This was difficult to stay engaged with. Many persepectives and there was a lot happening. Ineresting use of Bible scripture.

They say you can’t prepare for the future (lowercase, general concept). Turns out, you also can’t prepare for The Future (capitalized, this book). This smart sci-fi thriller was a wild ride from start to finish, and every time I thought I knew where it was going, it unfolded another layer of complexity and deception.

As a preliminary note, I don’t really agree with categorizing this book as a “heist” as the blurb does. There is a fair amount of scheming, but there’s more survival and less infiltrating evil systems. I just want to flag this now as a way to manage expectations going in so nobody is caught off-guard or disappointed.

This is one of those books that, as you’re reading, you can tell just how smart the author is. The deftness with which she blends commentary on technology, religion, psychology, and wilderness survival speaks of a deep comfort with all these topics, and of a creative ability to connect them cohesively, which (happily) prohibits the story from falling cleanly into any one genre or subject. It also allows the book to traverse a variety of themes–independence versus interdependence (with fascinating metaphors about rabbits and foxes), corporate responsibility, internet community (shoutout to one of my favorite micro-tropes, “online friends forced to meet in reality,” which features in a side plot of the book), the benefits and limits of new technology, and more–with a tone that slips effortlessly from humorous to reflective, scathing to sincere.

Few of the novel’s characters are fully likeable, but all of them are, in their weird little ways, sympathetic. For me, this was a major plus, because I love questionable morals, and really, it isn’t surprising when people find themselves making unsavory choices in dire circumstances. I do realize, though, that some may prefer when they can fully root for their protagonists, and though Martha and Zhen are both generally what I’d consider “good people,” they do have their flaws. More obvious are the flaws of the tech giants in the book who, though less savory, do have intriguing character arcs of their own.

I only had two real complaints in this book. First, the start of the novel set the tone a little oddly, with a handful of medium-graphic (but not erotic) sex scenes, an angle that was never again revisited; I could see this putting off some readers, so just trust me, stick it out even if those scenes aren’t your jam–there won’t be more of them once the story gets going. And second, as the book built toward its big twists, at least one reveal was premised on information that was withheld by abridging key scenes earlier–an obfuscation that would make sense from an unreliable limited narrator, but made much less sense from the book’s detached third-person voice. That’s a personal preference thing, though, and I’m sure some people won’t mind; it just sat oddly with me.

Even with those flaws, though, this book was truly a delight to read. If you like your thrillers with a brainy edge, or your sci-fi with a twisty flair, you’ll love this one!

Trigger/content warnings: pandemic, violence, murder, hallucinations, suicide attempt, vomit, religious cult
Rep: sapphic Chinese MC, sapphic fat MC, Black SC, nonbinary SC

I loved Naomi Alderman's The Power and dystopian fiction is my favorite genre. You can imagine how excited I was to receive the ARC for Alderman's The Future. I started reading the book right away and was disappointed from the start. The book is slooow. I mean brutally boring. And what's up with the names?? Lenk Sketlish? Zimri Nommik?

The book centers around a bunch of billionaires who are hatching a plan to save themselves in the event of an apocolypse, a internet-famous survivalist and a cult survivor. I had a hard time caring about any of these strangely named characters and in the end, the book just sort of fell flat for me.

Naomi Alderman creates a future that is not to dissimilar from what we may be facing today. In The Future, Alderman creates an eerie landscape where the richest people on the planet- just a handful of billionaires, come together to predict and protect themselves from the end of the world. (This reminds me of a recent podcast revealing how rich people are buying bunkers right now to protect themselves from the end of the world.)

The story is fast-paced and suspenseful. The character development is engaging. Alderman successfully creates empathetic and flawed characters and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Fun read.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the eARC.

This was a great book; the concept was incredibly unique, and the character development was thorough. It was a multiple POV story, but the stories were woven together in a way that was engaging and never confusing. THAT PLOT TWIST! This really made me think about social media and online presence in a way I had not previously. The characters ended up being wonderfully morally gray, which I prefer. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and look forward to more from Naomi Alderman.

This was my first book by Naomi Alderman. I usually like dystopian books, but this one I struggled to get into. I had started it a few weeks ago, put it down, tried again, put it down, tried again, made it to 48%, and then skipped to the last three chapters to see how it ended.

I spent most of the book confused with what point in time I was in with the switching perspectives and timelines. By reading the last three chapters, I could figure out what occurred during the portion I skipped and did like the moral implications of the story. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get invested in the characters and that is on me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and Naomi Alderman for the eARC.

My review won't do justice to the masterpiece of a story Alderman has created! Complex & startling, this book is simply excellent.

I am DNF-ing this book at 50%. I am not a frequent DNF-er but I have really struggled to keep my attention on this one. I started reading in November and felt like the changing POVs, time lines and circumstances were really hard to follow. I put it down and tried again in December taking it 10% at a time. And lost momentum then as well. Too much detail to set up something without giving us any big reveals. Perhaps I was just on the cusp of it coming altogether but I can't force myself back to it.

I appreciate Simon and Schuster giving me a chance to preview and review this title. I hope my choice to not force myself to finish this one and perhaps end up giving a bad pulic review. My star choice below is simply because Netgalley forces a star rating. I will not be posting this review on any public sites.

Adult dystopian that was hard to get into at first but got better and better. This is the first title that I have read from this author, and I enjoyed it but was not a must read. I enjoyed that it had parts of utopian as well as dystopian but at the same time could really happen in the near future.

I devoured this book. Just like I would like to eat the rich.

The Future is very reminiscent of The Power. It's told by following many different people, whose lives may only overlap for a brief moment.
The setting of The Future may be in 'the future' for us, but to me it felt all too present. Three billionaires are prepping for the end of the world, and then the end of the world arrives.

This book felt like a rollercoaster; the first half was building up to the big drop and the second half was thrilling, not knowing which ways the tracks would twist next.

Despite having a huge cast, the characterisation is so strong and tangible throughout the book. Alderman manages to have a unique voice for each person, without losing focus along the way.

The book is chock full of biblical analogies and questions on who is worth saving and surviving. It was fascinating and gripping and all too real at times. A wonderful piece of work by Alderman, yet again.

This was a fun ride. Overall I enjoyed the story but felt a lack of connection to the characters. Still so excited to keep reading what this author puts out! 3.5 stars rounded down.

I chose this book because I really enjoyed the Power. The Future was even better. The characters were diverse and well-developed, I loved some, hated the others. There were multiple plot lines that diverged in the end with a plot twist I didn't see coming. I had a hard time putting this book down, and it stayed with me for a long time after.

This was overall a good book. I enjoyed the twist and the turns and the unexpected from the book. I like how it incorporates some of the things we have happening in today's society like infiltrating our lives daily with algorithms and tracking what we do online.

It was hard to keep up with what was happening. Sometimes there was not a good definition on what point in the story we were at. Could have been three months to three years and that made it very hard to understand what was going on.

This book was a hard one for me to get into. I think I just don’t mesh well with this author and it is through no fault of theirs. I think I’m just not a fan of this genre. I struggled to make it through this book and I think for the right audience it will be a great book.

I really liked this book and I would definitely recommend it, but the end didn't really hit for me. I also really liked 4/5 of The Power but the end didn't work for me. So maybe that is a me problem or maybe that is a Naomi Alderman problem, I don't know. I did think this was better than The Power so maybe her next book will kill it.

This was a quick and compelling read for me. Although I think it would technically be classified as sci-fi, all of the technology in it felt reasonably possible for a near-future world. There were a few somewhat gory parts but I think it is do-able even for those who may be a bit squeamish. The timeline also jumps around a bit, but I enjoyed the way it felt like snippets/vignettes and it felt like everything tied together at the end. I loved the Biblical allegories and the philosophical ponderings on the purpose of life. It was just enough Matrix red pill/blue pill for me. I would recommend it, but I would probably be selective about who I recommend it to.

Where do I even start? This is a science fiction thriller, if that mashup even exists. If it didn't, it does now. We are in a place like our Earth, maybe a few years ahead of us. The planet is in trouble, like ours will be soon enough. Technology is a little more advanced. There are three big tech firms dun by three ultra rich smart people. only difference for now is every new gadget seems to make the world that much worse off.
There is a small group of people, close to the billionaires in charge, who can see ways to improve the world if they are allowed to do it. The tech bros don't see the need. Those improvements won't expand the bottom line, so they say why bother. The small things the second group try are too small and would take too long. So they look for another way. This book is the story of their other way.
I liked this book. I read it in three days because I found it hard to put down. There are not that many books I can say that about. If I were still working, this book would have gotten me in trouble, reading it when I was supposed to do other things.
The advertising for the book will tease you about Martha and Lai Zhen. They are good guides for our travels in their world so much like ours but different. I especially liked the Sermon of the Fox and Rabbit. You may find that instructive if nothing else in the book stays with you. I highly recommend this book.

I was so excited to get this ARC - thank you Netgalley for this in exchange for review. Sadly, I had a very difficult time getting into this book and could not finish.

This book was a great example of "there's a book for everyone and not all are for me."

Alderman is an excellent writer with strong character and worldbuilding. I did not finish this book but will recommend it to folks who I think may enjoy it!

Thank you netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was unable to finish this book, I thought it had a strong start, but I never quite became engaged in the proceedings.