Books for the Future That Wasn’t (Yet!)

Do you remember thinking that the year 2000 sounded so futuristic and far away? And then it passed, and everything was pretty much the same. The Jetsons gave all of us a set of unrealistic expectations when it premiered 55 years ago this month. Where's my flying car and hilarious robot maid? Not to mention houses in the sky and a talking dog!

While we continue to wait for these amazing innovations, here are a few books that whet our appetite for the future that somehow hasn't happened yet.

All Tom Barren wanted to do was go back in time to witness history. But instead, he erased the fantastical utopia version of 2016 that he knows, with personally tailored billboards and hover cars, and ended up in our timeline. And when Tom tries to fix his mistake, it does not go well. You can find out if Tom gets back to his correct time in All Our Wrong Todays. When will fictional characters learn not to meddle with the fourth dimension?

All Our Wrong Todays is available in other formats.

It's natural to be skeptical when you're given something for free. Especially when these gifts come from aliens who refuse to show themselves. This is the future depicted in the classic Childhood's End, set in the late 20th century. The cost is indeed high and will eventually change the human race in unimaginable ways. But until that time comes, we might as well enjoy the alien intervention.

Childhood's End is available in other formats.

Snow Crash, set in the early 2000s, depicts an America where private organizations run everything, a quadrillion dollar bill is small change and couriers use specialized hoverboards to get to their next destination. Thank goodness the internet still exists! Head to the Multiverse, an online game world where you're represented by an avatar of your creation, and meet people from all over. Just watch out for a computer virus that can infect people as well as technology.

Snow Crash is available in other formats.

I'll take my flying car in hot pink, please.