Sci-Fi Book Review | The Future Is Yours by Dan Frey

If you had the chance to look one year into the future, would you? 

For Ben Boyce and Adhi Chaudry, the answer is unequivocally yes. And they’re betting everything that you’ll say yes, too. Welcome to The Future: a computer that connects to the internet one year from now, so you can see who you’ll be dating, where you’ll be working, even whether or not you’ll be alive in the year to come. By forming a startup to deliver this revolutionary technology to the world, Ben and Adhi have made their wildest, most impossible dream a reality. Once Silicon Valley outsiders, they’re now its hottest commodity.  

The device can predict everything perfectly—from stock market spikes and sports scores to political scandals and corporate takeovers—allowing them to chase down success and fame while staying one step ahead of the competition. But the future their device foretells is not the bright one they imagined.

Ambition. Greed. Jealousy. And, perhaps, an apocalypse. The question is . . . can they stop it?

Told through emails, texts, transcripts, and blog posts, this bleeding-edge tech thriller chronicles the costs of innovation and asks how far you’d go to protect the ones you love—even from themselves.

Goodreads’ Rating: ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

The Future is Yours by Dan Frey is a creative sci-fi imagining of our world and what it would be like if we could digitally see into the future, even just one year ahead.

When I first saw the book’s format, I felt like it would either be a creative delight or a technical nightmare. I was so happy to discover that the structure is an innovative and brilliant way to tell the tale. I feel that it is a perfect way, as I can’t even imagine that the story would have been nearly as intriguing or fast-paced if written using a typical exposition style. Sure, some documents were so technical that they were like Charlie Brown adult speak but only a few. Therein lies the brilliance – the real feel of the documents, from the technical to the charming texts from Adhvan’s mom that showed an expected lack of technological know-how. The characters’ voices were very distinct in each text, tweet, and email, that there is never any confusion.

I also loved how well developed the characters are, even though I wouldn’t have thought they could be, given the format. They are people I know, people I went to school with, and the teenagers I counseled along the way. Ben, Adhvan, and Leila are friends who went to college together and are now trying to run a successful business. The exploration of the many layers developed through these experiences is so beautiful and realistic that I could not help but celebrate and cringe at them at various points in the story.

Though I could see bits and pieces that reminded me of other stories I read, the plot brings into focus a whole new disturbing concept- digital time travel or digital quantum physics. That is both chilling and fascinating to imagine. And the thoughts about what an ordinary person would do with such an ability is just as suspenseful as imagining what political systems would do with it. Doesn’t that send chills down your spine thinking about it?

I think what I loved most of all, though, is the theme of the importance of friendship. In this ever-shrinking digital world where possibilities seem endless, at the end of the day, what does it all matter if you have alienated all your friends while exploring it? Would the future feel bright if your friends aren’t there by your side, or would it be a dark world full of mass destruction and despair? And how do you make sure that those bonds stay intact in a world where most of us communicate through texts, tweets, and emails? I think perhaps that is the most chilling of all questions to ponder. How much does digital communication erode our humanity?

You wouldn’t think that all of the aspects mentioned above could be contained in a collection of related digital footprints, but you will be surprised by what you take away from this story once you close it for the final time and can’t help but reflect on it.