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After Thought
AFTER THOUGHT is an electrifying and unforgettable dystopian thriller that imagines what society could look like after America’s second Civil War. In the wake of unspeakable violence, the United States adopts a technology to ensure everlasting peace. But one woman, Ada, uncovering her family’s redacted past and a surveillance company’s role in the war, pushes the nation to the brink of an even bloodier conflict.
What follows is the immersive account of our heroine, who realizes that she’s more than a victim of the last Civil War; she is the arbiter of the first Neural War. Through this journey Ada struggles to comprehend fact from fiction. Her knowledge, though a heavy burden, ultimately empowers her to brave, world altering decisions. After Thought is a tale for our times, which confronts readers with conventions of censorship and punishment, the necessity and danger of free speech, and horror we may face as technologies become indistinguishable from humans.
What follows is the immersive account of our heroine, who realizes that she’s more than a victim of the last Civil War; she is the arbiter of the first Neural War. Through this journey Ada struggles to comprehend fact from fiction. Her knowledge, though a heavy burden, ultimately empowers her to brave, world altering decisions. After Thought is a tale for our times, which confronts readers with conventions of censorship and punishment, the necessity and danger of free speech, and horror we may face as technologies become indistinguishable from humans.
- GenresScience Fiction
256 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 15, 2023
About the author
Nate Eckman
1 book4 followersNate Eckman is an author of speculative fiction. His debut novel, After Thought, explores the horrors of when technology becomes indistinguishable from humans.
Between novels, Nate publishes Speculatively, a personal site where short pieces grow into his next big project.
Nate's previous works include feature scripts currently under development and nonfiction essays on military service for The War Horse.
He graduated from Columbia University with a degree in history in 2018. Nate currently lives in Austin, Texas.
Between novels, Nate publishes Speculatively, a personal site where short pieces grow into his next big project.
Nate's previous works include feature scripts currently under development and nonfiction essays on military service for The War Horse.
He graduated from Columbia University with a degree in history in 2018. Nate currently lives in Austin, Texas.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
May 17, 2023
Thank you to NetGalley for an eArc of this title in exchange for an honest review.
The synopsis I read when choosing to pick up the book had me so hooked. I really wanted to love this book so badly. Unfortunately, even though I am a sci-fi lover, I don't think I was the target audience here. I want to finish it, but just don’t think I’m going to be able to push through the last 15%.
I will preface this by saying that I struggle with 3rd person omniscient perspectives. The head-hopping in this was jarring at times, although I think that could be a me thing. I did find myself confused by things while reading this quite frequently, and I’m unsure where the onus of responsibility lies there. It’s possible that I was just missing important details by not paying enough attention. There was quite a bit of exposition in this book, and so I think that there was a lot of extraneous information that might’ve obscured some of the more important information. Overall, I found the world super interesting, but it was greatly delivered through “telling” and I didn’t feel transported there.
I felt as though the characters were generally quite flat and none of them had unique tones or personalities. This book is definitely plot-driven, and the characters seem to be vehicles for it, lacking emotional arcs and depth. This book seems like it was meant more for chewing on the concepts philosophically than for those who want to really hunker in for the main character’s experience. I think there’s definitely merit in that, but it just isn’t something I’m looking for at this moment.
I really think the idea is a gem. The details of the world are so cool and interesting, things I’d love to dig into and get a better understanding of. I think the author has something amazing but the execution just wasn’t for me, personally. I got through the first 50% pretty quickly, and liked where it was headed, but lost my momentum in the second half. I would still recommend this to sci-fi lovers who are a little more interested in the concepts and less interested in digging into the emotions and internal lives of the characters.
Again, thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author!
The synopsis I read when choosing to pick up the book had me so hooked. I really wanted to love this book so badly. Unfortunately, even though I am a sci-fi lover, I don't think I was the target audience here. I want to finish it, but just don’t think I’m going to be able to push through the last 15%.
I will preface this by saying that I struggle with 3rd person omniscient perspectives. The head-hopping in this was jarring at times, although I think that could be a me thing. I did find myself confused by things while reading this quite frequently, and I’m unsure where the onus of responsibility lies there. It’s possible that I was just missing important details by not paying enough attention. There was quite a bit of exposition in this book, and so I think that there was a lot of extraneous information that might’ve obscured some of the more important information. Overall, I found the world super interesting, but it was greatly delivered through “telling” and I didn’t feel transported there.
I felt as though the characters were generally quite flat and none of them had unique tones or personalities. This book is definitely plot-driven, and the characters seem to be vehicles for it, lacking emotional arcs and depth. This book seems like it was meant more for chewing on the concepts philosophically than for those who want to really hunker in for the main character’s experience. I think there’s definitely merit in that, but it just isn’t something I’m looking for at this moment.
I really think the idea is a gem. The details of the world are so cool and interesting, things I’d love to dig into and get a better understanding of. I think the author has something amazing but the execution just wasn’t for me, personally. I got through the first 50% pretty quickly, and liked where it was headed, but lost my momentum in the second half. I would still recommend this to sci-fi lovers who are a little more interested in the concepts and less interested in digging into the emotions and internal lives of the characters.
Again, thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author!
April 10, 2023
4 🌟 read!!!
What a debut novel! After Thought is a dystopian thriller that follows our heroine Ada as she navigates the complexities of technological control following America’s second civil war. This is definitely a page turner that keeps the surprises coming. I finished a technological thriller (Poster Girl) shortly before reading this book, but it still kept me engaged. The concept of the government using technology to control citizens and make them dependent is not as far removed as I would like it to be - so the novel really is terrifying. It’s a story of resilience, morals, and gore. If you like dystopian novels, this modern twist will keep you reeling.
I received a copy of this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. #AfterThought #NetGalley #LilReads
What a debut novel! After Thought is a dystopian thriller that follows our heroine Ada as she navigates the complexities of technological control following America’s second civil war. This is definitely a page turner that keeps the surprises coming. I finished a technological thriller (Poster Girl) shortly before reading this book, but it still kept me engaged. The concept of the government using technology to control citizens and make them dependent is not as far removed as I would like it to be - so the novel really is terrifying. It’s a story of resilience, morals, and gore. If you like dystopian novels, this modern twist will keep you reeling.
I received a copy of this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. #AfterThought #NetGalley #LilReads
April 14, 2023
After Thought follows Ada as she navigates a post-civil war United States. Sixth Domain Industries (6Di) took over as the leading governing body in this dystopian world. Each individual has an implanted device created by 6Di, called a Bridg, that alters their memories, censoring what information is stored in the mind. 6Di controls what information is true or false, in an effort to create peace through censorship. Any information labeled as false is scrubbed from the mind, without the individual noticing the missing information.
I’m not sure if the book was for me as a reader. The storyline was interesting, and I had high hopes for this debut novel. I wasn’t a big fan of the writing style personally, with a narrator describing in third person what was happening and switching POVs mid-chapter, but I can appreciate the writing. The narrator monologues and philosophical thinking became a bit overdone, especially when it didn’t contribute to the plot. It was thought provoking, but the plot was more interesting to me and I wasn’t satisfied with how much we got that actually drove the story forward.
I wanted more from this novel. I wanted more back-story on the civil war that set place before Ada. I especially wanted more on the trials she faced in the competition. The plot jumped in time too quickly that it felt like so much was happening off the page that I would have liked to know.
I give this book 3/5 stars. I really wanted to like this book, but I had issues with the narrator monologue and lack of action from the characters. I had a lot of unanswered questions and felt there were plot holes unaddressed. I did however, appreciate the story and the authors attempt to get the reader to really consider how it would feel to be in this world.
Thank you to the author and publisher for giving me an ARC!! I’m excited to check back on the release date to see what others think.
I’m not sure if the book was for me as a reader. The storyline was interesting, and I had high hopes for this debut novel. I wasn’t a big fan of the writing style personally, with a narrator describing in third person what was happening and switching POVs mid-chapter, but I can appreciate the writing. The narrator monologues and philosophical thinking became a bit overdone, especially when it didn’t contribute to the plot. It was thought provoking, but the plot was more interesting to me and I wasn’t satisfied with how much we got that actually drove the story forward.
I wanted more from this novel. I wanted more back-story on the civil war that set place before Ada. I especially wanted more on the trials she faced in the competition. The plot jumped in time too quickly that it felt like so much was happening off the page that I would have liked to know.
I give this book 3/5 stars. I really wanted to like this book, but I had issues with the narrator monologue and lack of action from the characters. I had a lot of unanswered questions and felt there were plot holes unaddressed. I did however, appreciate the story and the authors attempt to get the reader to really consider how it would feel to be in this world.
Thank you to the author and publisher for giving me an ARC!! I’m excited to check back on the release date to see what others think.
April 19, 2023
Thank you to NetGalley for an eArc of this title in exchange for an honest review.
This book lacks substance and not in a junk food way but in a how eating a piece of styrofoam has no nutritional value way. Every single character, including the protagonist is completely flat, there are no emotional arcs or depth. All the villains sit around twirling their mustaches and laughing maniacally. Worse yet there isn't even banter between characters, characters just sort of open their mouths and explain to the audience what's going on.
And it's aggressive in explaining everything to the audience, just full on Garth Marenghi: "I know writers who use subtext and they're all cowards" school of writing. To the degree that when the antagonist is sitting on a snake motif chair the protagonist has to stop the action to literally ask the antagonist about the snake motif.
I'm willing to cut dystopian novels a little slack when it comes to plot and characters because more often than not these novels primarily serve as a vehicle for social criticism. Eckman's commentary seems to be having a single corporation control all information is bad which is true but isn't explored in any novel way. It's clear that this is supposed to be about content moderation on the internet and Truth but there's no actual discussions about the problems of moderation outside of just evil corporation controls all information and that's terrible.
Additionally, there's a whole anti-digitization subplot where characters go on about how digitization destroys the aura of art and it's like I get it, you read Walter Benjamin. I'm sorry that copies don't have the aura of the original object but actually accessible and indexable art is a social good and means more people can actually engage with art.
The world, the characters, and the politics of this book is simply not well fleshed out. If I could give it a zero I would, but since I can't I'm giving it a one.
This book lacks substance and not in a junk food way but in a how eating a piece of styrofoam has no nutritional value way. Every single character, including the protagonist is completely flat, there are no emotional arcs or depth. All the villains sit around twirling their mustaches and laughing maniacally. Worse yet there isn't even banter between characters, characters just sort of open their mouths and explain to the audience what's going on.
And it's aggressive in explaining everything to the audience, just full on Garth Marenghi: "I know writers who use subtext and they're all cowards" school of writing. To the degree that when the antagonist is sitting on a snake motif chair the protagonist has to stop the action to literally ask the antagonist about the snake motif.
I'm willing to cut dystopian novels a little slack when it comes to plot and characters because more often than not these novels primarily serve as a vehicle for social criticism. Eckman's commentary seems to be having a single corporation control all information is bad which is true but isn't explored in any novel way. It's clear that this is supposed to be about content moderation on the internet and Truth but there's no actual discussions about the problems of moderation outside of just evil corporation controls all information and that's terrible.
Additionally, there's a whole anti-digitization subplot where characters go on about how digitization destroys the aura of art and it's like I get it, you read Walter Benjamin. I'm sorry that copies don't have the aura of the original object but actually accessible and indexable art is a social good and means more people can actually engage with art.
The world, the characters, and the politics of this book is simply not well fleshed out. If I could give it a zero I would, but since I can't I'm giving it a one.
April 26, 2024
This was a confusing read with random perspective switches that occurred without warning and really confused me a few times.
The concept sounded cool: a near-future sci-fi, thriller about a struggle for control after a Civil War that is run by a ruthless government that fully censors its citizens, that felt like a mix of The Matrix and The Hunger Games. While the concept seemed really cool (and certainly had some neat elements) the execution fell flat.
The story was confusing, scattered, and lacked depth, a clear backstory, and introduced too many characters out of nowhere without notice and clear explanation of who they were. I really struggled to keep things straight throughout the story and often had to pause and think about who a particular character was that the author had us focusing on because I wasn't sure who they were and where they came from.
Without giving away any spoilers, I found the ending of this story to be VERY unsatisfying and without a clear resolution. Maybe to leave room for a sequel novel, but there came a point where I almost just ended it and walked away because the description of what was going on was really disappointing.
I think the overall concept of the novel and some of the story saved this novel from being rated lower, but it was a miss for me.
The concept sounded cool: a near-future sci-fi, thriller about a struggle for control after a Civil War that is run by a ruthless government that fully censors its citizens, that felt like a mix of The Matrix and The Hunger Games. While the concept seemed really cool (and certainly had some neat elements) the execution fell flat.
The story was confusing, scattered, and lacked depth, a clear backstory, and introduced too many characters out of nowhere without notice and clear explanation of who they were. I really struggled to keep things straight throughout the story and often had to pause and think about who a particular character was that the author had us focusing on because I wasn't sure who they were and where they came from.
Without giving away any spoilers, I found the ending of this story to be VERY unsatisfying and without a clear resolution. Maybe to leave room for a sequel novel, but there came a point where I almost just ended it and walked away because the description of what was going on was really disappointing.
I think the overall concept of the novel and some of the story saved this novel from being rated lower, but it was a miss for me.
May 18, 2023
Even heaven allows hell.
I picked this book specifically because it had a post-American Civil War in its blurb. Seemingly, that was enough for me.
As for the content, it's a bit more of a complete cyberpunk dystopia without the endless capitalist violence. Indeed, in this MANAGED society, people's very memories are suspect. It's chilling and eventually the novel really blows up in an interesting way.
Think Pol Pot if he could have gotten his hands on memory alteration tech, AI personal assistants (and more to run a total massive operation), and a complete erasure of history. No one wants to recall the horrors of war, after all. It's best to take away the bad bits. In here, we start with this as a fait accompli.
I may have had a bit of issues with the writing style at first but once we got out of the explanation modes I was quite involved with the action and reveals. I very well might continue more by this author.
I picked this book specifically because it had a post-American Civil War in its blurb. Seemingly, that was enough for me.
As for the content, it's a bit more of a complete cyberpunk dystopia without the endless capitalist violence. Indeed, in this MANAGED society, people's very memories are suspect. It's chilling and eventually the novel really blows up in an interesting way.
Think Pol Pot if he could have gotten his hands on memory alteration tech, AI personal assistants (and more to run a total massive operation), and a complete erasure of history. No one wants to recall the horrors of war, after all. It's best to take away the bad bits. In here, we start with this as a fait accompli.
I may have had a bit of issues with the writing style at first but once we got out of the explanation modes I was quite involved with the action and reveals. I very well might continue more by this author.
June 19, 2023
What an easy book to get carried into! It is easy to imagine a society where AI meets corporate overreach in dystopian America amidst the growing ChatGPT and political unrest we see on a daily basis. This sci-fi novel fits right into these growing concerns, and the author does a great job portraying a future guided by AI and integrated technologies with a questionable motive and company behind the scenes. Everything seems great yet nothing is as it seems.
“After Thought” was a fun imaginative page turner somewhere along the lines of The Matrix, Divergent, and Black Mirror. The plot moves quickly, and I was hooked throughout the story.
Deep diving it feels like there are holes here and there and the book isn’t polished fully, but nothing felt like it takes away from enjoying the ride.
I will look forward to seeing more books from Nate Eckman!
“After Thought” was a fun imaginative page turner somewhere along the lines of The Matrix, Divergent, and Black Mirror. The plot moves quickly, and I was hooked throughout the story.
Deep diving it feels like there are holes here and there and the book isn’t polished fully, but nothing felt like it takes away from enjoying the ride.
I will look forward to seeing more books from Nate Eckman!
May 23, 2023
I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley - so thank you to them and the author!
Unfortunately this book didn’t hit the mark with me.
The idea behind the premise is right up my alley- I love dystopian novels especially when there’s a strong FMC (think Scott Westerfield) and explorations about technology and how humans interact with it. But this novel just fell flat and for context, I almost DNF’d this book multiple times.
At points it felt like the author/editors had thrown chapters into a thesaurus there was that much unnecessary exposition, which meant I also found it hard to follow. I also didn’t connect with any of the many characters, as they felt a little one dimensional.
Unfortunately this book didn’t hit the mark with me.
The idea behind the premise is right up my alley- I love dystopian novels especially when there’s a strong FMC (think Scott Westerfield) and explorations about technology and how humans interact with it. But this novel just fell flat and for context, I almost DNF’d this book multiple times.
At points it felt like the author/editors had thrown chapters into a thesaurus there was that much unnecessary exposition, which meant I also found it hard to follow. I also didn’t connect with any of the many characters, as they felt a little one dimensional.
April 30, 2023
Thanks to NetGalley for this book!
I’m sorry to say but I dnf’d this book with 50 pages left. The characters felt super flat to me. None of their motivations were fully developed, none of them had a real personality. The plot was sort of all over the place. Most of it was told and not shown (which I strongly dislike). The main character was sort of carried on the wave of the plot rather than having agency and making decisions for herself if that makes sense? I think some people could like this but it’s absolutely not for me.
I’m sorry to say but I dnf’d this book with 50 pages left. The characters felt super flat to me. None of their motivations were fully developed, none of them had a real personality. The plot was sort of all over the place. Most of it was told and not shown (which I strongly dislike). The main character was sort of carried on the wave of the plot rather than having agency and making decisions for herself if that makes sense? I think some people could like this but it’s absolutely not for me.
June 8, 2023
The synopsis sounded good, and for about the first third of the book I was enjoying it, but then it lost me. Things just became too much, and a lot of things that could have happened/been revealed tactfully, they were blatantly stated. Most of the twists and surprises felt very in your face because of this, in a way that was hard to get past. By the end I didn't really care what happened.
I thought this was going to be more than what it was, but it just felt like some YA dystopian novel, like a version of the Divergent series or something. Not my thing.
I thought this was going to be more than what it was, but it just felt like some YA dystopian novel, like a version of the Divergent series or something. Not my thing.
May 17, 2023
Positives: fascinating premise, classic dystopian, must read for anyone interested in the genre.
Things to note that people may not enjoy: third person omniscient perspective makes the characters feel distant, but in a way this actually emphasizes the dystopia ideas presented in the book. Namely that people will become detached from all things once connected to something like “the bridge.”
Will be recommending/gifting to my fellow dystopian lovers for sure!
Things to note that people may not enjoy: third person omniscient perspective makes the characters feel distant, but in a way this actually emphasizes the dystopia ideas presented in the book. Namely that people will become detached from all things once connected to something like “the bridge.”
Will be recommending/gifting to my fellow dystopian lovers for sure!
October 27, 2023
I think the concept in this novel is interesting and was fun to explore. The author did a good job world building in way that didn't feel out of reach. However, the plot fell short for me. I felt like there was too much going on and some of the plot devices weren't believable.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book to review. This is out now!
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book to review. This is out now!
May 17, 2023
A fantastic and well written Dystopia where people complete through their work assignments to become integrated into a collective consciousness. I look forward to seeing more from this author in the future.
June 11, 2023
The Author takes on the challenge of building an entire world from scratch and does a wonderful job. I don't read sci-fi often but have been enjoying this read. Excited to see what other works come from Nate Eckman.
January 12, 2024
The idea? Awesome. The execution? Insufferable. The world building is lacking and the characters are flat. I feel like the author is aggressively talking at me rather than showing me a story.
December 19, 2023
4 ⭐
This was a harder read for me. I'm one for romance or thrillers - keeping me on my toes, a quick read. This book, however, was a more intense read than I anticipated and a challenge that I gave myself to try a new genre.
Each chapter unpacked more to Ada's life decisions that she is needing to make, needing to decide what's right and wrong. Really seeing how different she is compared to every other obsolete in her wing. I'm amazed how a single piece of technology can change and perceive things as true or false until that piece of technology is disabled.
This dystopian universe is definitely a book worth reading.
ARC was received from #netgalley
This was a harder read for me. I'm one for romance or thrillers - keeping me on my toes, a quick read. This book, however, was a more intense read than I anticipated and a challenge that I gave myself to try a new genre.
Each chapter unpacked more to Ada's life decisions that she is needing to make, needing to decide what's right and wrong. Really seeing how different she is compared to every other obsolete in her wing. I'm amazed how a single piece of technology can change and perceive things as true or false until that piece of technology is disabled.
This dystopian universe is definitely a book worth reading.
ARC was received from #netgalley
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews