Future History 2050

Future History 2050 opens with a researcher in Berlin in 2020 who stumbles upon a series of notebooks which appear to be written in 2050. He wonders if this is some sort of hoax or prank but decides to read them carefully and then, as an historian, make his own judgements.

The notebooks originated with Billy and are a series of interviews with Gran Nancy. As a budding historian, Billy is interested in the years both before and directly after her birth, and Gran Nancy is happy to recount her memories from 2020 to 2050 of both major events, such as the great climate SHOCK and the loss of democracies in the world, to more personal stories, such as Billy’s auncle [sic] Quentin. When Billy realizes there might be a way to send the notebooks back in time, she feels even more driven to describe the future world of 2050 in an effort to raise the awareness of those living in 2020 and hopefully prompt them to take action while they still can.

Thomas Harding gives his readers a compelling look at a future world which will make them take notice. Certainly, it is not a particularly rosy picture. The author covers many important subjects ranging from climate change and The SHOCK, to the future of AI and an automated world, gender, religion, politics and economics.

Given that the book is under 200 pages, none of these topics is dealt with in any depth, and many readers will be disappointed that so much is mentioned in a rather rambling way while so little is truly explained.

While Billy and Gran Nancy are the main characters of the story, readers learn very little about their personalities, and they seem to exist in a void. The only other family member who is mentioned is Quentin, and he appears on and off in the second half of the story, and late in the book readers learn how he actually fits into the overall picture.

The novel really has no plot other than Billy’s interviews with Gran Nancy. The only hint at any other action is Billy’s friendship with Benji and the problems the two of them have with the security police. This is never fleshed out to any great extent.

Mention should be made of the graphics by Florian Toperngpong. These photos and postcards add verisimilitude to the story and provide readers with visual clues about the world of the future.

Harding’s book is a novel with little or no plot and very minimal characters, and so it will not hold the attention of every young adult reader. That said, he gives readers many potential things to consider which are vast changes in the society that they know and perhaps will encourage at least some readers of Future History 2050 to do some serious thinking, leave their comfort zone and take action.