The Feed by Nick Clark Windo @Nickhdclark @headlinepg

The Feed begins in a not too distant future where the internet, social media and the rest of the world are only milliseconds away to anyone who has been enabled. Tom and Kate help us see an advanced and fast paced world we could easily imagine around the corner. One day it collapses, and everyone has to find a way to live without the technology that had become a fundamental part of everyday life.

Nick Clark Windo has thoroughly considered how technology can help and hinder the population. He has built up an intricate world of the future, and bought it crashing down. The characters really come alive after society breaks down. I felt for Tom, trying to keep it together for his family, and holding onto hope when most would have given up. Kate, his wife, keeps them grounded, with obvious concerns for the future. The other characters they meet along the way give a good mix of love, loyalty, and deception.

At times the book seems to be a judgement on society now, and where we may take it in the future. Comments about being asleep with eyes open, communicating in complete silence and adding a skin to determine what others see of a person felt like the criticisms from an older generation. Don’t be put off by this, it is counteracted by a tragic reminder that alternatives may be similarly objectionable.

The Feed has everything you would wish for from a classic dystopian novel. Major infrastructure fails, the basic rules change, and different fears emerge. Kate and Tom are forced to find a new normal amongst the chaos, and keep fighting for their family’s survival.

If you like Black Mirror and The Walking Dead, this felt like a good mix of the two, and would easily translate to a TV series.