Winner of le Prix Bob-Morane (a French sci-fi literary award) for best international novel
You know the future that people in the 1950s imagined we’d have? Well, it happened. In 2016, humanity thrives in a techno-utopian paradise of flying cars, moving sidewalks, and moon bases, where avocados never go bad and punk rock never existed . . . because it wasn’t necessary.
Except Tom Barren just can’t seem to find his place in this dazzling, idealistic world, and that’s before his life gets turned upside-down. Blindsided and heartbroken by an accident of fate, Tom makes a rash decision that drastically changes not only his own life but the very fabric of the universe itself. In a time-travel mishap, Tom finds himself stranded in our 2016, what we think of as the real world. For Tom, our normal reality seems like a dystopian wasteland.
But when he discovers wonderfully unexpected versions of his family, his career, and—maybe, just maybe—his soul mate, Tom has a decision to make. Does he fix the flow of history, bringing his utopian universe back into existence, or does he try to forge a new life in our messy, unpredictable reality? Tom’s search for the answer takes him across countries, continents, and timelines in a quest to figure out, finally, who he really is and what his future—our future—is supposed to be.
“Entertainingly mixes thrills and humor.”—Entertainment Weekly
“Belongs in a burgeoning genre of books like Andy Weir’s The Martian that wrap self-deprecating humor around unabashedly nerdy science...Refreshing.” —GQ
“A thrilling tale of time travel and alternate timelines with a refreshingly optimistic view of humanity’s future.” —Andy Weir, bestselling author of The Martian
“Instantly engaging.…A timeless, if mind-bending, story about the journeys we take, populated by friends, family, lovers, and others, that show us who we might be, could be—and maybe never should be—that eventually leads us to who we are.”—USA Today
“On top of this brilliant philosophical premise of parallel versions of one’s life and the people in it—of what might have been had history unfolded different—Mastai’s language is also rife with an infectious humor you won’t be able to stop reading.”—Harper’s Bazaar
Note: Great on audio too.