In the near future, the world does not collapse because of a war or a sudden catastrophe, but through the gradual malfunction of the global digital networks. The technologies on which humanity has built every aspect of its existence cease to function, exposing a structural dependence on systems that have long since become incomprehensible. Lucio Regis, a systems engineer, witnesses from within the failure of an infrastructure designed to compensate for every error. Anna Rossi, a politician accustomed to governing through data and predictive models, instead observes the rapid hollowing-out of institutions suddenly deprived of their instruments of control. In the technological silence, improvised communities emerge, imperfect decisions take shape, and a new slowness spreads across the planet-seemingly benefitting from humanity's forced deceleration. Meanwhile, from the melting Arctic ice, an object of non-human origin surfaces, connected to the collapse of Earth's technologies. Contact reveals that this is not an invasion but an observation: an extraterrestrial civilization offers limited assistance, on the condition that humanity consciously renounce any return to its former model of total dependence. The world that remains is a realistic, minimal dystopia that interrogates the present, portraying a silent catastrophe and an irreversible choice: what is left of the human being when it can no longer delegate everything to the systems it has created?
ThriftBooks sells millions of used books at the lowest everyday prices. We personally assess every book's quality and offer rare, out-of-print treasures. We deliver the joy of reading in recyclable packaging with free standard shipping on US orders over $20. ThriftBooks.com. Read more. Spend less.