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.

This book was trippy and weird and wonderful and fascinating. I loved the discussion of AI and the one percent and how we are meant to navigate the end of the world. I was caught by surprise by a few of the plot twists, and really found myself rooting for a couple of the characters. I think my favorite aspect was the Reddit style interface that came up occasionally and was the most philosophical parts of the book.

Wildly imaginative! Wonderful characters. Interesting plot. Vivid descriptions. Simply a GREAT read!

*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.

Alderman stands the dystopian formula on its head by twisting it into a utopian-like future. Elated to finally read something that deals with our current social and environmental crises and ends with hope. Perfect first read of the year.

Another great book by an excellent author!! I was drawn to this title after reading The Power, several years ago.

This author has a great way of pulling the reader into the story. I love reading dystopian stories and was drawn to the fast-paced futuristic novel.

If you enjoyed The Power, this will not disappoint.

I liked Naomi Alderman as a writer and this book is not an exception. I think that this book was an interesting look at the possible future and what could be.. Great book for a the right person.

For an honest review, I received an ARC.

What does the world hold? How does technology influence and impact our future and the progress we make? Do we progress as a whole or as a small elite group?

This book is sci-fi/future technology. If you don't like this genre, it is definitely not for you. While it is not my go-to genre, I am always amazed at the imagination of authors who create these future ideas.

Many highly successful, extremely smart and a little socially awkward tech individuals how control the main tech companies in the world come together to created technology to survive. But are they doing it for them or for the good of the whole.

There are many characters and many stories intertwined and it is difficult to discuss any of them without giving something away.
This is the 2nd book of this author I have read and I will continue to read others if they are created!

This is one of my favorite authors and I was so excited to read this but it was so boring and not at all what I was expecting. The ending was really interesting though and shocking.

Naomi Alderman comes out swinging in her sophomore dystopian novel The Future in which the end of the world is imminent. This time around Alderman it feels is commenting on the haves and have nots when it comes to how they approach apocalyptic problems.
I enjoyed the ride that this novel took me on and the narrator did a fantastic job keeping my attention. I will say the payoff at the end when the twist was revealed didn’t quite make up for all the mental gymnastics that I had to follow to get there. Some of my favorite parts were the conversations had in the forums, these moments were definitely the high points for me. Overall, a solid dystopian tale that will make you think.
Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for access to this title in exchange for an honest review.

Naomi Alderman’s highly anticipated follow-up to The Power does not disappoint. The Future takes on the evils of technology, social media, and the selfishness destroying our planet. Reading this book took me longer than expected, because I was constantly pausing to highlight passages and ponder the philosophies expressed.

Lenk Sketlish, Zimri Nommik, and Ellen Bywater run the world’s biggest technology companies (comparable to Facebook, Amazon, and Apple). None of them are concerned with potential apocalyptic scenarios. They have all built bunkers and are prepared to ride out whatever catastrophe comes, then emerge to create a new world order.

Lai Zhen is a survivalist and famous for her online video demonstrations. She meets Martha Einkorn, Lenk’s assistant, at a conference. Martha grew up in a survivalist cult founded and led by her father. Through Martha, Zhen obtains proprietary software that alerts her to an impending catastrophic event. Ultimately, Zhen is transported to a remote island where the three tech CEOs have hunkered down to wait out the apocalypse.

Alderman uses this scenario to explore the connection between humanity and the environment. As humans evolved from nomadic hunter-gatherers to rooted agricultural communities, both humanity and the environment suffered. Those who are connected to the earth and are in the habit of adapting to its changes, stand a greater chance of survival in a cataclysmic event.

The Future addresses our greatest fears of and frustrations with technology - algorithms designed to increase division and conflict, businesses profiting from personal data, the monetization of hate. Alderman also captures the despair of the populace, the belief that repairing this broken world is impossible.

But there is hope, too. A demonstration of how a million little changes can add up to make a significant impact. The belief that it’s not too late to save the earth and save ourselves.

This was a very solid 3 star read until the very end, which brought it up half a notch because of one plot twist that caught me off guard. The pacing of the first half of this book felt incredibly slow, establishing characters, worldviews, and relationships. The through line of this novel took a bit of time to piece together and I'm not sure if they payoff was worth the elaborately laid clues. In general, I really dig Alderman's dystopias with their incisive social commentary. I do think I liked The Power better than this novel, though.

This was certainly an interesting premise for a book--there are a lot of apocalypse novels out there, but few center around how the über-rich would prep. It was a lot more philosophical than I was expecting, with the narration taking time for asides discussing human nature and technology. I did rather enjoy some of the points and comparisons made, some were very astute and make for good food for thought, while others were just darn good explanations of how things can go wrong.

On the other hand, the heavy focus on philosophy was a bit too on-the-nose for my liking, and ended up just being clunky most of the time. The obvious big tech company parodies were a particular weak point that made me cringe a bit--it's obvious what they're supposed to represent. Let's play a game, can you tell which companies are being thinly veiled?

1. A social media company whose CEO promised a public transit project but ended up pocketing public money; he also accused a rescue team of being "dog-fuckers"
2. A company that makes sleek devices that are hard to repair outside of their ecosystem
3. A package delivery service with a focus on autonomous drones

I know it's supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, but it felt a little derivative instead. It also makes a lot of the commentary about these companies and tech CEOs feel uncomfortably preachy, even when good points are being made. I like it when an author trusts my intelligence as a reader to pick up on what they're trying to say, so it's a bit disappointing when things are as explicit as they are in this book.

One other small complaint: the timeline was messy. Every few chapters we jump to a different point in the story with a different POV, which made it difficult to keep track of what was happening, when, and in what order until the end when everything started to come together. It doesn't ultimately matter much, but I'm a control freak and this made me a little disgruntled.

Not too much to say about the plot, it's mostly there as framing. I did enjoy the Name the Day forum extracts and learned a bit about the Bible along the way. Not a fan of the kind-of deus ex machina-esque ending: woo, public apathy solved! Environment healing! Tech companies broken up! Autonomous car infrastructure built worldwide within two years! Endangered species saved! Accompanied by "No one could say how it had happened, precisely" makes it comical.

I know I complain a lot, but I did overall enjoy the discussions and ideas in this book, and the characters that they're expressed through.

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

Alderman is a master at the intellectual postmodern thriller, so I was so excited to read this one. I actually ended up choosing it as a Book of the Month selection because I wanted it in book form to lend out.

A really interesting (and terrifyingly correct-seeming) story of the 3 billionaires who own the 3 enormous conglomerates in the world (a thinly veiled Apple, Amazon and Facebook) and what could very well happen once the world hurtles into crisis and reaches its final demise. Even though they are main characters, it’s really about their various loved ones and what they’re willing to do to help save the planet.

This woman is incredible writer because she takes different ideas and ties them all together. The woman named martha was very impressive because she came from a completely different type of background. Her father ran a Colt and Oregon called ENOC. H. I. T. E!S. She grew up this way with her father was very interesting because he would talk about the foxes and the hounds. It's a fable story about farming and city life. Her father made her stay in the woods one night by herself. And she knew she could survive anything after killing the bear. So there was a fire and everybody perished. But she was longer on by then and she was off to san francisco. She started to work for these tech companies, which was really interesting how they were trying to control everything. She also bought the Bible in as well. Which was kind of interesting because it was parallel. And what was going on with the book. Also like how she would do like emails. And that was interesting too because that was telling you. You're in have a different perspective coming app in the next chapter. There's a woman she fell in love with name is, ion, but she was on the run as well. Because her family did a lot of stuff and Singapore.. These two women were very interesting and one was a very person who really didn't trust people Martha had a lot of trouble too with this because she was always afraid of what was gonna happen. The book gets really interesting. When these Tech people, men disappear and they ended up on this island and it reminded me of the Lord of the flies in a modern version. There's so many different stories and concepts in this book. And I could see it really happening now because of all this technology. And how we are spying on everybody. Air tags, and this is pretty amazing how she pulled it all together.. These rich people were also planning Places where they could stay if there was a nuclear war or climate changes. I thought that was pretty fascinating too