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    The Unincorporated Man
    The Unincorporated Man
    The Unincorporated Man
    Audiobook23 hours

    The Unincorporated Man

    Written by Dani Kollin and Eytan Kollin

    Narrated by Todd McLaren

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The Unincorporated Man is a provocative social/political/economic novel that takes place in the future, after civilization has fallen into complete economic collapse. This reborn civilization is one in which every individual is incorporated at birth and spends many years trying to attain control over his or her own life by getting a majority of his or her own shares. Life extension has made life very long indeed.

    Now the incredible has happened: a billionaire businessman from our time, frozen in secret in the early twenty-first century, is discovered and resurrected, given health and a vigorous younger body. Justin Cord is the only unincorporated man in the world, a true stranger in this strange land. Justin survived because he is tough and smart. He cannot accept only part ownership of himself, even if that places him in conflict with a civilization that extends outside the solar system to the Oort Cloud.

    People will be arguing about this novel and this world for decades.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateMay 18, 2009
    ISBN9781400181728
    The Unincorporated Man
    Author

    Dani Kollin

    Dani Kollin lives in Los Angeles, California, and Eytan Kollin lives in Pasadena, California. They are brothers, and this is their second novel.

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    Reviews for The Unincorporated Man

    4/5

    15 ratings12 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I was instantly hooked by the synopsis of the book on the back cover and bought the first edition almost the moment it appeared on the market – a due credit to Dani Kollin as advertiser by profession, with undoubtedly a network of useful connections.In the end, I was left with no regrets whatsoever.The idea of absolutely deregulated market economy (forcefully imposed on us all by engineers of past, current and countless future economic crises IRL) rescuing the post-apocalyptic world (caused by viral escapism and religious fanaticism) is so novel , so intriguing and oh so timely – that it grants this novel high honor on its own merits alone!Add to that the dream of some measure of immortality, a poisonous hope that maybe somehow one could wake up in a brave new world full of wonders long after one's flesh should have expired, and you have a book that will (I Insist) be remembered for ages to come.Through the eyes of the main character, a reader is appalled by this personal incorporation, understandably naturally; yet the authors did a great job at playing the devil's advocate pointing out in great detail and with uncanny insight all the advantages of such system. In this new world – gone are the old ethnic prejudices, hatred, vindictiveness, lust for revenge, gone is the religious fanaticism (although, strangely, any form of spirituality is missing from this world as well... ), and as the consequences of the system, corporations and wealthy individuals are personally vested in making others grow into wealth and accomplishment (at the very least those that have been invested in), government is left on the sidelines and to dream up large long-term large-scale endeavors. A strangely believable utopia.At first.People being people, though, any system is corruptible and thus is corrupted, as we slowly discover through the pages of the book.People being people, it only takes a catalyst to spark conflict, uprising, bloodshed, and sorrow(but strangely the authors left out regret ...), as we find out through the wonderfully choreographed movements of this sonata.I gave the book full 5 stars, and was left very eager to see the debutants develop the premises and ideas established here, in the future volumes of the saga.I eventually bought the remaining 3 volumes as soon as I could find them, — but to my disappointment, surprise and even appall! — the central subject(s) and original insight were abandoned with increasing carelessness in all following volumes.Therefore I highly recommend this novel - The Unincorporated Man, but absolutely not the rest of the saga. And if after reading this book you wonder how it all ended, know — as it always does – with a whimper!
    • 2/5
      Storyline: 2 stars
      Character likeability: 1 star
      World building:4 stars
      American propaganda: -1star

      Three hundred years in the past a rich man has himself cryogenicly frozen and sealed away somewhere safe. He is reanimated into a future world where every individual is incorporated. Parents own a 20% stock in there kids. Shareholders vote on major decisions for an individual.

      I really like the premise. It is incredibly interesting, especially when we learn about "penny stocks" and the chairman who wants to own all of his stock again. As I read I kept wondering why this book wasn't better known, but I knew the answer by the end.

      The author is very heavy-handed in his love for his country, I began rolling my eyes. I could see the "I love America" shirt that I am sure the author was wearing as he typed.

      The twin towers rhetoric is gets a bit old. 300 years into the future it is the most talked about historical event.... A very american book, not to downgrade the sadness of the attack, it wasn't as significant to the rest of the world."

      The main character is arrogant. So arrogant that he ignites a civil war by refusing to become part of the new world, instead he doggedly tries to change it all back to the way it was in his lifetime, 300 years earlier. I am still not sure whether we are supposed to think this or wether we are supposed to agree with him. Is this American "middle of the world" arrogance again?". The author seems compelled to tell us just how wonderful 20th century America is.

      Even at the end of the book I still didn't like the main character. He was alright, but he was so wrong but he didn't know it. I don't think the author even knew it. I half expect every American reader not to know it (hope I am wrong).

      I kept reading simply because I really enjoyed the way this economy worked. The storyline was superfluous.

    • 5/5
      One of the most original SF books I've read in some time. The idea of a society in which everyone is "incorporated" is very novel.Very original thoughts with regard to transportation, housing and economics. A real chuckle that the Timex watch Justin was wearing on hos resurrection from cryogenic suspension was worth more than the diamonds and gold that can now be replicated at the nano level.Avatars having sentience was immaterial to the plot unless it was introduced for a second book in a series. If not, it would be the only flaw I see in an overall outstanding novel.I hope it gets Hugo consideration!
    • 4/5
      Imagine a man in a hospital bed. He doesn't know where he is, but he is glad to be alive. He sees a woman in a chair watching him. He is in a strange world with flying cars, but adjusts to this new world with astounding speed and comprehension. Later he has a passionate, but immoral, relationship with the woman in the chair. There are several women characters, but none of them have much dialogue or personality. He finds friends and makes enemies of people who want to control the world. He needs a lawyer and finds one of exceptional skill, spending much of the book in complex legal battles and philosophical discussions. Sound familiar? Sounds like Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein? Well, in this book, the hero starts a revolution, but does not die. The end.As a first novel, this is quite a good one. The world that Justin Cord, once billionaire, now revived corpsicle, finds himself in is vibrant, inventive, and logical. It is over three hundred years after our future. Nanotechnology has led to astounding life extension and manufacturing miracles. But after a global collapse from unrestricted virtual reality, the current society is incorporated. Every man, woman, and child, is owned by their parents (20%), the government (5%), and whoever they sold stock to to finance their education, food, housing, and insurance. Aligned self interest has created a seeming paradise. But as the powerful grow, the "pennies", those who own only 25% of themselves, are pushed farther and farther from freedom and into a state of slavery. Justin Cord, having been born well before the incorporated world, is the only Unincorporated Man in the world. And as such is a lightning rod for all the discontent of the poor and manipulated masses. As easy as accepting incorporation would be for Justin, he resists having even one other person "own" him.There is not a great deal of action in this book, but there is a clash of ideas. Would you accept a world of health and wealth for all, if it meant that you and your children would be owned by others? Is it worth fighting for freedom, when the last free society went down in flames and horror? I suspect that this book may garner a Hugo nomination next year. Much like the works of John Scalzi, it is a throwback to an earlier style of writing, but certainly written with a great deal of charm.
    • 4/5
      Great debut novel. Cool concept of incorporation, with interesting predictive future of our presnt. I couldn't really tell where the author was headed, which was a nice thing. I'm not totally comfortable with the Corporate Titan Hero, especially in a book that seems to be making the point that we shouldn't let corporations run our lives too much. Hopefully the "Pennies" will have more important roles to play in the upcoming revolution.
    • 3/5
      For a person who likes "ideas" this is an interesting read. For someone who is practical or more concrete, I would expect the book to be a bit boring. The idea is simple -- every human being is a corporation with shares owned by the government (5%), family (20%) and the rest owned by whomever is willing to pay the most for the stock (at whatever its going rate is) - with one additional caveat, each individual's total stock owned by the individual cannot drop below 25%. A person (Justin) is resurrected from the dead and no one owns his stock. Hence, the name of the book - The unincorporated man. While interesting at first, it gets old fast. Written by 2 brothers (Kollins) it is a good first novel, but I just cannot see how it has legs for 2 more novels..... seems the publishers wanted to extend the first book into a trilogy. Also, I would not pay more than $9.99 for this book and less if at all possible. In fact, I would recommend getting it from the library, as it is a quick read. Finally, a bit too much "anger and emotion" (i.e., irrationality) between Justin and the "evil" guy (Hektor)... to be believable. 3 stars out of 5. Mpls, MN.
    • 2/5
      So... meh. I give it three stars instead of two because it is a debut, and first books are (almost) always a bit rough.

      Good stuff:

      1.) I like new authors. New voices are good.
      2.) There is a good story here... though, see below.

      Main problems:

      1.) Getting clubbed over the the head with repeated, repeated, repeated socio-political-economic talk; it's not as bad as e.g. Ayn Rand (maybe 3 - 4 pages is the worst here, no 20-ish pages diatribes), but that's not exactly praise.
      2.) Paper thin characters; especially female characters. Even the nemesis is barely a caricature.
      3.) Okay, this is just a pet peeve. "Narticles." Really? Don't coin words just to coin words. Man... "narticles." Why?
      4.) Gaping holes in history. This isn't a problem per se, except the book goes into the history of this future in some detail. Key things in history don't make any sense: the 'VR Plauges' wiped out most of humanity because first world people all became, essentially, helpless hyper-addicts who died of starvation. Without the economic activity of the first world, the third world all starved. (Wait, what?) China and India and Turkey (I forget, actually, who the third player was) all nuked each other. (Really, just when the US and Europe self-destruct, then China and India decide to go to war?) What was left of the world was dominated by the 'Alaskan Federation', which united the world by force. Everyone is, apparently, some kind of American, just futurized (just how much ethnic cleansing was involved in the Alaskan Federation's take-over...?) One wonders what all of non-third world Africa, South America, Australia, etc. were doing, even in this skewed world history.

      Oddly enough, this was one of the things that bothered me the most about this book: it's not just the Ayn Randishness, or the thin characters, or the ridiculous portrayal of current (real) society and government... its that I can't help but feel a kind of not-so-subtle... Xenophobia? No. Rascim? No. I don't think those, per se.... but something. It's the hyper-American-centric libertarian fantasy of it all... so jingoistic. That's it. It's the barely concealed American libertarian jingoism.

      It so starkly jars with the real world that using the real world as a touch point in the book just keeps 'breaking the illusion' that this kind of SciFi needs.

      Damn, I think I just convinced myself to lower this to two stars.
    • 3/5
      This review contains some minor spoilers. Minor because if you've noticed that The Unincorporated Man has a sequel, you can pretty much predict what must happen and not happen to the main character, Justin Cord, by the end of the book.We aren't immediately introduced to Justin. Instead we meet some of the main supporting characters, Omand, a wildcat mine explorer; Neela, a reanimationist; Hektor, a corporate climber and powerbroker with designs on becoming an overlord. Omad finds a hidden suspended animation capsule containing Justin. In the world of the future this isn't that remarkable. In fact Neela's job is basically therapist for people who are healed and re-animated after suffering some near-death injury. What is unusual is that Justin has been in suspended animation for over 300 years, making him completely unique. In fact, he comes from a time before the current world order existed. In the new world order, every individual is incorporated – that is they are a corporation of one, and they sell of shares of themselves to fund education, vacations, whatever, and their shareholders get a take of anything the person earns. And incidentally if the person owns less than a majority of “themselves” their shareholders can pretty much tell them what jobs to take, where to live and otherwise run their lives for them.Hektor, quite rightly, sees Justin, an unincorporated person as a threat to the entire system, a system which is not just his way of life, but his life's calling. Hektor is an up-and-comer in the largest company in the Solar System, GCI. What's good for GCI is good for the world, and good for Hektor. So he sets about trying to force Justin to incorporate, and in the process gain leverage over Justin for GCI through stock ownership. Of course, Justin turns out to be an amazingly savvy businessman, formidable intellect, and charasmatic leader who quickly adapts to the reality of his new world, refuses to be incorporated and effectively fights off repeated attacks from GCI.Some other reviewers have railed against the overly simplistic “free markets will solve all the world's problems” message of the incorporated future. Certainly the Kollin brothers spend a lot of time pointing out all of the benefits of such a system (probably ½ to 2/3 of the 480 pages), and through Justin they don't really offer much of a counter argument, and the society itself doesn't exhibit too many of the abuses one might expect, let alone draw much in the way of direct comparisons to slavery. However, I suspect the vitriol heaped on the authors may come from from folks who couldn't bring themselves to finish the book, or got so caught up in creating arguments against incorporation that they missed the ending. I found myself regularly creating such arguments, but the somewhat better-than-average quality of the writing kept me going. Plus I kept seeing hints that the system wouldn't win, not the least of which is that the main character is completely opposed to the system. Always a good sign that the system is going to lose. And it does. Justin wins some court battles, thwarts some assassins, staves off political intrigue, and makes a speech that might have been lifted from Braveheart in tone, simplicity and cheesiness. Then the revolution comes, the good guys triumph and the stage is set for the sequel.The main flaw of the novel is that the authors seem to consider the flaws of the system of self-incorporation so self-evident and the downfall so inevitable that they don't bother to spend even 1/10th of the time making the case against it as they do making the case for it. And they do as good a job of making the case for it as I think can be done. It certainly got me thinking about counter arguments. And I kept reading, so as authors they were successful. But the counter arguments didn't seem to be that hard to come up with (of course, in my head I always win the debates), so the amount of time spent did begin to grate. Events and machinations became repetetive, and many of the supporting characters turned out to be pretty two-dimensional. With some serious work at tightening things up, the story could have explored the pro-and-con arguments much more thoroughly or fleshed out the characters and society to be more interesting and still cut the size of the book by about 1/3. But I did enjoy it. It wasn't that long a read, and I'll probably pick up the sequel when it hits paperback.
    • 4/5
      I read a lot of business books. It's just something I enjoy... but not as much as a good sci-fi tale and this book combines both. The book is loaded with lots of ideas early on. Such as, ownership, property, government, investing, money, etc. It's a very 'free markets can heal the world if we'd just stay out of the way' will solve 99% of the world's issues if we'd let them. But as the story unfolds, it's individuals and people that have to take us the rest of the way.The entire book is set in the future where everyone is self-incorporated. That is, as soon as you are born, the government gets a certain percentage stock in you, your parents and their friends probably take out some shares. As you grow older schools, classmates, the general public all invest in you, your life and your future, with the idea that if they help invest in your beginnings, once you become successful and rich you will buy them out to get majority ownership of yourself and they get rich. If you're unable to increase your self-stock's value, then they sell-off their stake in you. So a mining company could buy up all your stock and move you to the moon to mine ore or something like that.But, introduced into this world is a savvy businessman unfrozen from the past... predating the incorporation period. So he is unincorporated, untaxed, not contributing to society as they see it. So what to do? Force him to incorporate and sell off parts of himself to business owners? Leave him alone and risk his "unalienable rights" thinking and talk to spark an uprising? Soon enough there is bloodshed, legal proceedings with businesses and governments aligning themselves against this man from the past.It's a great concept and idea. Certainly one that gets people talking. Especially in this day of micro-payments and crowd-sourced funding many sites and non-profits are pursuing.At a minimum, it's a fun sci-fi yarn. At the most, it will get you thinking, talking and looking at the good and bad of how things are run in America.
    • 4/5
      I bought this at a Sci-Fi convention from Eytan Kollin because he was an interesting part of a couple panels and the story idea sounded like older Science Fiction that was more about social ideas than shoot-'em-ups. I like a book that gives you something to think about. How different is being incorporated from having to take out college loans, and mortgages? Is selling stock in yourself so different from having to work a boring job(s) for the health benefits and to pay for medical expenses? The story leads you one way and then the other. You start to wonder who is the "good" guy.
      This is a good long read that takes it's time building the story. I think Eytan said there were three to go and I look forward to watching the brother writers skills grow. I enjoyed the read but I will be buying the next volume as a Kindle edition if it's as big a brick as this one. LOL
    • 5/5
      What if we woke up several hundred years in the future? Would we like what we found? Justin Cord didn't and decided to fight the system. Great read.
    • 3/5
      It plays out a pretty heavy-handed libertarian utopia, showing off problems with such, which is better than the pretty abject fawning of (for instance) L Neil Smith's repertoire.