Hum - by Helen Phillips (Paperback)

About the Book

"After losing her job to artificial intelligence, May, in a city populated by intelligent robots called "hums," takes her family on a three-night respite to the Botanical Garden, a rare green refuge, where her children come under threat and she is forced to trust a hum to save them"--

Book Synopsis

WINNER OF THE 2026 CLIMATE FICTION PRIZE From "one of our most profound writers of speculative fiction" (The New York Times), this "tense dystopian thriller" (Time) and "tender portrait of love and care in an uncertain world" (Esquire) is an urgent and unflinching portrayal of a woman's fight for her family's security in a world shaped by AI, suveilence, global warming, and rapid technological progress.In a near-future world addled by climate change and inhabited by intelligent robots called "hums," May loses her job to artificial intelligence. Desperate 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 reprieve from her recent hardships and her family's addiction to their devices, May splurges on passes for her family to spend three nights respite in the Botanical Garden: a rare green refuge where forests, streams, and animals still thrive. But when her children come under threat, May is forced to put her trust in a hum of uncertain motives to save her family. Written with "precision, insight, sensitivity, and compassion" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), Hum is a "striking new work of dystopian fiction" (Vogue) that delves into the complexities of marriage, motherhood, and selfhood in a world compromised by global warming and dizzying technological advancement, a world of both dystopian and utopian possibilities.

Review Quotes

"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

About the Author

Helen Phillips is the author of six books, including, most recently, the novel Hum. Her novel The Need was a National Book Award nominee and a New York Times Notable Book. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award. Her collection Some Possible Solutions received the John Gardner Fiction Book Award. Her novel The Beautiful Bureaucrat was a finalist for the New York Public Library's Young Lions Fiction Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. A professor at Brooklyn College, she lives in Brooklyn with artist/cartoonist Adam Douglas Thompson and their children. Find her online at HelenCPhillips.com or on X @HelenCPhillips.