Letter to the Future

A Novel

By: Michael D. O'Brien

Narrated by: Kevin O’Brien

Best-selling novelist Michael O’Brien returns to the theme of people of faith striving to find their way through a societal collapse during the rise of new dimensions of totalitarianism.

Set in the near future, all of North America is plunged into crisis as basic communications and other services suddenly and inexplicably fail. As the tension mounts, a disparate group of people come together from several directions, apparently by coincidence. Many of them are strangers to each other, and some are very young—whom their parents and guardians call “our pied piper children.”

Moved by grace and dreams, they leave behind all securities and endure numerous alarming trials as they follow the thread of inspiration, seeking refuge in the mountains of British Columbia. Their choice to proceed in blind faith will bring about unforeseen consequences that are fully revealed only in the distant future.

©2025 Ignatius Press (P)2025 Ignatius Press

insightful and informative

I love this story! it has thrills and insights and leaves me so happy. The narration is superb and immersive+

Great book

Always an excellent author, O’Brien doesn’t disappoint in this new title. His “letter to the future” gives great perspective for those in the present.

O’Brien‘s books are formation wrapped in story.

Michael O’Brien‘s books are focused on Christian formation, but wrapped in stories that are intriguing and often historically rooted.

Not inspiring or particularly Christian

The author's dystopian/utopian future is based on the premise that the collapse of civilization is due, at least to a significant degree, to movements for gender and marriage equality. He also sides with the view that the Black Lives Matter movement is unnecessary ("All Lives Matter") and responsible for violence. The author regularly refers to the future destruction of civilization through human and supranatural causes as the Holocaust without any acknowledgement of the Shoah. There are many inconsistencies in his imagination of an idyllic future, featuring rugged men with no awareness or insight into the role of female labor, other than as breeders and caregivers. The only Christians who matter are conservative Catholics.