XPost: alt.fan.heinlein
click on
https://www.amazon.com/New-History-Future-100-Objects/dp/0262539373
for an real interesting book.
A New History of the Future in 100 Objects: A Fiction
Paperback – October 6, 2020
by Adrian Hon (Author)
It is not a novel, but a description of 100 recently, or soon to be
invented 'items'. Very intriguing. Perhaps for someone, a guide
or inspiration to 'perfect' their creation to get rich.
This does not seem to have a "Look inside" feature, so maybe you should
go to a nearby library and check it out.
From the blurb:
"Imagining the history of the twenty-first century through its
artifacts, from silent messaging systems to artificial worlds on asteroids.
In the year 2082, a curator looks back at the twenty-first century,
offering a history of the era through a series of objects and artifacts.
He reminisces about the power of connectivity, which was reinforced by
such technologies as silent messaging—wearable computers that relay
subvocal communication; recalls the Fourth Great Awakening, when a
regimen of pills could make someone virtuous; and notes disapprovingly
the use of locked interrogation, which delivers “enhanced interrogation” simulations via virtual reality. The unnamed curator quotes from a
self-help guide to making friends with “posthumans,” describes the establishment of artificial worlds on asteroids, and recounts
pro-democracy movements in epistocratic states. In A New History of the
Future in 100 Objects, Adrian Hon constructs a possible future by
imagining the things it might leave in its wake.
Many of these things are just an update or two away: improved ankle
monitors, for example, and deliverbots. Others may be the logical
conclusions of current trends—“downvote” networks that identify and
erase undesirables, and Glyphish, an emoticon-based language that
supersedes the written word. More benign are Braid Collective, which
provides financial support for artists, and Rechartered Cities, which
invites immigrants to revitalize urban areas hollowed out by changing demographics. With this engaging and ingenious work, Hon leads the way
into an imagined future while offering readers a new perspective on the present.
Review
“Futurists and science fiction die-hards will delight in this impressive
feat of imagination.”
—Publishers Weekly
Review
“Adrian Hon conjures a detailed and arresting vision of a late-twenty-first-century world where technology has helped us advance
so far it’s hard to say what it means anymore to be human.”
—Start the Week, BBC Radio 4
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