The Future We Left Behind

The paperback of the sci-fi techno-thriller that could be ripped out of The Twilight Zone and reads like an upgrade of M.T. Anderson's Feed.

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Thousands of years in the future, the divide between humanity and technology has become nearly indistinguishable. Each thought and action is logged, coded, and backed up. The Straker Tapes say that this melding of man and machine is a result of "upgrades," not evolution. But no one is sure if the tapes are a work of fiction or an eerie peek into a forgotten past.

Nearly sixteen-year-old Peter Vincent has been raised to believe that everything the backward Strakerites cling to is insane--that there is always a rational explanation based in fact. Then he meets Alpha, and the theories about society upgrades don't sound quite so crazy.

She can prove that the Straker Tapes are true and that another reboot is imminent. Together, they can stop it. But how are they supposed to prevent humanity from being reprogrammed when they don't know who, or what, is behind it?

The Future We Left Behind warily examines technology's role in daily life, and whether its seamless integration could become our ultimate downfall.

A Booklist Top 10 YA SciFi/Fantasy 2013 pick

*"Lancaster effortlessly incorporates into his whiz-bang plot big ideas of science versus religion, along the way borrowing from the sf masters: the large-canvas orchestrations of Asimov; the yearning nostalgia of Bradbury; the who-stole-my-memories paranoia of Dick; the pro-gaming, pro-hacking bent of Doctorow; and the spirituality of Clarke."
--Booklist starred review

"Fans of Anderson's Feed will . . . find this stimulating read well worth contemplating." --BCCB

"[I]ntersting food for thought." --School Library Journal

Also available in hardcover (ISBN: 9781606844106) and electronic book (ISBN: 9781606844113) formats.

Mike A. Lancaster's love of science fiction was forged at an early age by reading Gulliver's Travels, The War of the Worlds, and Journey to the Center of the Earth, and watching Gerry Anderson shows, Doctor Who, Quartermass movies, and Star Trek. His first novel, Human.4, introduced a chilling techno-world where we only think we're in control.

He lives in Cambridge, England, with his wife, children, a menagerie of pets, and bees that may or may not have a very nefarious purpose.

Visit him online at www.mikealancaster.com or follow him on Twitter @mikealancaster. The author lives in Cambridge, England.