“This sleek ride of a novel further cements Phillips’s position as one of our most profound writers of speculative fiction.” —New York Times
“[A] striking new work of dystopian fiction… Textured, intimate, and taut with dread, Phillips’s latest is a well-crafted machine with a throbbing pulse.” —Vogue
"A familiar yet distorted world in which a desperate family clings to rare moments of joy.” —PEOPLE, 'Book of the Week'
“A tense dystopian thriller set in a near-future where sophisticated artificial intelligence threatens human existence as we know it.” —TIME, “25 New Books You Need to Read This Summer”
“Phillips’ skills as a stylist and keen observer of human nature keep us feverishly turning pages. And her unexpected humor lightens the mood.” —Los Angeles Times
“The fearsome power of Phillips’s imagination always dazzles, but in this prescient novel, it’s the tender portrait of love and care in an uncertain world that leaves a lasting mark.” —Esquire, The Best Books of Summer 2024
“This chilling vision of a near future, one where its dwellers ‘can’t avoid the void,’ resonates unnervingly with the way things already are. Readers won’t be able to look away.” —Publisher's Weekly
"With propulsive intensity and extraordinary finesse and insight, Phillips keenly dramatizes the love and terror of parenthood in a poisoned, high-tech, yet not utterly hopeless world." —Booklist
“The world of Hum feels not too far from our present day reality. [Hum] makes you, the reader, deeply uncomfortable (in a good way) about the advances in AI and our dependence on technology.” —Town & Country, "The 39 Must-Read Books of Summer 2024"
“The true wonder of Hum lies in its chilling reflection of our present times. However, Phillips cuts through the bleakness of the fictitious world she has created by transporting readers deep inside May's psyche, the tumultuous beating heart of the novel, to witness the tender humanity no amount of technological advancement can destroy… an intriguing novel about motherhood set in a technologically advanced future.” —Shelf Awareness
“Phillips’ new novel again shows her talent for finding warmth, humanity, and connection within an all-too-conceivable dystopian landscape… Writing with precision, insight, sensitivity, and compassion, Phillips renders the way love and family bonds—between partners, parents and children, and siblings—can act as a balm and an anchor amid the buffeting winds of a fast-changing, out-of-control world. A perceptive page-turner.” —Kirkus (starred)
“A dystopian, futuristic hellscape just around the corner, Hum digs into our tenderest wounds... Infuriating and enthralling, Hum rushes along with an undercurrent of panic about our own not-too-distant future.” —Electric Lit, The Best Books of the Summer, According to Indie Booksellers
Description
Named Most Anticipated by Goodreads, LitHub, and Book Riot, this “tense dystopian thriller” (TIME) captures an urgent and unflinching portrayal of a woman’s fight for her family’s security in a world shaped by global warming and rapid technological progress.
In a city addled by climate change and populated by intelligent robots called “hums,” May loses her job to artificial intelligence. In a desperate bid to resolve her family’s debt and secure their future for another few months, she becomes a guinea pig in an experiment that alters her face so it cannot be recognized by surveillance.
Seeking some reprieve from her recent hardships and from her family’s addiction to their devices, she splurges on passes that allow them three nights’ respite inside the Botanical Garden: a rare green refuge where forests, streams, and animals flourish. But her insistence that her son, daughter, and husband leave their devices at home proves far more fraught than she anticipated, and the lush beauty of the Botanical Garden is not the balm she hoped it would be. When her children come under threat, May is forced to put her trust in a hum of uncertain motives as she works to restore the life of her family.
Written in taut, urgent prose, Hum is a work of speculative fiction that unflinchingly explores marriage, motherhood, and selfhood in a world compromised by global warming and dizzying technological advancement, a world of both dystopian and utopian possibilities. As New York Times bestselling author Jeff VanderMeer says, “Helen Phillips, in typical bravura fashion, has found a way to make visible uncomfortable truths about our present by interrogating the near-future.”
Reviews
“Helen Phillips (The Need) imagines a dystopian future that’s about five minutes away, in which the very fundamentals of society have been shifted by climate change, AI, surveillance tech, and our relentless electronic devices. When a desperate mom agrees to a dangerous experiment, things get even darker.” —Goodreads, "Readers' Most Anticipated Summer Books"
"Hum is a prescient, unnerving and excellent novel of a future that seems frighteningly possible. It's the story, in part, of a mother just trying to make her family happy and how the world punishes her for it. Helen Phillips writes with sharp insight and sly humor, making her critique of our current moment feel timely and timeless." —Victor LaValle, author of Lone Women
"There’s a lot going on in this novel, but trust Helen Phillips to navigate it effortlessly.... It’s Anxiety Central, but in a good way." —Literary Hub, "Most Anticipated Books of 2024"
