Don’t let the generic title of this novel fool you. It is a stylish, multifaceted, fast-paced, and well-written near-future fable that reveals itself as even more prescient due to recent political events in the United States. It concerns three billionaires, the owners of the three largest tech companies in the world, three of the richest people on the planet. One company controls a social media network, one company dominates worldwide internet sales, and one company creates cutting-edge tech equipment. Sound familiar? These three wealthy and powerful people couldn’t care less about the rest of the human race; they are concerned only with increasing their own fortunes at any cost and with ensuring their own survival even if everyone else faces a catastrophe and perishes. This is uncomfortably close to present-day realities. In fact, as I read The Future I was frequently reminded of wealthy billionaires of whom the characters in the book seem to be doppelgangers, those who buy up vast properties and construct bunkers and fortresses on them, presumably to save themselves from whatever ill fortune comes upon the rest of the human race.

So the selfish billionaires function as the villains, but in great stories villains need foils, and in The Future we have several, including a survivalist influencer who as a child lost her family in the decimation of Hong Kong, a personal advisor to one of the tech overlords who escaped a fanatical religious cult in Oregon as a teen, a former tech CEO who was ousted in a hostile takeover, the empathetic son of one of the tech moguls, and one of the tech mogul’s wives who is also a genius programmer. Together these people plot to relieve the self-centered billionaires of their fortunes and their power and use these for the betterment of humanity… But I don’t want to give away too much of the story. This novel is something that I find too rarely nowadays: a real page-turner. I generally keep quite a strict schedule during the week, and in the middle of the day I allot a period of rest that I usually spend reading. When I need to get back to the computer and my work, I put down whatever book I am absorbed in and get to it. However, while reading The Future, I often yielded to the urge to read just one more chapter before I got up.

One thing I found interesting about The Future is that it is divided into a complex array of sections and chapters but there is no table of contents. This is because the various divisions, titles, and subtitles throughout the text form a pattern integral to the story. Early on I also found it a bit disconcerting that Alderman does not tell the tale sequentially but uses frequent flashbacks and flash-forwards. As the story progresses, though, it becomes apparent that there is a rhythm to all of this and it enhances the novel’s overall impact. As a final deviation from standard publishing procedure, at the story’s penultimate point Alderman inserts an acknowledgments section, and after this appears the book’s last chapter. As I said, the novel is stylish. Sometimes, in some books, stylistic flourishes can be annoying, but in The Future, they are great fun and add to the book’s appeal.

In conclusion, this book was a pleasing discovery for me, and reading it was an enjoyable and gratifying experience. Highly recommended.