LoveReading Says
Exploring where the world could well be headed in terms of tech, climate change, and the power the wealthy few have over the poorer, powerless many, Naomi Alderman’s The Future is incredibly smart, incredibly suspenseful, and incredibly entertaining.
Set in a near-future world, The Future is largely centred on a few billionaires who hold all the cards (i.e. money and power) when it comes to technology and having the resources to potentially survive the end of the world. In this world, it’s less a case of survival of the fittest, and more about survival of the richest … maybe.
Among the three billionaires in question are Lenk, “a powerful man who had built his career on the future” aided by his executive assistant, Martha, daughter of a cult religious survivalist leader.
Sparks fly when Martha meets Lai Zhen, a “semi-celebrity in her little survivalist corner of the online multiverse”. As Lai Zhen realises the billionaires might be preparing for the imminent end of the world, there’s a domino effect of global disasters, just as she and Martha independently realise they might have succumbed to that weird thing called love: “There is a thing in human life that can never be predicted or controlled. It is dangerous and terrifying; it destroys your life and fucks up your plans.”
Sharp and audacious, The Future is a thrilling, thought-provoking wild ride of a read, with the suspenseful story peppered with posts from survivalist forums. Add to that a shivery sense of conspiracy, and a killer question at its core (“The question is whether there might be one good man in Sodom”) and The Future amounts to an exhilarating triumph.
Joanne Owen
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The Future Synopsis
'Gripping' MARGARET ATWOOD'A fabulous, witty writer on the digital world' SUNDAY TIMES'A little Atwood, a little Gibson, all Alderman, it's brilliant and I loved it' LAUREN BEUKESThe latest novel from the Women's Prize-winning, bestselling author of The Power, The Future is a white-knuckle tour de force and dazzling exploration of the world we have made and where we are going.Lai Zhen is about to die. As an Internet-famous survivalist, she's spent her life prepping for the end of the world. But now, desperate and cornered in a mall in Singapore, she's mad she might go out not knowing what the hell is going on. If she makes it out alive, what kind of a future will be waiting for her?Across the world, Martha Einkorn works the room at a gathering of mega-rich companies hell-bent securing a future just for them. Covert weapons, private weather, technological prophecy, when Martha fled her father's compound she may have left the cult behind, but if the apocalyptic warnings of his fox and rabbit sermon are starting to come true, how much future is actually left?Martha and Zhen's worlds are about to collide. While a few billionaires assured of their own safety lead the world to destruction, Martha's relentless drive and Zhen's insatiable curiosity could lead to something beautiful ... or the cataclysmic end of civilization.'A rollicking, fun-packed thriller' ALASTAIR REYNOLDS.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9780008672621 |
| Publication date: |
7th November 2023 |
| Author: |
Naomi Alderman |
| Publisher: |
4th Estate an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
416 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Dystopian and utopian fiction
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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Naomi Alderman Press Reviews
'How can a novel of big ideas be such compulsively readable entertainment? A nail-biting love story and a witty page-turner about the pros and cons of human civilization, The Future is a wow.' - Emma Donoghue, bestselling author of Haven
'The Future couldn't be more timely, or more welcome. It's the book we need right now. It manages to be a persuasive, carefully thought-through manual for social and technological change, a roadmap to a better, greener, kinder tomorrow - a world that's ours for the taking if we want it badly enough - while also a rollicking, fun-packed thriller with juicy stakes, constantly escalating twists, and a cast of characters who feel like they already exist somewhere out there in our fragile, free-wheeling present.' - Alastair Reynolds, author of Eversion
About Naomi Alderman
Naomi Alderman was born in 1974 and was brought up in the Orthodox Jewish community in Hendon, London, where she now lives. She is a graduate of the UEA creative writing course and has published short fiction in a number of anthologies.
Naomi Alderman won the Orange Award for New Writers in 2006 and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award in 2007.
More About Naomi Alderman
