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The Future  By  cover art

The Future

By: Naomi Alderman
Narrated by: Guinevere Turner, Natalie Naudus, Jeremy Bobb, Santino Fontana, Graham Halstead, Lorelei King, Fred Sanders, Naomi Alderman
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Publisher's summary

A Most Anticipated Book of Fall at Associated Press, Booklist, Chicago Tribune, Goodreads, Good Housekeeping, Literary Hub, Time, The Week, and W Magazine

The bestselling, award-winning author of
The Power delivers a dazzling tour de force where a handful of friends plot a daring heist to save the world from the tech giants whose greed threatens life as we know it.

When Martha Einkorn fled her father’s isolated compound in Oregon, she never expected to find herself working for a powerful social media mogul hell-bent on controlling everything. Now, she’s surrounded by mega-rich companies designing private weather, predictive analytics, and covert weaponry, while spouting technological prophecy. Martha may have left the cult, but if the apocalyptic warnings in her father’s fox and rabbit sermon—once a parable to her—are starting to come true, how much future is actually left?

Across the world, in a mall in Singapore, Lai Zhen, an internet-famous survivalist, flees from an assassin. She’s cornered, desperate and—worst of all—might die without ever knowing what's going on. Suddenly, a remarkable piece of software appears on her phone telling her exactly how to escape. Who made it? What is it really for? And if those behind it can save her from danger, what do they want from her, and what else do they know about the future?

Martha and Zhens worlds are about to collide. An explosive chain of events is set in motion. While a few billionaires assured of their own safety lead the world to destruction, Martha’s relentless drive and Zhen’s insatiable curiosity could lead to something beautiful or the cataclysmic end of civilization.

By turns thrilling, hilarious, tender, and always piercingly brilliant, The Future unfolds at a breakneck speed, highlighting how power corrupts the few who have it and what it means to stand up to them. The future is coming. The Future is here.

©2023 Naomi Alderman (P)2023 Simon & Schuster Audio

Interview: Naomi Alderman offers us a glimpse into "The Future"

'Community building and conflict resolution are incredibly underrated survival skills...'
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  • The Future
  • 'Community building and conflict resolution are incredibly underrated survival skills...'

Editorial Review

I can't stop thinking about The Future
Naomi Alderman may be the smartest writer working today. In The Future, as she did in her breakout hit The Power, she draws on rich religious traditions, cutting-edge technology, world history, climate science, and a deep, unflinching understanding of human nature to deliver a complex and multilayered speculative thriller with an imaginative structure that keeps you on your toes. Her massive cast of well-sculpted characters has been matched with an equally impressive narrative cast, including Natalie Naudus, Guinevere Turner, and Santino Fontana. It's hard to sum up everything I loved about this listen, but maybe top of the list is how I can't seem to stop thinking about it. —Emily C., Audible Editor

What listeners say about The Future

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    5 out of 5 stars

Entertaining and thought provoking

I really enjoyed the story. At times it is a bit preachy about what humans are doing to the earth - so if that offends you, may want to pass. But I was entertained by the story and characters.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

A decent story… until the end.

I was pretty entertained for most of it, but the author couldn’t help but give it a Hollywood ending which ruined it for me.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Even better than The Power

Great story, interesting, deeper themes than most sci-fi, and occasionally truly funny. I’ve loved Naomi Alderman since she was d working with Zombies, Run! This was a real treat.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Plot twist

I loved The Power but almost gave up on this book because I just cannot handle more dystopia since the pandemic. Then there’s a plot twist, then another. All artfully done, poignant without being saccharine. Doesn’t end with toxic positivity, nor does it end with despair. Perfect. Also hilarious that it’s available on Amazon and Audible. IYKYK

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A wonderful “what if”

The entire premise was amazing. Ideas close to my heart. Weaving the intellectual, technological, and religious ideologies together were interesting. My only complaint the internal monologues were sometimes a bit lengthy.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Keeps you intrigued

This one was definitely way different than what I normally read but it definitely kept me in intrigued and interested. It was written really well.. It did go back and forth on timelines quite a bit which made it a bit hard for me to track but overall it was really good and even had a few twists I wasn’t fully expecting.

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    3 out of 5 stars

Good story premise.

This book was one that needs to be read, not listened to. Unfortunately listening the only way available for me. It was very hard to follow who was who and what they were doing in this format.

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gripping story of our world today and the choices we made

Great story. the characters are an indictment of our current times and the tech she uses is captivating to learn about. A truly fun book that makes you think.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Good premise. Poorly done

The pacing was awful. Also the way the forum threads were read was particularly painful.

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Hats Off

Almost perfect. Pace excellent and story line kept me hookes. Don't look back look forward

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