📖 Overview
Brad Pearson works at a biotech startup in Silicon Valley that claims it can extend human life. After suffering a tragic loss, Brad becomes entangled in the company's experiments while dealing with his own fears about death and aging.
The story follows Brad's journey through the complex world of life extension technology and venture capital, where scientific ambition collides with ethical boundaries. His colleagues and acquaintances have varied motives for pursuing immortality, revealing the human desire to outrun mortality.
The narrative explores relationships between fathers and children, the promises of modern medicine, and humanity's age-old quest to live forever. The novel raises questions about what makes life meaningful and whether extending it indefinitely would enhance or diminish its value.
👀 Reviews
Limited reader reviews exist online for this book, making it difficult to provide a comprehensive summary of reader sentiment. On Goodreads, there are only a handful of ratings giving it an average of 3.5 stars.
Readers appreciated:
- The exploration of ethics in tech and biotech
- Fast-paced storyline
- Commentary on Silicon Valley culture
Readers criticized:
- Character development felt shallow
- Plot became predictable in later chapters
- Some found the tech industry satire heavy-handed
Ratings across platforms:
Goodreads: 3.5/5 (based on fewer than 20 ratings)
Amazon: Too few reviews to calculate average
Several readers noted similarities to Lyons' previous work "Disrupted," with one reviewer commenting that the novel "feels like an extension of his tech industry criticism, just in fiction form." Others mentioned the book reads more like a screenplay than a novel.
Note: This book should not be confused with Linda Nagata's novel of the same title.
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The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist Middle-aged citizens deemed non-essential to society live in a facility where they undergo medical testing and organ donation for the greater good.
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer In a dystopian future, a young clone discovers the truth about his existence in a world where human cloning serves the wealthy.
Unwind by Neal Shusterman Parents can choose to have their troubled teenagers dismantled for organ donation in a society that values life through medical redistribution.
The Postmortal by Drew Magary A cure for aging leads to societal upheaval as humanity grapples with the consequences of extended lifespans and resource allocation.
🤔 Interesting facts
🔖 Author Daniel Lyons previously wrote the bestselling memoir "Disrupted," which chronicled his experience working at HubSpot and became an instant hit in Silicon Valley.
🔖 The book explores the controversial world of anti-aging technology and longevity research, mirroring real-world developments at companies like Altos Labs and Calico.
🔖 The main character's quest to extend human life reflects actual scientific research using cellular reprogramming, a technique that earned Shinya Yamanaka the 2012 Nobel Prize.
🔖 Prior to writing novels, Lyons was a technology journalist and wrote for Forbes and Newsweek, where he developed expertise in the tech industry that influences his fiction.
🔖 The book draws inspiration from real Silicon Valley figures who are investing heavily in longevity research, including Jeff Bezos and Peter Thiel.