This was actually really cool, and I like the writing style. The pacing was alright once I got about a third into it. I’ll probably read this authors other works, too. Very impressed.

There is a lot to love about this 5 star read. It’s hard to review because there is so much going on and I just loved it all. It is insightful - in fact I kept having to stop and read parts aloud to my husband because I wanted to share the awesome and my ebook is full of highlighting. The story jumps between character viewpoints and online chat group postings as the impending (or already here?) apocalypse is debated and prepped for. We get many viewpoints from religious back-to-the-earth preppers to multi-billionaire tech bunker builders. From survivalist vloggers to nihilists. And it’s also really funny. There is a mystery/thriller vibe to the story but with philosophical tangents. The near future Alderman creates feels all too realistic.I love that this book grapples with questions of technology/race/religion/climate change without being preachy about it. What is the proper use of technology? Of wealth? What is community? What is connection? What exactly is survival? And as dark as this book can be at times there is a thread of hope that runs throughout and there is really only one character I can think of that I saw no redeeming value in.
Thanks to Netaglley and Simon & Schuster for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was captivating from the jump. It’s so creative and thoughtful. I loved the fresh spin on Sodom and Gomorrah exegesis. The story gripped me and kept me turning pages for the first half- it’s fresh and high tension. The second half, not so much. It was too long, too much exposition, too much of the author’s opinion. It’s an opinion I tend to agree with but in the end, it’s belabored. So this is 3.5 rounded up for creativity. Queer rep: two of the main characters are lesbians, and a third is non-binary.

Short summary: The future of the world is dire. And mostly in the hands of 3 tech billionaires. A few well positioned souls band together to attempt to save it. If they don’t succeed humanity ends as we know it…

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

Received an ARC from Netgalley and I was super excited to get into this one because I really, really enjoyed The Power. I was absolutely hooked for the first third of the book, Alderman did a great job crafting the dystopian tech overlords at the core of the story. However, this just didn't land for me in the way The Power did. I will definitely be recommending it to fans of Alderman, but it doesn't quite have the same bite. Maybe I just bought in too easily to the idea of Amazon-Meta-Twitter leader stand-ins having survival bunkers and steadily marching the world to crisis to please shareholders.

While The Power was brutal and bleak, yet hopeful, The Future felt too optimistic in a way that left me cold. I suppose it's nice to read something by someone who has some hope for the world and the possibility of goodness in the hearts of man but that simply couldn't be me.

Well. I don’t like Alderman’s view of the future at all lol.

Truthfully, the scariest part of the book is how plausible it is. It is not at all hard to imagine a few billionaires doing some of the things in this book – and I can actually imagine that a certain pasty supervillain billionaire who shall remain unnamed is already doing a few of the things in the book that manipulate social media.

I enjoyed most of our characters – Badger most of all – and definitely enjoyed trying to figure out what was real and what wasn’t.

It’s a mind bender of a book and an excellent read!

• ARC via Publisher

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster publishing for an eARC of this book.

I am a huge fan of Naomi Alderman's work "The Power" and am a fan of science fiction. Thus I was super-enthused to dive into this work.
Unfortunately by the end I was irritated, bored, and glad it was over.

The Pros:
1. This book explores the future of the world we live in today - computer tracking and monitoring our daily lives, data mining our online activity, increasing environment disasters, super-bugs, the ultra-rich and what they may or may not be researching and developing, etc. Concept that I'm sure many of us how thought a great deal about in the past few years. This book explores the gamut in good and bad ways.

2. If you like twists and turns, lies, betrayal, and survival, this will sate your appetite though it will leave you a bit dizzy keeping track of it all.

3. Several chapters are done in a "forum" style that adds some flavor to the storyline and an undercurrent to the main storyline.

The Cons:
1. I understand the effort that goes into publishing a book but to be honest this story read as if the author sat down, started writing, finished the book without re-reading, and sent it off. Even the chapter headings look like placeholders. Towards the end of the book instead of thinking "aha, that's why that chapter/event/conversation was relevant!" it was "a third of these chapters could be cut and it wouldn't matter."

2. No stated timeline. From chapter to chapter you could be a month in the past or three decades or years in the future or all three in one chapter without any reference for how to view it.

3. Too many shallow characters such that the reader never comes to truly value them and all of them unlikable for one reason or another. Ultimately Martha and Lai get the most narration and back story but I almost wish maybe the story had scaled back on them to bring the others more to the forefront. It can be done well "The Power" had four main characters and wove their storylines together expertly.

The Inaccuracies:
1. (Note: the following quote might be changed once the book is published). In one of the "forum" style chapters - the poster, who is supposedly super familiar with Scripture states concerning Abraham and Lot in Genesis 13 write the following:
"But they argued. Genesis doesn't say about what."

Um.. anyone can simply Google to see that's not true - Genesis DOES say about what:
"Genesis13:5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. 6 Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. 7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock."
Pretty straightforward, don't you think?

2. Further down it gets even worse saying Lot and Abraham probably hurled obscenities at each other and hated each other but again straight from Genesis 13:8
"So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren."

May seem small but the whole chapter is essentially trying to make a point from a false story.

Person irritations:
1. Do publishing companies give a $100 bonus each time the F-word is used? A double bonus if it's repeated multiple times in a paragraph? How often in your life do your friends and colleagues say "F- Me" every time something interesting happens? Or "F- you" if they don't like something someone said? Doesn't sound realistic, does it?

2. Are you constantly wondering about the sex lives of the characters you are reading about? Do you want it brought up constantly and in detail repeatedly? Do you want their sexual orientation to be a main character trait? Yeah, me neither, but here we are.

Conclusion:
I'll state again, I understand the work that goes into a publication and perhaps this just wasn't for me, but I won't be recommending it to anyone. It would have been a DNF if I wasn't reviewing it. Sorry.

Power is the key! Feminist values of women learning to access, gain and utilize power from different sources! Becoming the dominant sex/being! This dystopian novel gives you much to think about. Dealing with real present and future challenges/concerns. Climate change, natural resources and cultural/political issues and the ramifications of negative actions or lack of actions!

** spoiler alert **
I received a (digital) ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

After reading The Power, I was excited for Naomi Alderman’s newest novel, The Future. I enjoyed parts of the book - particularly (as a lifelong student of the Bible) the interludes that focused on the story of Lot and his daughters (Genesis 19) and the continued references to that story in the narrative.

The story was enjoyable, though at times I wish the narrative was a little more prosaic, less choppy. Alderman’s pitting tech founders against each other seems prescient in light of the recent talk of a cage match between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk.

Yet I came away a little underwhelmed. The mechanics of how the mostly happy ending is achieved seemed either far fetched or underdeveloped, and the flash-forward at the end left me with a bit of a “so what” taste in my mouth - did they actually achieve anything? Is the point of the book that we’re simply doomed and the task is impossible?

I saw some parallels to Kim Stanley Robinson’s Ministry of the Future, but between the two, KSR’s was the better read - more developed, more ambitious, and perhaps even more realistic.

I am a huge fan of Naomi Alderman and could not wait to read The Future. It did not disappoint in its exploration of the way absolute power corrupts absolutely while providing an engrossing exploration of the way technology is used as a means of control. My favorite thing about the way this narrative unfolded is that it did not protect the mega rich companies and moguls doing the exploitation. If anything, it showed just how much we are, in fact, not in control- no matter how much money, resources, and power one might have.

In this story, Martha grows up in a cult with a fundamentalist Father and ends up fleeing. Martha ends up working for a very powerful social media mogul in tech who develops a program meant to predict the end of the world and keep a chosen few protected. Martha uses the insights she gains through her position to try and do right and ends up having to face the consequences of her actions by being held accountable by the one person who's most affected by her decisions.

In the end, we learn a lot about who people actually are versus who they deluded themselves into believing they could be. This is a page turner that lovers of fast-paced dystopian/utopian fiction are going to love. The ending surprised me and still left me gratified which I wasn't expecting while reading an apocalyptic book. I was very satisfied with how the ending makes us have to truly self-examine our beliefs about the end of the world and what does/should matter most.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the e-arc copy!

Internet influencer, Lai Zhen, discusses survival strategies with her followers but when an assassin targets her in a Singapore mall she is forced to utilize all of her skills to stay alive. Wondering who would want to kill her she is forced to go on the run while seeking answers. Martha Einkorn ex-cult survivor has turned her life around. Now she works for a wealthy social media mogul intent on controlling the world. When a predictive app, warns of the apocalypse, she is reminded of her prophetic father’s Rabbit/Fox sermons and the signs that would accompany the end of times. Zhen and Martha’s worlds are about to collide in an attempt to change the future.

The Future is a thrilling new sci-fi novel which takes a look at humanities impact on the planet and each other. When the worlds pending distraction is predicted by a trend analysis app a small group of people work together to figure out how to survive while potentially saving what they can. I won’t give any spoilers but I will say that there are a lot of twists and turns in this novel leading you down several rabbit holes. Each character introduced plays a roll in both the events occurring throughout as well as the final outcome. I loved The Power so I was excited to see how this novel would play out. Although some of the information was a bit over my head I still really enjoyed this one. I think this would be a great choice for a book group as there is a lot of information to reflect on and discuss. A must read for 2023!

This was an interesting book, a vision of the future that we are creating with technology, waste, ruining the environment and four people who attempt to save the world. The author is very smart and has created a very in depth look. It made it a bit of a slow read for me and would have liked it to be tighter, but I do admire her ability to do what she did.

I thoroughly enjoyed the author's previous book, The Power, although I am generally not a fan of the dystopian novel. This book, however, was not to my liking. I am not a fan of technology nor of dystopia so it didn't work for me. Only got through the first through chapters in which I felt like I needed to keep a cheat sheet of all the different characters and their roles. Not interested in the story line which was about how rich and powerful people were going to escape the apocalypse. Only recommend to readers who love technology and dystopia.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Naomi Alderman wrote

While I personally did not care for the structure of this book, I thoroughly enjoyed the premise even if I was lost a bit here and there. The super wealthy are destroying the Earth while simultaneously ensuring their survival in the Future with elaborate bunkers. The wealthy know civilization is collapsing before everyone else does and they squirrel away. But each of these wealthy people has someone in their network that wants to end those plans and use the technology for something better. The reader is introduced to a variety of characters and ways of life, city versus rural dwelling or different types of jobs. The author sheds light on how we are not so connected in the most connected age, survival, and community, as well as other topics, such as climate change.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster. I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Tech giants doing what they do with a reckless disregard for what it’s doing to the world? Sounds about right. Ordinary people planning a heist to take them down before they destroy the world as we know it? Now we have a fun book! The characters were well fleshed out and the plot only drug in a couple of places. Overall, I really enjoyed this book.

I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley. I found it really fascinating and full of action. The main focus is on 3 billionaires working on a plan to save themselves at the end of civilization. Meanwhile a young survivalist finds herself pulled into their orbit. Well-written and kept my attention to find out what happens to everyone. A timely story about what really matters.

First off, this book is complex, required a lot of thinking to put the pieces together, and I loved it. As in, I kind of want to read it again so I can focus more on the intellectual pieces and not just focusing on racing through the plot.

A bit of the story without giving to much away: three massive tech leaders (a al Musk or Zuckerberg), with their complete disregard for the havoc they are imposing on the world, have build bunkers to survive the end times and hidden them in wildlife preserves. When the call comes that it is time to split town, then end up in their own survival nightmare. If I tell you more than that, it might give things away.

This novel includes ruminations on the role of technology in life, the power of tech companies and the uber wealthy, our desires to create safe futures for ourselves, and contains a positive message about the possibilities of change. I am wowed by the author's ability to address these subjects so deeply in an exciting narrative that I could hardly put down.

So basically this book is about taking down tech giants. A group of friends plot an incredible and impossible heist to save the world from the tech giants whose greed is threatening the life of everyone. I thought this book was amazing. The world building is top tier. The character development is outstanding and the plot is nothing like I have read. please please pick this up and read it when it comes out.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance e-reader copy of The Future by Naomi Alderman.

Part of the science fiction sub-genre of environmental dystopia, The Future is set a decade or two from now in a world that has become even more polarized between the haves and the have-nots. The environment continues to erode, technology is all-consuming and all-knowing thanks to data mining and religious fanatics proliferate.
Lai Zhen, a survivalist influencer with several million followers, meets Martha Einkorn, the right hand woman to billionaire Lenk Sketlish. Lenk owns and operates the social media giant Fantail which, along with Anvil and Medlar (feel free to fill in the real names of these online behemoths), control much of the world’s commerce and behavior. But the world might be ending soon, later, or right now.

Creative, creepy, subversive and a bit long and disjointed, The Future is a prescient look at what might be around the corner for us, if we don’t act soon.

Four stars. And change your permissions and passwords.

I think my older students will like this, it has a lot to think about and discuss in this science fiction futuristic novel. It's tone is dense at times and pessimistic but I think they will enjoy the read