Finished With Life


Finished with Life but Unable to Die – Scott Bartlett

Finished with Life but Unable to Die is a thought-provoking novel of ideas, or philosophical novel. As such, it deals with many big ideas; the human condition, climate change, multiverses, the nature of freedom, family ties and family responsibility, artificial intelligence…. but all in a very accessible way. The story centers around Michael Haynes, who is cryogenically frozen then awoken several years later when science has evolved to the point that people do not die.

It’s not brilliantly written and the characters are quite two-dimensional, but the plot is well paced and it sustained my interest to the end. Despite its philosophical themes, they are lightly handled and it’s an easy read. At times the author has rather pointlessly crammed in ideas, apparently just because he wanted to talk about them; for example, multiverses are mentioned several times but had all those references been deleted it would not have changed the story at all.

For all its flaws, I applaud authors for addressing issues such as climate change, sustainable development and our responsibility to future generations without being reactionary or Luddite. If that can be packaged in a way that appeals to young readers of science fiction, all the better.

It loses a star because that title is oh so unspeakably awful.


Find Finished with Life on Amazon and at other bookstores.


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