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Informational PFAS Town Hall in Flint March 8 2019

A review of the book Near Future, by author Jennie Moench

By Jeffery L Carey Jr

“It was a very different world that they inhabit.”

A different world indeed is what author Jennie Moench takes the reader to in her book of short science fiction stories titled, Near Future. All five short stories, The Transporter, You’re Only Old Once, Unique Identifier, Hive Mentality and A.I., revolve around the themes of there being a reverse in the current course of humanity and its abuse of the environment, that people relinquish their fossil fuel automobiles for electric transporters, and that the majority of the planet is contented in an AR or Augmented Reality.

The book begins with The Transporter, an interesting look into the not so distant future of electric transportation and does a good job of setting the book up in its theme of being more environmentally conscious with only a few states in the US hanging onto fossil fuels. The story also deals with augmented reality like the conversation the protagonist, Janet, has with a young man in Canada, “I live in a small village in northern Canada, and we all use the same VR setup in the Community Center.”  This story captures all of the themes that tie the book together. Near Future is an engaging collection that brings the reader face to face with realistic possibilities. While most of the stories are entertaining and thought provoking, some, at times, fall into overt politicking which I felt detracted from the agenda of the stories.

Moench transports the reader into different social and societal situations through the use of near future technologies like transporters and AR to give us a glimpse of what life may be like within such places as the nursing home in You’re Only Old Once where people retreat to their happiest times within a artificial reality. There is also the use of Transporters and AR in the story Unique Identifier which deals with the topic of eugenics and the possible eradication of genetic defects.

The most unique story in the collection is Hive Mentality and its exploration on the idea of reprogramming the population through therapy and re-education. One line from Hive Mentality comes about as children are re-educated to understand deceptive marketing tactics to the point where ads are no longer deceptive or persuasive. The line reads, “Major corporations were being forced to turn to a new marketing strategy, the truth.” In the end the reader is transported into a world in use of A.I. or artificial intelligence and how that A.I. named Arthur interacts with the people of that alternative reality.

While the book works to create an apparent better future by “embracing nature,” bringing “critical thinking to all grades of public education,” and ushering in a “movement of citizen scientists” that changes our current value system into one that realizes we are all “one people,” it falls headlong at times in a globalized utopia which is derived from two Greek words meaning "good place" and "no place” suggesting that the perfect world is impossible. Moench does address this at times through the problematic scenarios her characters experience, but it is clear the author wants us to believe this future is superior to what we currently exist in. With its hints at Huxley’s Brave New World, Moench’s Near Future is sci-fi ride that is worth the trip.

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