The Unincorporated Man

By: Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin

Narrated by: Todd McLaren

Length: 23 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

The Unincorporated Man is a provocative social/political/economic novel that takes place in the future, after civilization has fallen into complete economic collapse. This reborn civilization is one in which every individual is incorporated at birth and spends many years trying to attain control over his or her own life by getting a majority of his or her own shares. Life extension has made life very long indeed. Now the incredible has happened: a billionaire businessman from our time, frozen in secret in the early 21st century, is discovered and resurrected, given health and a vigorous younger body.

Justin Cord is the only unincorporated man in the world, a true stranger in this strange land. Justin survived because he is tough and smart. He cannot accept only part ownership of himself, even if that places him in conflict with a civilization that extends outside the solar system to the Oort Cloud. People will be arguing about this novel and this world for decades.

©2009 Dani and Eytan Kollin (P)2009 Tantor

One of my all-time favorites!

This book is one of my all-time favorites now. Great book for libertarians and anarcho-capitalists or just lovers of great science fiction, especially speculative fiction

A thinking person's read

This book takes an unashamed look at two very different ways of life. One of our current world system, and the new future of the world. It doesn't shy from the short comings or the benefits of either and while the new "Unincorporated" man slowly learns about his new world we live on a precipice of uncertainty. Which is the better society? The characters could have been flushed a little better, and some loose ends are left unattended at the end. However as with many great books this is one of the journey. Not the destination. We are voyeurs through Justin Cord's eyes as we explore the what if of this brave new world.

This book doesn't make you feel comfortable, it is brutal in its portrayal of both worlds. Scars and all. It is very easy to see some serious correlations to our emerging corporate influenced world as well. If you want to put the book down it isn't because it will bore you... it will be because you might not like what you see in yourself.

Brilliantly written, and one of my favorite narrators (Todd McLaren) who narrated some of Richard K Morgan's books as well as S.M. Stirling. This book does have a Market Forces world feel with more of an Altered Carbon technology.

This is true SciFi, and quite a trip down the yellow brick road. If it isn't too much to ask "Might we have some more?"

Woooo What A great Book

Woooo What A great Book I gave it 5 stars because there isn't 10 stars ..This is a thought provoking story set just a few centauries in the future and is a good (what if Story)I liked it well enough that I will listen to it again soon..
I hope that you like as much as I did.. :)

A worth while read.

It was an easy read. The book brings an interesting concept to shareholders and other human interests.

Just when you think you've got it figuired out

I found this story very well done. The author wrote it in such a way as to make you think that the story is very predictable, but then all of a sudden he takes you in a very different direction. He also does it in such a way so that when you look back at the story it all fits. He doesn't just throw things in. He really does a good job of it. Another thing done well is the construction of the world in which he places you. It is very believable and hopefully in the not to distant future some of the tech described will come about. Lastly the description of the political environment will and should provide many hours of thought and discussion for those interested in such things. And I would highly recommend it as a good read for a political science class to stimulate discussion.

Interesting but unpolished and unconvincing

The authors had a compelling premise here, but spoiled it by imposing a good versus evil showdown on top of what could have been a fascinating moral issue.

The protagonist wakes up in world where everyone is incorporated at birth, and where they own less than a majority of their own stock. Our hero is startled at the perceived lack of liberty that these people have, though it is pointed out to him again and again that this system eliminated poverty and war, creating an overall quality of life that is much better for everyone on average.

If the book had taken time to let the readers explore the pros and cons of this new system, and make up their own minds about it's validity and morality, then this could have been a great book. Instead, we are immediately confronted with a too-evil bad guy who ends up representing all of incorporation (metaphorically and literally). Because he is such an evil jerk, we, as readers, are forced to align ourselves against him, in spite of the fact that his arguments are extremely convincing. We are told what to think instead of letting us make up our own minds.

The writing feels pretty amateurish in that the protagonist is way too smart/prescient at the beginning, though that seems to taper off steeply as the story progresses. There are other places where the writing is half-baked: entire plot lines, which seem vital to the story, are abandoned completely. Also, their is this really contrived will-they/won't-they romance based on a ridiculously unbelievable and artificial taboo. This taboo seems sacrosanct until it is broken, at which point everyone important acts like it is no big deal at all--totally inconsistent.

The authors did paint an interesting picture of future society and technology, which is largely why I've given them 3 stars instead of just 2.

Ultimately I'm left unsatisfied with this book, largely because I was very swayed by the pro-incorporation arguments, and the anti-incorporation argument really boiled down to feelings, rather than any articulated points against it.

Interesting ideas packed into a page-turner

At least 4 great, uncommon ideas packed into an exciting story. AI, economics, atomic manufacturing, and more

How many shares are too many?

Justin Cord has been awakened from his hidden suspension unit approximately three hundred years after being stored. His cancer is gone, the world he knew is gone and the one he has woken to, though much better, is painfully flawed to his world view. Everyone owns shares of people and thinks that is an acceptable practice.
You might consider this story to be rather slow moving and dull. That would be a wrong assumption. Hector Sambianco, a constitutional law attorney on special assignment for GCI, is a first class Dill-hole. He knows what shares of Justin Cord would be worth and he is constantly angling to get him to incorporate though any means available.
Action includes neurolyzers, 24th century taser, that disrupt a person’s brain for permanent death; membrane walls that part to let you through instead of doors, until you walk into one that dissolves your body; security robots that have no mercy; psyche audits were nanites are injected into your brain to rewrite aberrant behavior pathways. That’s enough spoilers to whet your appetite.
The version I consumed was an audio book from audible. The product was excellent and the narrator did a superb job on gender voices. Story and delivery get a thumbs up.

I like to maintain some consistency in these reviews so this work is getting a five out of five on entertainment points. Some might think that five out of five is a masterpiece. I am not that snobby. Five out of five to me means that I enjoyed it, recommend it and found nothing to detract from it.

One Free Man!

What a concept of people being incorporated from birth. Very original if this had not been thought up before. I can't remember anything similar being portrayed in book or film. As long as the book was, it would need to have been much longer to cover all the detail for me to give it 5 stars. But I was very glad I used my monthly credit to get this one.

The "virtual museum" was almost terrifying. I almost had to pull over to listen to that. Sorry, can't give any clues about it or would be a spoiler.

Very Heinlein-esque

First, if you love Robert Heinlein, I really think you'll like this book. It reminded me of Stranger in a Strange Land. I blew through this book in 2.5 days. Maybe not such a major to some, but to me it was. I fit 23+ hours into 30 hours of work & free time. I craved this book, it was hard for me to out it down. The first time I took notice of how far I was into it, 10 hours had already slipped by.

The narrator, Todd McLaren, helped bring this story to life. I was very impressed with his performance.