Cory Doctorow 1 hr 24 min read

The son of a time-traveling diplomat is stranded in the drab present, 'so foreign' to a boy raised in tomorrow.

Cory Doctorow's title story (2000) follows a kid at home in the wonders of the future who finds himself marooned in our own dull era, filtering pop culture through science-fiction-colored glasses. Doctorow's early work crackles with wired-world energy and generous invention. Read it for a smart, playful modern time-travel tale from one of the twenty-first century's most engaged SF voices.

In its time

Published in 2000, during the 2000s, open-culture and post-scarcity visions.

Reading it

1 hr 24 min read (a novella, a full arc in one sitting or two).