The Unincorporated Man is a provocative social/political/economic novel that takes place in the future, after civilization has fallen into complete economic collapse. This reborn civilization is one in which every individual is incorporated at birth, and spends many years trying to attain control over his or her own life by getting a majority of his or her own shares. Life extension has made life very long indeed.
Now the incredible has happened: a billionaire businessman from our time, frozen in secret in the early twenty-first century, is discovered and resurrected, given health and a vigorous younger body. Justin Cord is the only unincorporated man in the world, a true stranger in this strange land. Justin survived because he is tough and smart. He cannot accept only part ownership of himself, even if that places him in conflict with a civilization that extends outside the solar system to the Oort Cloud. People will be arguing about this novel and this world for decades.
Story lines involving a contemporary protagonist’s displacement to a distant future via time machines or suspended animation have been a genre staple since H. G. Wells. In this striking variation from first-time novelists Dani and Eytan Kollin, the clash between today’s cultural values and those of a vividly imagined future has never been more compelling. Justin Cord is a twenty-first-century multibillionaire who uses his fortune to cheat death by building his own suspension unit. Three centuries later, after reanimation technicians discover the unit and restore his body to pristine health, Cord awakens to a world transformed in ways he could never have imagined. As the only surviving member of civilization before the Grand Collapse, not only is he an instant celebrity, but he quickly learns that everyone is a minicorporation unto themselves. Unfortunately, there are also forces at work that will stop at nothing to make sure Cord incorporates or dies yet again—this time, permanently. The Kollin brothers’ debut captivates with unforgettable characters and an ingenious vision of the economic future. --Carl Hays
Description:
The Unincorporated Man is a provocative social/political/economic novel that takes place in the future, after civilization has fallen into complete economic collapse. This reborn civilization is one in which every individual is incorporated at birth, and spends many years trying to attain control over his or her own life by getting a majority of his or her own shares. Life extension has made life very long indeed.
Now the incredible has happened: a billionaire businessman from our time, frozen in secret in the early twenty-first century, is discovered and resurrected, given health and a vigorous younger body. Justin Cord is the only unincorporated man in the world, a true stranger in this strange land. Justin survived because he is tough and smart. He cannot accept only part ownership of himself, even if that places him in conflict with a civilization that extends outside the solar system to the Oort Cloud. People will be arguing about this novel and this world for decades.
From Publishers Weekly
Fans of SF as a vehicle for ideas will devour this intriguing debut. Brilliant 21st-century tycoon Justin Cord is brought from cryogenic storage into a 24th-century society where people own stock in one another, safeguarding each other's welfare only out of economic self-interest. This is anathema to the defiantly individualistic Cord, who soon becomes a danger to the corporations that control the world and a symbol of freedom to the downtrodden penny-stock people. Cord's conversations with friends and enemies fill most of the book, alongside lectures on the mechanisms of the incorporated culture. The Kollin brothers keep the plot moving briskly despite the high proportion of talk to action. Their cerebral style will especially appeal to readers nostalgic for science fiction's early years. (Apr.)
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From Booklist
Story lines involving a contemporary protagonist’s displacement to a distant future via time machines or suspended animation have been a genre staple since H. G. Wells. In this striking variation from first-time novelists Dani and Eytan Kollin, the clash between today’s cultural values and those of a vividly imagined future has never been more compelling. Justin Cord is a twenty-first-century multibillionaire who uses his fortune to cheat death by building his own suspension unit. Three centuries later, after reanimation technicians discover the unit and restore his body to pristine health, Cord awakens to a world transformed in ways he could never have imagined. As the only surviving member of civilization before the Grand Collapse, not only is he an instant celebrity, but he quickly learns that everyone is a minicorporation unto themselves. Unfortunately, there are also forces at work that will stop at nothing to make sure Cord incorporates or dies yet again—this time, permanently. The Kollin brothers’ debut captivates with unforgettable characters and an ingenious vision of the economic future. --Carl Hays