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The Future We Left Behind

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
Thousands of years in the future, the divide between humanity and technology has become nearly unrecognizable. Each thought, each action is logged, coded, backed up. Data is as easily exchanged through the fiber-optic-like cables that extend from fingertips as it might be through ordinary conversation. It's a brave new world: A world that the Straker Tapes say is a result of many human "upgrades." But no one is sure whether the Straker Tapes are a work of fiction or an eerie peek into an unimaginable past. Nearly sixteen-year-old Peter Vincent has been raised to believe that everything that the backward Strakerites cling to is insane—an utter waste of time and potential. Since his father is David Vincent, genius inventor of the artificial bees that saved the world's crops and prevented massive famine, how could Peter believe anything else? But when Peter meets Alpha, a Strakerite his own age, suddenly the theories about society-upgrades don't sound quite so crazy, especially when she shows him evidence that another upgrade is imminent. And worse, there may be a conspiracy by the leaders of the establishment to cover it up. A conspiracy spearheaded by Peter's own father. Gripping and full of unexpected twists, The Future We Left Behind takes the unsettling questions raised in Human.4 and flips them entirely. What if we knew that the very way we live was about to be changed in an instant, and we could stop it? And what if everything we are sure we know is entirely wrong?
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    • School Library Journal

      March 1, 2013

      Gr 7 Up-In Peter Vincent's world, well into the future, the Link keeps people constantly connected, via their own minds. Need to contact someone? Think about it. Need to find out information? Scan the Link in your mind. Humans now have filaments that emerge when needed, to transfer information and perform other services. Lancaster has imagined an interesting futuristic environment: clothing created every morning from templates, invisible elevators, seating that works by supporting the body with high-pressure air. People no longer need to remember anything, as memories go straight to the Link and can be accessed from there. But exactly what is the Link and is it as benign as it seems? The story is told primarily as if it were being downloaded from 16-year-old Peter's scraps of memory, absorbed and then forgotten deep within the WorldBrain. Peter and a classmate Amalfi (also known as Alpha) become deeply involved in the mystery behind the Strakerites, who believe that Kyle Straker's ancient tape recording of an alien "upgrade" jumped most humans vastly ahead in technology and brain function, while leaving a few unaffected in certain sleep states or under hypnosis. Kyle and Alpha investigate mysterious circumstances and come to believe that a new human upgrade is imminent, and not necessarily beneficial. There isn't much hard science in this book, but the big-picture questions of brain/computer similarities and "Could human brains all be wired together?" make interesting food for thought. The story works best in tandem with Lancaster's Human.4 (Egmont USA, 2011), which lays out Kyle Straker's experience with the first upgrade.-Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX

      Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:6.1
  • Lexile® Measure:830
  • Interest Level:6-12(MG+)
  • Text Difficulty:4-5

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