We Are Satellites - Book Review

 

We Are Satellites

by Sarah Pinsker 

What is it about:

Everybody's getting one.

Val and Julie just want what's best for their kids, David and Sophie. So when teenage son David comes home one day asking for a Pilot, a new brain implant to help with school, they reluctantly agree. This is the future, after all.

Soon, Julie feels mounting pressure at work to get a Pilot to keep pace with her colleagues, leaving Val and Sophie part of the shrinking minority of people without the device.

Before long, the implications are clear, for the family and society: get a Pilot or get left behind. With government subsidies and no downside, why would anyone refuse? And how do you stop a technology once it's everywhere? Those are the questions Sophie and her anti-Pilot movement rise up to answer, even if it puts them up against the Pilot's powerful manufacturer and pits Sophie against the people she loves most.

What did I think of it:

After reading several short stories by Sarah Pinsker I decided to give one of her novels a try.

And this is a seriously good read!

The build-up of the story is slow paced, but in a good way. You slowly learn about the family that is at the heart of this story and about how the Pilot, a new brain implant, is affecting their lives. Through them you learn the benefits and the dangers of this this new gadget, and how each of them handles this new technology.

The story switches between the four of them and it was interesting to see how each of them thinks and what is important for each of them. And even the viewpoint of the character I disliked was interesting to read. I was hooked from the start and loved seeing the events unfold. There are several time jumps, but these are done well, so you don't feel pulled out of the narrative.

This story might be futuristic, but it is very critical of our society today. Not in a finger pointing, in your face way, but it's there and it challenges you to think. The use of societal problems that are present today and attaching them to this new technology also made the story feel scarily real.

All in all this is a thought provoking and engaging read. Sarah Pinsker definitely made it onto my favorites shelves with this book.

Why should you read it:

It's a though provoking futuristic read.

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