Two Books Ahead of Their Time
Do some novels predict the future? Think of George Orwell’s 1984, published in 1949. The novel is the source of phrases such as “Big Brother,” “Newspeak,” and “Doublethink.” It led to us describing a world filled with government lying, surveillance, and few individual rights, as “Orwellian.” Many people agree it was prophetic. Then there’s Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which became the film classic, “Bladerunner.” The AI androids in the novel refuse to be retired and begin to rebel. They seem to be conscious, and even the experts on detecting who is an android and who is not, can make mistakes figuring out which is which. Shades of ChatGPT and AI Superintelligence!
In 2013, I wrote the novel, Morality Book One–Where Have Al the Young Men Gone? It was meant to be the first of a series thrillers about politics and freedom. Where Have All the Young Men Gone? reflects post 9/11
Islamophobia and U.S. government surveillance by following a charismatic leader who miraculously awakened from a 40-year coma to lead a nonviolent revolt against the intrusions on freedom of an autocratic president.
My novel, 2020, published in 2017, is the second novel in the two-book series. 2020 follows the same dictatorial president in his bid to bypass the constitution and refuse to step down after his second term as a president. As an allusion to Philip K. Dick’s novel, Radio Free Albemuth, which portrays an authoritarian U.S. government and a dictatorial president named Ferris Fremont, I named my fictional president in both books, Fremont Ferris. Most of the other characters that opposed the government in Where Have All the Young. 
Men Gone? are present in 2020, and they use the same nonviolent protest methods to fight the president’s devious, and often lethal methods of subverting the constitution for his own ends. It’s a genuine suspense thriller. You can judge for yourself whether it also depicts what’s happening today by reading the book.
As a New Year’s gesture, and because I think it’s worthwhile for as many people as possible to read these two books and think about our future, I have reduced the Kindle price to $0.99 each. Both are also available as audio books and paperbacks, at the lowest prices Amazon allows. They are both stand-alone novels and may be read in any order or one without the other. I encourage you to treat yourself and buy one or both books–they are great reads during the week between Christmas and New Years, or as reading adventure to embark upon along with the start of the new year.
To read more about these two books on Amazon or to buy either or both of them, Click Here.
For something completely different, read my scif-fi about conscious AIs solving moral dilemmas in a future that has them exploring our galaxy? Read the Voyages of the Delphi novels: Ezekiel’s Brain and Prime Directive. Available on Amazon.Click Here!
Subscribe to Casey Dorman’s Newsletter. Click HERE