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A review by richardbakare
The Future by Naomi Alderman
3.0
“The Future” by Naomi Alderman is a cynical commentary on the social dynamics of contemporary society. While all science fiction does this at its core, Naomi Alderman’s take is particularly focused on the consequences of the worst of us playing out their worst ideas. It is dark and disturbing in parts and should come with trigger warnings for almost every subject imaginable.
The core premise is fascinating and relevant. However, the flow felt disjointed in parts. Perhaps that start and stop flow is used by Alderman to represent the fractured in our society. At other moments, the flow leaned too much into the doomsday prepper trope. My other frustration was that Alderman gives us characters who may be intentionally hard to connect to.
These faults in the book make it hard to form a vested interest in the outcome, which made me want to put it back on the shelf at times. The middle is also a bit drab but accelerates into a compelling story near the end. I wonder how much the narrative could have been improved with some thinning down of characters and plot lines.
All that said, the novel is timely given the re-ignited hatred for greedy billionaires and technocrats. Certain qualities about it reminded me of Kurt Vonnegut’s “Cat’s Cradle.” Alderman also throws in a satisfying twist at the end that will satisfy the appetites of anyone in the “ eat the rich” camp. Kudos to Alderman for constructing a world where someone stands up to the oligarchs. While not perfect, “The Future” is a stirring fantasy about one way we may save ourselves.
The core premise is fascinating and relevant. However, the flow felt disjointed in parts. Perhaps that start and stop flow is used by Alderman to represent the fractured in our society. At other moments, the flow leaned too much into the doomsday prepper trope. My other frustration was that Alderman gives us characters who may be intentionally hard to connect to.
These faults in the book make it hard to form a vested interest in the outcome, which made me want to put it back on the shelf at times. The middle is also a bit drab but accelerates into a compelling story near the end. I wonder how much the narrative could have been improved with some thinning down of characters and plot lines.
All that said, the novel is timely given the re-ignited hatred for greedy billionaires and technocrats. Certain qualities about it reminded me of Kurt Vonnegut’s “Cat’s Cradle.” Alderman also throws in a satisfying twist at the end that will satisfy the appetites of anyone in the “ eat the rich” camp. Kudos to Alderman for constructing a world where someone stands up to the oligarchs. While not perfect, “The Future” is a stirring fantasy about one way we may save ourselves.