Utopian Frontiers
A Story Of Hope
By: Drew Tapley
Published: October 13, 2011
Format: Paperback, 240 pages
ISBN-10: 1927005124
ISBN-13: 978-1927005125
Publisher: Burman Books, Inc.
Erwin and Beth Sharp, along with their teenaged son Lazer wander off from their canoeing trip, into a forest that they were warned was off limits to tourists, and enter into a secret city of possibilities and futuristic technology. The family are introduced to the grand social experiment conducted there, and its potential role in creating an alternate global society in the futuristic and visionary parable Utopian Frontiers: A Story Of Hope by Drew Tapley.
Drew Tapley addresses the challenges facing society in his utopian novel, offering a philosophical response to those seemingly overwhelming problems facing all of humanity. In the long literary tradition of utopian novels, the emphasis is on the ideas and less so on the characters. Indeed, the people who appear in the novel represent the archetypical types of individuals who ask questions, seek answers, and offer possible solutions. The aptly named Sharp family enters into the classic literary device of the enchanted forest, and awaken into a world vastly different from their previous experience. The plot device of the forest sleep provides not only a physical awakening, but also a psychological and philosophical awakening as well.
Drew Tapley (photo left) presents the critical modern theme of humanity and its relationship with technology. Along with the futuristic technology, the city offers an alternative economic system, and different societal relationships as well. Within this new world that the Sharp family find themselves, their original beliefs and convictions as to how the world works are turned completely upside down. The inquisitive travelers are introduced to the technological wonders of the hidden city, its marvels and its internal challenges, and are offered the option of joining the community.
The author doesn't present a perfect world, as much as one of possibilities and of hope. For many people, the technology found in the community will only intensify the person's sense of what futurist Alvin Toffler referred to as "future shock". That sense of technological and societal change happening too quickly for everyone to adapt, or even to accept, forms a crucial theme of the book. The community as presented is a huge leap into the future, and the technology has the potential to be very intrusive into people's lives.
The author doesn't shy away from the darker side of the community, and the shadow that exists within and outside of the city. As with any technology, the issue is more with how it's utilized by people, than of the technology itself. The city strives to create an ethical society where the social imperative becomes the guiding principle, and the darker side of vested interests, power, and priorities is kept in check. Within the city are forces that attempt to change the mission and goals of the community.
Drew Tapley offers an alternative view of what the future could look like; but not the only vision. The author presents a community where the goal is to provide an alternative to the current economic, social, and technological model. For the author, and by extension the residents and guides to the community itself, the vision is one where people are free to pursue what interests them, free from economic constraints, and to make choices based on the good of the overall population.
That vision as is made clear, is not the only one for the future of course. It may not appeal to everyone for various reasons, including the questions it raises about individual liberty and the common good. The importance of the novel is in the message of hope. The very idea that the current national and global systems are not the only possible world, is itself liberating whether the novel's vision is accepted or not. The novel creates the opportunity to think about alternatives and fresh new approaches to building a society.
I highly recommend the thought provoking and conversation generating novel Utopian Frontiers: A Story Of Hope by Drew Tapley, to anyone seeking a literary discussion of the challenges facing humanity, and of some possible solutions to those challenges. While the vision presented in the book may not be the right one for everyone, the very idea that our society is not the best of all possible worlds, is one that is worth discussion and reevaluation by all people.
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About Utopian Frontiers Non-Profit Organization
UTOPIAN FRONTIERS FOUNDATION is a non profit organization dedicated to developing multi-media works intended to educate and provoke meaningful discourse on global environmental concerns – including the relationship between humankind and technology.
To educate and increase the public’s understanding of the environment and its importance by offering courses, seminars, conferences and meetings and by collecting
and disseminating information on that topic.
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