The Future Is Yours – Dan Frey
Del Ray | Hardcover | February 9, 2021
The Gist
The Silicon Valley equivalents of Kirk and Spock build a quantum computer that allows them to see into the future and, as they decide on the fate of their invention, it threatens to tear their friendship and future apart.
Read if you like…
Psychological thrillers
Suspense
Time travel
Epistolary narrative structure
Books that wrestle with the ethics of tech
The Verdict: Read it, but borrow it!
In Dan Frey’s latest novel, The Future Is Yours, best friends Ben Boyce and Adhi Chaudry create a computer that allows users to see and communicate one year into the future. But while charming and business-savvy Ben wants to take their product to market immediately, computer-genius Adhi has reservations, fearing it may result in catastrophic consequences if people try to change their timeline or it falls into the wrong hands. And Adhi isn’t the only one with ethical concerns about how their invention might be used. But when the going gets tough, rather than stick together, the two friends clash, and Adhi disappears and is soon declared missing.
Told through a series of emails, court documents, online news articles, and text messages, Frey has constructed a page-turning narrative that reveals Ben and Adhi’s past, present, and hypothetical future. Although the narrative structure makes conflicts feel like they're resolved a little too quickly and easily, it does allow Frey to create a good amount of suspense. But more importantly, the structure keeps Frey's characters and their struggles—rather than the tech—front and center, reminding us that at the heart of any technological advancement are complicated and imperfect human beings navigating the grey area between right and wrong.
