"A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor" by Hank Green

Science fiction is a genre I love. One of the main reasons is the ability to step outside of our current situation to look at it from a different perspective. Star Trek is the classic example of talking about things in the future that are actually relevant to today and getting people to listen in a way they otherwise wouldn’t. But I rarely love books that push too hard on this lever. I want to explore ideas about humanity, but I’d prefer to not be reminded that is happening. So, it’s rare I enjoy a book that wears its agenda on its sleeve as clearly as “A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor” By Hank Green. And while it might be in part that I, like so many people, follow and like Hank Green separate from his writing, but it worked for me far better than I would have expected it to.

What Happens in “A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor” by Hank Green

The story of “A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor” is the sequel to “An Absolutely Remarkable Thing” something I didn’t know until I looked up the book to confirm things for this review. But that makes sense because this book feels if it starts after the events that would typically be the story. What has happened is that an alien has arrived on Earth as a sort of computer program that lives inside cells that is named Carl and has made 64 versions of itself across the world. It has created a “Dream” filled with puzzles that aren’t actually explained in its sequel, though the dream itself is important. A character named April May was chosen by the alien to be its liaison or spokesperson.

In the first book, (that I reiterate I haven’t read) April was killed by people who considered her an alien collaborator. This book begins with her friends dealing with her death and the knowledge that the person who was responsible for her death has not only not been punished, but is creating a major corporation that is gathering many investors.

Each chapter is written by a different one of those friends and examines each of their personalities well as they each discover a “Book of Good Times” a magical book that can predict the future. It helps each of them in different ways, making one of them wealthy while helping another to find April May, who it turns out wasn’t actually killed and has been in recovery being healed by Carl who has replaced much of her body and parts of her brain.

Soon they discover that the corporation being created has brought people back into a version of the dream and is working to profit from that largely by creating its own currency, which is the only way to buy anything in this new place. It jump starts this by offering people incentives to become the best creators of new objects in that space. Objects that you can sell and the corporation takes a substantial percentage of. But the real danger is that it is controlled by Carl’s brother. He is virtually the same as Carl able to live in the excess cells on Earth, but while Carl allowed freedom while protecting the people on Earth, his brother is a failsafe who protects them without allowing freedom.

The lack of restraint makes him more powerful than Carl, but it also gives them a chance of victory. If humanity can tip the scales so it is more likely that it will survive without being controlled, then he will return to a dormant state. But this will not be easy, as they will have to take down a massive corporation that is growing to be one of the most powerful in the world.

What is Hank Green’s point in “A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor”

If you’ve followed Hank Green, then you likely know some point without reading the book. His idea that the Internet is a place isn’t entirely unique but in “A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor” he explores that well by actually making it a place. An isolating place that is also addicting. And much of the book is talking about how people can be sucked into this space in ways that aren’t good for them and they know aren’t good for them.

One of the most interesting points is that almost everyone dislikes Axiom and knows they have too much power, but most of those people also use the service. This can be easily mapped onto reality where the same people who talk about disliking the power that Facebook, Amazon, Twitter and Google have also used all of those services because what choice do you have. It also discusses how those platforms and others use your own instinct against you. Knowing that you’re more likely to watch a video or visit a site if you’re angered by what it says. Especially if the video it shows you is of a particular vial version of that view.

None of this is exactly new, but it is well addressed and the more people who can point out just how dangerous allowing massive corporations to have access to this much power, the better.

Conclusion

This is a smart and well-written science fiction book with a premise I enjoy. It has characters who I can understand well and enough action to keep it interesting. And while all of those were good, it never quite gelled together in how a great book can making every part better than it would be alone. So while this is an excellent book and one that I can easily recommend, it isn’t what I would call must read or a masterpiece. Though it may be better if you read the first book first and the author has the potential to write a masterpiece, even if this falls just barely short of that.