, Nommik, and Bywater are among the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world. While they are competitors in some areas, they are of a like mind about society. The world is heading towards chaos. If they can hunker down in their private, secure bunkers and wait out the apocalypse. When they emerge, the world will be theirs for the taking.

Albert Dabrowski is hanging on, barely. He feels robbed of his company. Martha Einkorn grew up in a religious cult run by her father. After escaping it, she caught the eye of Sketlish. He made her his personal assistant, and she has excelled in the position. Selah Nommik is married to Zimri. She was a brilliant programmer but has fallen into her husband’s shadow. She fears he will soon try to replace her with a younger woman. Badger identifies as nonbinary and is the youngest child of Ellen Bywater. Lai Zhen is an internet-famous survivalist. She has a large following.

Albert, Martha, Selah, and Badger are aware of what is being planned. They want to take action of some kind to prevent the meltdown of global civilization. They are willing to do anything to save the world. Martha has met Lai, and they seem to have fallen in love. But Lai has a lot of questions about Martha and her boss.

Will the three billionaires be able to survive the expected apocalypse and emerge to take over what is left of the world? Can the four conspirators intercede and prevent chaos? Is the relationship between Lai and Martha real? Will Lai’s curiosity be her downfall?

I invested 11.5+ hours reading this 429-page science fiction novel. I was disappointed. I thought that the basic plot held a lot of potential. The result did not engage me as I had expected. There was little action, and the threat from the billionaires didn’t give me that edge-of-my-seat pending doom feeling. The plot has a couple of twists, but overall, I wish I hadn’t spent my time reading this novel. I do like the chosen cover art. I give this novel a rating of 3 out of 5.

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

This book is on the double tragedy and idealistic. Like the Power, it proposes that power ruins yet dissimilar to it, here great can turn around the obliteration that merciless tycoons cause for the world.
The thoughtful person of Zhen ties the different characters and timetables together. I thoroughly delighted in perusing the Future for its bits of knowledge in the hazards of large tech and shrewdly developed plot that is frequently amazing. This makes it certain to be truly outstanding of the year. This book is on the double tragedy and idealistic. Like the Power, it proposes that power ruins yet dissimilar to it, here great can turn around the obliteration that merciless tycoons cause for the world.
The thoughtful person of Zhen ties the different characters and timetables together. I thoroughly delighted in perusing the Future for its bits of knowledge in the hazards of large tech and shrewdly developed plot that is amazing.

The story is set in some near future. The three billionaires that own the most important businesses in the world have a special software that is supposed to tell them when the world is going to end, meaning some kind of really bad disaster will strike, so they could be evacuated to the safe place where they can live comfortably while the society fights the disaster. Most of the book we get to see the preparations for the evacuations, bad signs that are happening, the three getting their alarms going off and them going to the place. That was all interesting and intriguing. Then the dystopian part ends, and the story ends with really saccharine coated utopian solution. Basically, the whole world holds hands and goes into the bright future together to the place of the endless love and plenty. Really cheap and uninteresting and kind of intellectually boring. Too much religious nonsense strewn all though the book. I couldn't care less about the characters. I regret wasting my time and finishing the book. The beginning was intriguing, but not the end

I received a copy of the book from NetGalley

Been mulling this review over. Not sure why I am having trouble writing it. I liked this book. I think I am still digesting it and putting it all together in my head. Like Alderman’s previous novel (The Power), this one deals with a world on a verge of crisis. I feel like saying too much about the plot may spoil the story. I do wish the storytelling was done in a more linear fashion - there were a lot flashbacks and viewpoints of minor characters that created some confusion. I look forward to the author’s next book! Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this one!

Billionaire corporate world leaders are taking us into the future -- with technology that humans seemingly can no longer live without. But a few people closest to these eccentrics see the harm they're causing and they vow to stand between them and the end of the world.

Naomi Alderman took me on a RIDE with this one. There were twists I didn't see coming and even the ones I did anticipate, I still wasn't prepared. As with The Power, Alderman has created a world just left of center. It feels so real, so possible, so connected to the one I sit here reading in. This book has everything I like. Dystopian themes. Mystery and thrills. Cult leaders and the eventual downfall of corrupt corporate/world leaders. Brilliant, powerful women. The Future.

And in case you were wondering ...

I'm a rabbit who longs to be a fox. Shouldn't we all go back to being foxes? Or should we find a way to embrace the world we have created as rabbits and figure out how to do so more sustainably? I don't think I'd survive long as a fox though there's something deep within me that longs for it.

I won't even tell you what any of that means, just trust me and read it!

I will read absolutely anything Naomi Alderman writes.

This book was so intriguing. Power and who holds it and how power corrupts. This book was told in segments by each character but tied together so well. What happens when you know the worlds going to end?
A dystopian tale told in parts and who survives and who doesn’t? Who makes those choices?

I really enjoyed this book. From AI to cults to online forums to life. This book encompasses a lot of different things and truly weaves a tale of dystopia and power.

I’m not sure if it is a thriller but it’s definitely worth the read and made me want to read more. I’d classify it more as science fiction but could be both easily.

Thank you so much Simonbooks and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting take on the dystopian fiction genre. It felt like it lagged at times for me, but the concept was fascinating. Aspects of it reminded me a lot of her previous novel, The Power.

After reading The Power, I was excited to receive an advanced copy of Alderman’s new work The Future. I did listen to her former work as an audio production and this may have been why I liked the book as much as I did. The Future is setup in a similar fashion. A story begins to unfold and is broken up with forum posts, these leading into end of the world predictions. Reading these passages in between the story was actually frustrating and seemed to take away from the overall picture. I enjoyed the character introduction of the beginning and found the middle to be a bit difficult to get through. The book did pick up in the end and I was fully invested in Martha and Lai Zhen’s stories.

Imagine the Future is upon us, but that Future is not a timeline that supports all people. Only the extraordinarily wealthy have the means to survive. Typical doomsday, fire and brimstone, plague and pestilence type stuff here. With the right tech more might be able to survive, but those in power are not willing to share. Is this the best way for the world to survive?

Overall, I would recommend reading The Future and it is possible to breeze past some of the heavier Enochite posts without bogging the story down.

Thank you to the author Naomi Alderman, publishers Simon & Schuster, and also to NetGalley, for an advance digital copy of THE FUTURE. All views are mine.

I really really love A.I. and I'm a proponent of its development. So when I heard about this book and heard such good things about it, I was really excited to read it. Unfortunately, I think it just makes too many stylistic and narrative choices that kept me from engaging! I was excited when THE FUTURE started describing the differences between human and computer consciousness. I wanted this book to also explore the moral and intellectual tether humans have to A.I., the similarities between us, the responsibility we have to each other... but the narrative didn't go there. It's undoubtedly strange and wonderful, but I couldn't pay attention with this one.

DNF 68%
...
...

Rating: 🦊🐰👁 survivalist forum posts
Recommend? Yes, this just wasn't my jam
Finished: Nov 10 23
Format: Digital arc, Kindle
Read this book if you like:
☄️ dystopian stories
🤖 AI stories
😵‍💫 cult stories
🌈 queer rep
💻 coding

I loved Naomi Alderman’s The Power so I was really excited to read this. Unfortunately, it fell a little flat for me. The evil billionaire(s) trope feels overdone and a little too real? Also it was clear that the characters and companies were based on real and existing people and companies, which felt a little lazy. She is a gifted storyteller though, which is why I kept reading and overall enjoyed the book. Thanks to netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the free copy for review. All review opinions are my own.

What a compelling and engrossing read!

In a world driven by money and power, three tech billionaires plan their escape from a potential apocalypse. With climate change, political unrest, and the possibility of more pandemics on the horizon, they want to be able to control their futures.

But this story is not just about them. It’s about those in their orbit. It’s about modern day survivalists. It’s about the messages of a former cult leader and allegories and discussions on survivalist forum boards. It’s about all those tiny pieces that make up our everyday lives, our lives online, and our world. It’s about the impact made when those tiny pieces shift and change, when they are altered even the slightest bit. It’s about the repercussions a realignment of those pieces can cause.

Told through multiple points-of-view, across a nonlinear timeline, in settings around the world, The Future will grab and hold your attention. It will make you think.

SHORT VERSION:

Fun fast paced story telling. Despite some continuity issues and too much cult and Bible-ish references; really a fun kidnapping plot to disrupt socioeconomic systems by displacing billionaires and reshaping the world to avoid planetary collapse.

LONG VERSION:

In my quest to distance myself from the surplus of dark, dystopian fiction portraying grim futures, I've sought narratives with a more positive outlook. I chose to read this book to explore the author's vision of the future following the redistribution of power through the abduction of several influential figures.

Similar to Alderman's previous work, "The Power," this new novel delves into a critical examination of societal structures, power imbalances, and the impact of technology and greed on human behavior and the planet. The characters grapple with ethical dilemmas as they find themselves uniquely positioned to instigate substantial positive change.

In contrast to Shakespeare’s "Julius Caesar," the conspirators in this tale successfully counter tyranny, avert environmental destruction, and catalyze numerous positive transformations in the world.

A mixed chronology is employed by the author to establish multiple narrative hooks. If you're accustomed to a sequential chronology in your media consumption, this book may pose a challenge to your expectations.

Readers who enjoy the interactive nature of "Choose Your Own Adventure" or appreciate works like “Rayuela,” along with language enthusiasts treating books as tools, might relish the mental challenge of assembling the narrative pieces. For those who, like me, explore books as tools, skipping around and investigating, a rewarding discovery awaits at the end:


“Zhen, I found it. I know you loved up in secret fuck cave or whatever, love is great. When you want to know the truth, email me. mariuszugravescu@gmail.com"


An email to that address is rewarded with an auto response that is very gratifying in an old-school “multimedia” sort of way that fills in a partial “who dunnit” for those of us who don’t believe the concept of “spoilers” exists (see the end of my review).

Since I’m currently enrolled in a product development and marketing class, and I’m thinking in terms of score cards – here are some of the things that came to mind when reading this book over the weekend. Here are some of the archetypes that I ticked off my list for this reading:

Archetypes Explored:

The Hero's Journey: The inner circle orchestrating the disappearance of powerful figures embodies the hero's journey archetype, ushering in positive change.

The Trickster: Both conspirators and billionaires pursue specific outcomes, with differing goals—individualistic for the billionaires and pro-social for the conspirators.

The Rebellion Against Tyranny: The classic archetype of rebelling against tyranny is explored, but the conversion of conspirators against billionaires raises skepticism about their altruistic motivations.

Character Development:
The Sacrifice: Characters compromise integrity for the greater good, exemplified by sending loved ones to a well-provisioned island for indefinite entrapment.

The Fall from Grace: Instead of proving the wrongdoing of billionaires, a scenario is staged for their disappearance, allowing societal and environmental changes in their names.

Narrative Elements:

Cultural Details: Attention to detail varies, with vivid scenes like the Singapore shopping mall contrasting with less engaging aspects such as the Enochite cult and message board descriptions.

Technology and Environment: Technology and environmental descriptions are mainly conveyed through "telling," with the notable exception of the engaging "happymeal" implementation.

Character Dynamics: Martha's character, portrayed as somewhat villainous, could benefit from more development. The challenge lies in the narrative primarily unfolding from Zhen's perspective, limiting insight into other conspirators.

Symbolism and Themes: The Fox vs. Rabbit concept is richly woven into the story, but the tale of Martha and the bear is symbolic, representing her "coming of age" rather than a literal event.

The Shortcomings:

Character Development: Overall development of the four primary conspirators was thin – and the billionaires were very thin. The majority of the character development was spent on Martha, followed by Zhen. As primary actors in the conspiracy – Selah, Badger and Arthur fell flat – while Zhen’s friend Marius had more sparkle and interesting development.

Forced Diversity: The author includes non-heteronormative characters, but the relevance of their queerness is not relevant to the plot. Aside from mentioning that Selah is straight, heterosexuality and gender binary are still the assumed default in this story. Although lip service is paid to non-heteronormative characters (they gay billionaire ousted tech CEO, the enby antifa child of a tech CEO, lesbian survivalist and lesbian child of a survivalist cult leader “gal Friday” of tech CEO) – I’m not getting a strong sense of how Arthur’s homosexuality really matters in this story.

I can’t imagine that the near future is still so accepting of gay billionaires, lesbian survivalists and enby Antifa activists that we have to mention their orientation or gender identity – without doing the same for heterosexual characters.

Cultural Details: Attention to detail was really fantastic in some areas – like the highly detailed scene in the Singapore shopping mall, but the Enochite cult and the message board details were so much “tell” and not show. The retelling of the Bible stories was entertaining but also felt a lot like filler.

Character Dynamics: I wanted to see more of Martha as a primary character so that I can cheer for her – but she’s still played off as a bit of a villain (even at the end, Zhen sees a “heavyset figure” – when her physical shape wasn’t mentioned earlier). Arthur “tells” us the tension for Martha (i.e., father figure issues). Zhen’s security / safety and mother issues are also narrated for us throughout.

One of the challenges of this book is that it’s told primarily from the perspective of a very interesting but non-primary character, Zhen. Yes, she’s an important part of the plot as she was used as a guinea pig to create a potentially fatal proof-of-concept demonstration for technology that was used to persuade the billionaires of its efficacy (and a critical part of the means of duping them).

Overall development of the four primary conspirators is thin – with Martha (the lover of Zhen) having considerably more character development, followed by Badger, Selah and Arthur. Their stories are often told in third person, not through Zhen’s perspective. Selah and Badger feel pretty “flat”.

Symbolism and Themes: In addition to the whole Fox (hunter gatherer) vs Rabbit (farmer) concepts spread thickly across the story – the story about Martha and the bear was not actually about a bear. Think about it: the “bear” didn’t exist. It was her “coming of age” and the bear with the rotten jaw represented her father.

Just a little bit of research (or talking to anyone who goes hiking in the Western US) would tell you: black bears are typically the least aggressive and smallest bears found in the US, any survivalist (or child in California) would know you don’t climb a tree to get away from a bear. Bears don’t typically suffer from dental disease. If the bear wasn’t scared by the arrival of two people in a pickup truck – and was really starving – why not attack those people?

The whole fantasy of climbing up a tree to evade and fatally wounding a skinny, young black bear before hibernation is just a weird detail that didn’t work for me unless you just look at it as symbolism.


The Strengths:

Unique Narrative Structure: The the mixed chronology and the use of multiple narrative hooks, was a lot of fun. I liked the inclusion of the chatboard content but maybe a bit less of that would have allowed for more character development. This narrative structure might challenge readers accustomed to a more sequential chronology.

Interactive Element:The inclusion of private messages added an intriguing layer to the narrative, revealing character motivations and potential conflicts.

Thematic Exploration: The book successfully explored themes of societal structures, power imbalances, and the impact of technology and greed on human behavior and the planet.

Engaging Scenes: Scenes like the one in the Singapore shopping mall had a ton of details and played really well as an action film scene (leave it to a Doctor Who fan!). As a great example of “showing” rather than “telling” -- the implementation of the "happymeal" worm in various social media platforms was well executed.

This one jumps around a lot, but never gets hard to follow. You just have to meet each character as they’re thrown at you, and see where it goes.

Some of the first ones we’re introduced to are billionaires Lenk, Ellen, and Zimri. We can easily see similarities to real people – and real companies – that exist in our real world today. I’ll leave that alone for now, except to say that reading this book may inspire some to take a “social media” break.

Then we start going a little deeper on some of the other people in their orbits: Lenk’s assistant Martha bubbles up to become one of the real main characters here. And, about a third of the way into the book, she makes allies with Zimri’s wife, Ellen’s youngest child, and an ousted founder of the company Ellen took over. They all know how the companies in question are ruining society, and start contemplating if there’s anything they can do to turn the tides.

But also, we meet one other character who isn’t initially tied to any of them: Lai Zhen. She’s an online guru who reviews and discusses survival methods and new survival tech. A growing and fervent portion of the population believes the end is near, and are actively prepping for it. Lai Zhen is one of their minor celebrities.

Lai Zhen eventually becomes entangled with this bunch through Martha, and a very quick dalliance that the two women strike up. Unbeknownst to Lai Zhen, Martha uses her to test out one of the technologies her secret cohort is working on. Later, when they enact their master plan, they don’t realize Zhen still has a working version of the technology… which then forces her to become part of the plan.

There are a few big twists in the rest of the book, but most of them are really just learning who knew what and when. Needless to say, there’s a lot of mistrust amongst the billionaires, as they all see each other as competitors. And Lai Zhen doesn’t fit into their circle at all.

So, this is a sci-fi book, but the future here seems not too far from our own time. And all of it seems very plausible. Some of the context – and even some of the plot – is told through posts on a message board.

There are also a lot of Bible references, with one character being fairly obsessed with the story of Sodom. The idea that Abraham negotiates with God to save the city for 50, 40, and even just 10 good people becomes something that our second set of main characters really toys with. The idea that the world, for all the bad it includes, is still worth saving.

If you like science fiction, or hating on tech bro billionaires, this book is probably for you. It’s a fun read – pretty fast-paced with a lot of locale changes.

This book was intense in the best way! I couldn't put it down. I can't wait for all of my friends to read this book, so we can talk about it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for a review.