The history of overhyped tech, and a chilling new graphic novel from Charles Burns

Richard Powers’ Playground is a novel of contrasts: the vast unknown of Earth’s oceans, a place of constant discovery and marvelous creatures that seem always to be at play, versus technological advancement and the rise of AI; the unlikely friendship between a young poet and a boy whose life revolves around coding; a remote island with a tiny population still feeling the effects of a history of exploitation, and the tech elites who envision it as the stepping stone to their own utopia.

Through the perspectives of four characters who have been brought together on Makatea, an atoll in the South Pacific, Playground explores friendship, play, the wonders of the natural world and humanity in the age of artificial intelligence. Powers’ writing is beautiful, and Playground promises to leave you with a lot to think about.

The Long History of the Future: Why Tomorrow’s Technology Still Isn’t Here is a surprisingly entertaining look at the failed promises of technologies long touted to be on the horizon, and the grand ambitions of the innovators behind them. Tech and science journalist Nicole Kobie takes us on a journey through the decades to trace the roots of some of the biggest ideas that never quite came to fruition in the way it was once projected they would — flying cars, the hyperloop, robots that can actually do all of our chores for us, etc. Kobie offers a witty analysis and a lot of rich anecdotes, making for a really informative deep dive that’s also pretty fun to read.

It’s a big week for anyone who’s been waiting years for an English-language release of Charles Burns’ Dédales — Final Cut, as the English version is called, is here. Final Cut follows a group of friends who, led by aspiring filmmaker Brian, set out to make a sci-fi horror movie in the vein of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Brian’s favorite movie. But obsession takes hold of Brian in a nightmare blend of romantic longing (for the film’s star, Laurie) and artistic creativity that has gone too far, and things take a turn for the dark and disturbing. As is characteristic for Burns, Final Cut is surreal and unsettling, made all the more impactful by his crisp illustrations. In some ways it feels like a spiritual successor to Black Hole, and I expect this to be one of those works I keep coming back to.