Humanity at its worst when elites are power hungry with greed and selfishness...

This book is a powerful read for me that left me deep in thought.

Three elites, finding out there is a possible world end. Do they try to save society or just focused on saving themselves?

Hit true to my belief that's for sure....

There is so much to this book I recommend this to everyone to read especially any rich elite.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced digital ARC in return for my honest opinion.

I had a hard time rating this one due to mixed feelings. This is one of those books that I think would be great for a book club because discussion with others would have really helped me better form my thoughts and opinions. I went in thinking it was a dystopian novel about the world ending but it was so much more than that. Part of the story revolves around three tech billionaires, loosely based on Bezos, Musk, and Zuckerberg. They're all preparing for a predicted apocalypse with secret bunkers and plans for "the future." The other main characters are Martha, Lenk's (aka Mark's) assistant who was raised in a survivalist cult and Zhen, who made it through the Fall of Hong Kong and now runs a highly successful survival vlog. There are a few more interesting side characters but they all share a common plot, preparing for the future.

There's a lot of different themes and deep ideas going on, such as affects of global warming, pandemics, the power of technology and AI, religion and the Bible, Fox vs Rabbit, individual vs world population, and what our real-life future may look like.

Overall, even though I only gave three stars, I highly recommend because I think many will ultimately enjoy this one more than I did. I loved the premise, the ending, and some sections through the middle. But a lot of other parts bored me a bit and I felt relieved when I would get through them.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the free copy for review.

This book is a wild ride - Billionare, envionmental collapse, AI, Technology, survivalist and CULTS - its alot going on but was hooked the whole time. The path to the end was not what i expected. I was a big fan of The Power years ago and this does alot of the same well - making you rethink alot of your worldview and assumptions (while also being very entertaining). can see this as a great apple TV show someday in THE FUTURE - out 11.7

Naomi Alderman's The Future is an absorbing and unpredictable dystopian novel. I absolutely loved it and could not put it down. It's taken me a few weeks to actually draft a review because the book is so unique and many aspects that I loved I'd rather leave to the reader to discover on their own. In the broadest of strokes it's about corporate greed, a pandemic, a climate crisis and survival. It's brimming with questions of morality, often invoking the tale of the wicked city of Sodom. What do the richest of the rich owe to society? What does the individual owe to the community? Do the ends justify the means? This book will have you thinking and keep you thinking long after you've turned the final page. If you're concerned such a philosophical book would be a bore, then you'd be wrong. The Future is fast-paced and action-packed, with multiple intriguing settings and plot twists.

I know Alderman's previous book, The Power, was wildly popular. It's been on my TBR for far too long. I can't wait to read that one too!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC.

DNFd. I couldn't get into it. I tried rereading it so many times but the beginning was just too difficult to get past. I'm sure it's good I just couldn't get past the beginning. Sorry!

What an imagination Naomi Alderman has! This stunning, unputdownable book is a caper novel with a love story at its sci-fi heart. An unflinching look at how technology is transforming our world — for good and ill — that is somehow idealistic and optimistic. Reading it put me in mind of Neal Stephenson's REAMDE and Cryptonomicon, but for the world we live in now (and with a satisfying centering of women). What a fantastic, thoughtful, affecting ride! I'll be featuring this book in the November 10 episode of my podcast The Library of Lost Time (https://strongsenseofplace.com/library).

The Future is a novel set in the not so distant future where the big tech powerhouses are leading the world into turmoil. The top 3 are notified of an event that will destroy the world, so of course they calmly make their way to their private jet & fly over to their fully secured bunkers until it's all over. We follow Zhen a refugee-survivalist vlogger & Martha one of the top companie's executive assistant. We see as they question what extremes they are willing to face to save the world from destruction.

The premise of The Future sounded so interesting, I couldn't resist not reading it. I was fully invested in the story from the beginning. I liked how it relates in a way to our current society & it made it easy to identify who the big tech giants were. It makes you think of the privilege of the one percenters & how easy it would be for them to just hide out in their bunkers while the rest of the world suffers apocalyptic chaos. I also thought the biblical allegory to foxes and rabbits was interesting. I think this book would make a great book club read to discuss more in depth.

Thank you #simonbooks for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

Another fascinating concept by Alderman (although I liked The Power better). Set in a not too distant future, the first half of this book is character building/backstory. Then the plan is put into motion. Then the twists happen. What would happen if incredibly rich tech CEOs decided to save themselves while the world burned? It's a horrifying and fascinating glimpse into a possible future, and a very interesting read.

"The Future—as the richest people on the planet have discovered—is where the money is.

The Future is a few billionaires leading the world to destruction while safeguarding their own survival with secret lavish bunkers.

The Future is private weather, technological prophecy and highly deniable weapons.

The Future is a handful of friends—the daughter of a cult leader, a non-binary hacker, an ousted Silicon Valley visionary, the concerned wife of a dangerous CEO, and an internet-famous survivalist—hatching a daring plan. It could be the greatest heist ever. Or the cataclysmic end of civilization.

The Future is what you see if you don’t look behind you.

The Future is the only reason to do anything, the only object of desire.

The Future is here."

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

Is there a future wherein a computer app could predict the future and keep you safe?
Can technology save us from ourselves? Should it? If technologic geniuses discovered such answers …would they make all our lives better or ?
This novel is a very entertaining exploration of those questions…along with interesting answers.
I do recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!

If you love stories involving futuristic science fiction you will like this. Four people make a plan to escape for the end of the world. The story is told from multiple perspectives in multiple voices. It is easy to read and plot flows easily.

"The Future" by Naomi Alderman takes readers on a thrilling journey to a world where the future is the ultimate prize, but it comes at a steep cost. As the richest individuals on the planet discover, the future is where the money is, and they are the ones leading the world to destruction while securing their own survival in opulent secret bunkers.

Alderman's vision of the future is a terrifying one, where private weather, technological prophecy, and highly deniable weapons shape the landscape. In the midst of this chaos, a handful of friends, each with their unique backgrounds and motivations, including the daughter of a cult leader, a non-binary hacker, an ousted Silicon Valley visionary, the concerned wife of a dangerous CEO, and an internet-famous survivalist, come together to hatch a daring plan. It could be the greatest heist ever, or it could spell the cataclysmic end of civilization.

"The Future" is a poignant exploration of what we might become if we fail to look behind us, blindly pursuing an elusive future at any cost. It's a stark reminder that the future is not just a goal but the only reason to do anything, the ultimate object of desire. Alderman's portrayal of this future world is both enthralling and unsettling, making it a thought-provoking addition to the realm of dystopian and speculative fiction.

#netgalley
#simonandschuster
#naomialderman #thefuture

I was a huge fan of Naomi Alderman’s The Power and at first thought this was a sequel given the similar naming structure. However, it’s obvious pretty quickly that this is a standalone novel. Unlike The Power, the sci-fi, dystopian elements of this one feel way more true to life. It brings together religious cults, doomsday preppers, and tech billionaires in a way that is as genius as it is a damning indictment of society. I couldn’t put it down. Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the advance copy.

The Future (pub. November 7, 2023) by Naomi Alderman was just as good as her 2016 The Power (now an Amazon Prime limited series I still need to watch) but in a different way. Where The Power highlighted feminism and what could happen if women suddenly obtained an innate power to protect themselves, The Future goes further and highlights capitalism, tech, climate change, survivalists and what could happen to the future if just a few very powerful people didn't get to make decisions that affect everyone else? I loved it and couldn't wait to read what happened next.

Alderman focuses on two characters--Martha Einkhorn, executive assistant to techbro billionaire Lenk Sketlish--and Lai Zhen, survival expert and content creator. Their paths cross when Zhen interviews Martha and sparks fly between them in an interview that feels like a date, intimate but also viewed by the world, that results in a several-night fling.

In Martha's circles, besides Lenk, CEO of Fantail (social media), are Ellen Bywater, widowed female CEO of Medlar (operating systems) and her nonbinary child Badger, and Zimri and Selah Nommik (Zimri is CEO of Anvil--logistics and purchasing--and Selah his wife and hotshot computer scientist/coder). These most powerful people in the world have contingency plans--their own bunkers paid for by their billions so that when the world ends, they and their chosen few will be able to continue.

With the story interspersed with excerpts from a survivalist message board and going back and forth in time and all over the world, it took a while to figure out what was going on, but when it was obvious--wow! What a thing to do.

The Future was also, happily, fat-positive, as Martha Einkhorn was described as "heavy-set" with creamy, freckled skin, and she was much-desired by Zhen.

✨𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀✨
• relatable, world events
• multiple timelines
• intertwining stories
• survivalist/doomsday preppers
• end of the world apocalypse

✨ 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 ✨
This book will leave you sitting where you are, book in hand, while you contemplate how real the story is and could be. The Future is Now.

What worked for this book was Naomi‘s writing skills. And the reality of it all. At first I struggled to get into the story and understand what was happening, but it soon started to unravel. The story revolves around the decisions of many people in the role we all play no matter how rich or poor or our status in life.

What didn’t work for me was the forum sections. They were a little odd to read in the format chosen. Sometimes I felt a little disjointed and jumbled as I read through, but once everything ties together, it makes more sense.

Know that this wanders (yes wanders) back and forth in time and place, includes long discussions of the Bible (especially the story of Lot), and skewers the titans of the tech world even as it has a love story in the center. This is an unusual read, to say the least and it won't be for everyone but once you get the rhythm and latch on to a character, it's a page turner. Set in the future (not clear when) it's sort of about what happens when three titans set themselves up to escape when the world is falling apart thanks to the next pandemic (or the one after). They're meant to be going to bunkers. But first there's Lai Zhen, a survivalist and Martha, assistant to the all powerful Lenk but more importantly a woman who survived her father Enoch's end of days cult (and a bear). There are computers (so many computers), drones, Marius the ace Romanian hacker, Badger and and the rest. I struggled with the philosophical discussions that separate some of the chapters but that's a small quibble. Alderman has a big imagination and lots of ideas. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A very good, quite thought provoking read.

The Future by Naomi Alderman reads like a view of our potential future if the world were run by a few self-centered billionaires (wait...), if we had remarkable drone technology (yeah...), and if the earth was perishing from global warming (uh...). It's essentially an action-packed and thought-provoking narrative about the planet we might inhabit in the not-too-distant future. And I enjoyed almost every second of it!

The plot follows a number of different characters as an impending apocalypse approaches. The world's three wealthiest billionaires hatch a plan to escape what's coming by utilizing underground bunkers concealed across the planet. They don't care to stop the imminent death and destruction because they believe they can survive and prosper when it's over. Others, however, believe they can undo the harm done and save the world and the people in it. If they want to be successful, they must race against the clock and devise hidden strategies without getting caught.

I'd heard excellent things about Naomi Alderman's previous novel, The Power, but never had the chance to read it. This was my first exposure to Alderman's work, and I'm now a big fan! I intend to read everything the author has written.

The Future is a wild ride that makes you wonder how much of this fictional story could actually happen. How much of it has already happened?! I strongly recommend you add this book to your reading list!

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

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. It had twists that I saw coming, some that I didn't. The book has a satisfying, unexpected, and thought-provoking ending.

What this really comes down to is, what are you willing to do to try for a better future?

Three major tech players and their supports (assistants, wives, predecessors, children) are making plans for the failure of society. They have multiple hidden bunkers and are ready to go into hiding to survive and come out on top.

All too soon that day arrived.

Unexpectedly a fourth party, the lover of one of the supports, also finds her way onto their safe haven. It doesn't take long for the three enormous egos to go to war, but it takes years for the full truth to be revealed.

SPOILER ALERT
And then the end shows up that no matter how much progress we make there's always some mindset, group, person willing to drag everything back down.

This is an engaging, entertaining read, but it's not at all fun.

How to explain this book? It was unlike anything I ever read, and was more like 3.5🌟

If I had to keep it really short, I would describe this book as fascinating but slow.

To expand on that - the concept is fascinating and somewhat disturbing. Huge tech companies questionably collecting, using, and exploiting data collected from their customers to push their own agendas and consumerism; sound familiar? Add in a layer of severe climate change and a devastating pandemic that has the potential to destroy the planet while previously mentioned CEOs have all of the resources to survive and don’t plan on sharing, makes for a read that makes you think “how unrealistic is this actually? Because I can kinda see it….”

Other than the overarching concept, I also enjoyed the formatting (short & long chapters, multiple POV, forum-styled posts) and diverse representation.

Unfortunately, the book itself was SO SLOW. The pacing was off - it started strong, fell off, picked back up again, slowed down, then left with a “wait, what?”. I also didn’t love that I couldn’t figure out the timeline of the book - sometimes I thought a day or week had gone by, only to find out later it was months or years. It felt hard to connect with the characters and their stories when I had no concept of how long they were experiencing their struggles.

Food for thought: “… this was how these technology fortunes had been made: make it all so easy and enjoyable and frictionless that you never start to ask yourself the big questions about whether this is really how you want to be spending your life.”

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for sending me an ARC copy!