Review: The Future Perfect by Kirk Mustard

ASIN #: B002AD13FQ

Copyright: 2011

Synopsis:

(Taken from Amazon)

The Future Perfect is the hot new satire of the future. A funny, imaginative, provocative look at things to come.

Good science attempts to save the planet from bad science. A funny, insightful look at humanity, its destiny and relationship to the Earth. When the Earth's last wildlife preserve is destroyed and the planet is dying, society turns to a fictional animal to make things right again.

Kathy's Review:

I suppose it's fitting that this was my first ever e-book, considering the world in The Future Perfect is solely reliant on technology to regulate every aspect, including life itself. The story centers around main character Zenith Cobra, who works at a large corporation in the future. This future has completely been stripped away of nature - trees, animals, etc., no longer exist, but humanity is showing signs that they miss it. He and his co-workers, Apex and Sparkle, brainstorm an idea for an imaginary animal - and name it the Smelix (combination of the words "smile" and "sex"). Immediately, because everything in the future happens immediately, the Smelix is a huge sensation and people buy up Smelix-themed merchandise within minutes.

This kicks off a series of events that lead to an experiment-gone-wrong to restore the world to its former state. Along the way, Zenith and his friends shape the events that alter the course of humanity.

I will say this - the author has some extremely creative ideas that both poke fun at current society's obsession with technology and paint a frightening satirical picture of what could happen if we become too reliant. It definitely pays homage to one of my favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut, as well as the great Douglas Adams. This is a smart and imaginative book. For me the negatives were that there were too many primary characters, and despite their creative names, I lost track of who was who and who did what. Some characters, such as shallow Zenith and anti-technology Monty, were fleshed out well, and others weren't dynamic enough to really know who they were. I also think the dialogue was a little bit flat and kind of read like a magazine interview at times with one character asking a question and the other character giving a very long-winded answer.

Also, this being my first e-book, I really wished I could "flip back" to re-read passages many times because I felt a little lost in the action.

Other than that, this is an amusing read, particularly if you are fans of the authors mentioned above.