Book Review: The Unincorporated Man By Dani Kollin And Eytan Kollin

For those interested I’ll be interviewing authors Dani Kollin and Eytan Kollin, who have been nominated for a Prometheus Award for this book, on my radio show tonight.
A several weeks ago, on a whim, I bought the Kindle version of The Unincorporated Man which was suggested to me by Amazon’s recommendation service. I’d never heard of the before. I’d never heard of the authors before. But I was in the mood for something new, and Amazon has a pretty good track record in recommending books for me.
After reading the book I’ve got to say that it is one of the most memorable and thought-provoking books I’ve read since Heinlein’s The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (the political message of which remains as one of the cornerstones of my limited government political beliefs today).
The book is about Justin Cord, a highly successful entrepreneur who upon being diagnosed with terminal cancer sets the innovative and industrial might of his business empire toward building him a cryogenic unit to preserve his life until such a time as he can be de-thawed and cured of his disease. He succeeds in that endeavor and ultimately finds himself awakened in a future where technology and an economic system of personal incorporation has all but banished things like disease, poverty, hunger, etc.
And by personal incorporation, I mean that each and every individual living in this utopian future has an IPO at birth that gives 20% of their personal stock to their parents and 5% to the government. Throughout their lives individuals can sell off their stock to organizations (such as universities in exchange for education) or to one another for profit.
I won’t go any further into the story as I don’t want to give anything away, but suffice it to say that the economic and social realities of the future Justin Cord finds himself in will not just entertain you but also have you asking yourselves some questions. What does freedom mean? How much freedom would you give up for utopia? And would people finding themselves in utopia still yearn for freedom even if it meant the end of said utopia?
Science fiction lovers will love this book because it’s good science fiction. Story lovers will love this book because it’s a good story. And observers of and commentators on the issues of politics and society will love this book because it forces you to look at this issues from a new perspective.
Buy it and read it. You won’t be sorry.