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Get one - or get left behind.
Val and Julie just want what's best for their kids, David and Sophie. So when David comes home from school begging for a new brain implant to help with his studies, they're torn. Julie grew up poor and knows what it's like to be the only kid in school without the new technology, but Val is terrified by the risks and the implications.
Soon, everyone at Julie's work has the implant and she's struggling to keep pace. It's clear that she'll have to get one too if she's not to be left behind.
Before long, Val and Sophie are the only two in the family without the device, and part of an ever-shrinking minority in their town. With government subsidies and no apparent downside, why would anyone refuse?
But Sophie can't shake the feeling that something sinister is going on behind the scenes and she's going to do whatever it takes to find out - even if it pits her against a powerful tech company and the people she loves most.
About the author
Sarah Pinsker's
A Song for a New Day won the 2019 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and her collection
Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea won the Philip K. Dick Award. Her short fiction has appeared in
Asimov's,
F&SF, and numerous other magazines, anthologies, and translation markets. She is also a singer-songwriter who has toured behind three albums on various independent labels. She lives with her wife and a very energetic terrier in Baltimore, Maryland. She can be found at sarahpinsker.com and twitter.com/sarahpinsker.
Summary
When Val and Julie's teenage son comes home one day asking for a Pilot, a new brain implant to help with school, they reluctantly agree. This is the future, after all. A novel about one family and the technology that divides them.
Foreword
The new novel from Sarah Pinsker, author of the Nebula-Award-winning A Song for a New Day.
Additional text
A slow-burning novel... This is a book about technology with a very human core. It's a quietly compelling novel that will leave you looking at your relationship with technology with a fresh pair of eyes (but not bionic ones)'
Report
Pinsker's newest is a carefully crafted sci-fi web stretched over an intensely human core... Issues of discrimination, ableism, transparency, and more weave together to create an intricately told cautionary tale' Booklist (starred review)
