Book Review: Futura

Back in January, I was sent an e-book of the novella Futura by Jordan Phillips. It had just been released and I was intrigued by the premise.

The year is 2050 and Ruby, an ex-pat American lives in Paris. Major cities in the world have became heavenly metropolises where buildings can stretch 20 blocks each and be like a little city within itself filled with high-tech amenities, restaurants, shops, gyms, theaters, etc. The novella starts off with Ruby recently getting out of a relationship because she realized she wanted a baby (her partner did not want a baby) and in a way a more human life. Obviously, Ruby is human, but with all the advancements in technology and the world people are less human in the sense that everything is planned out. For instance, if you want a baby you can basically create the baby you want. In Paris, people work only a handful of hours a week because there’s no need. Invisibles, essentially robots, do much of the work.

For humans, there was no more need to analyze, make, manage, sew, manufacture, pack, collect, wash, fix, clean, cook, serve, police, teach, bank, drive, garden…unless they wanted to for nostalgic fun.

I loved the premise of the story and the futuristic aspects of it were really cool. It was like those sci-fi futuristic movies with cars hovering and all the information you need showing up on your lenses. However, I found the story hard to get in to. As a novella, the book isn’t very long, but it felt like most of the story was describing what the world is like and not really getting anywhere with Ruby. When Ruby enters in to a new relationship, the novella was more than halfway done – and that was actually the most interesting part of the story.

The story wasn’t bad and I liked aspects of it, but it just didn’t grab my attention as much as I had hoped.

Nonetheless, I was happy it took place in Paris because it was this amazing mix of stunning historical architecture and futuristic life. If you’ve ever visited Paris, it has this ethereal beauty to it – maybe because of all its history and how it’s synonymous with love. So when Ruby describes her happiness at one point as “This was the Paris of la Belle Epoque – freedom, truth, love, and beauty” you can almost feel her giddy happiness radiating through the page.

To end this post, I really liked this one quote/revelation of Ruby’s:

Life didn’t need to be about focusing on the next conquest or goal; life was a series of adventures to be appreciated no matter the outcome.

*I received this book complimentary, but all opinions are my own.*