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The Insecure Mind of Sergei Kraev
For fans of Neal Stephenson, Andy Weir, and Cixin Liu comes a novel that readers describe as “a great Black Mirror episode” with the “page-turning pacing of Michael Crichton.”
On April 17, 2120, thirteen-year-old Leon Levy is home with his parents—Technion computer science professors newly famous for inventing a way to transmit digitized smells to the brain. Over lunch, Leon’s parents suddenly collapse. Minutes later they are declared brain dead by their neural implants.
One hundred years later, Leon, in his annual message to his family, narrates a story he has kept secret his entire adult life. The story traces the lives of his parents and their brilliant friend Sergei Kraev over a twenty year period, starting with the trio meeting in graduate school and ending in catastrophe.
Set in a future where online social trust has been restored and where Korea, Israel, and Singapore lead the world in culture and technology, The Insecure Mind of Sergei Kraev is a classic tale of love, ambition, and self-interest building to a shattering finish.
This discussion guide and recommended reading was shared and sponsored in partnership with Authorbuzz.
Book club questions for The Insecure Mind of Sergei Kraev by Eric Silberstein
Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.
The title of the novel is The Insecure Mind of Sergei Kraev. How is Sergei insecure and how are the other characters insecure? Looking back at your life to date, can you point to actions you wish you had taken but failed to due to your own insecurities?
Why do people follow Sunny? What, if anything, do you find admirable in her path through life and leadership style? Have you ever had a manager or worked with someone like Sunny, and if so, what was the culture like?
Who do you think deserves the most blame for the catastrophe–Sergei, Sunny, Daniel, or Karima? Who deserves the least? Could you make a reasonable argument for each bearing either the most or the least responsibility?
Karima falls for Daniel, not Sergei. Does that bother you? Is it realistic?
The novel is set in a future where two major problems we face in our online world today–lack of a shared understanding of reality due to false information and conspiracy theories and computer hacking–have been solved through technology and regulatory oversight. Do you think a group like the “Board of Reality Overseers” could or should ever exist? Do you see other types of solutions emerging to bring people together around a shared set of facts?
You could argue that Lynette is the most principled character. Do you agree with that? Why does she have a hard time persuading people to her point of view? Do you see yourself in Lynette? Do you know anyone like Lynette?
Many scenes are set in Korea, Israel, Singapore, and Russia. Have you been to any of those countries? Do you recognize the sights, foods, and music described in the novel? What countries have you traveled to and have you had experiences that make you think the world will be more or less US-centric by the turn of the next century?
The Insecure Mind of Sergei Kraev Book Club Questions PDF
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"An absolutely riveting read—a can't-put-down look at a world very much like our own, but with all our trends fast-forwarded." --Drew Hansen, author of The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Speech that Inspired a Nation
"Where do we go from the global disinformation and pandemic of 2020? A history told from multiple voices, an evocative projection of the world we may invent to protect us—and the ways in which humans being human can game any system—this is a fantastic read that I couldn't put down." --Cindy Alvarez, author of Lean Customer Development
"The Insecure Mind of Sergei Kraev is a brilliantly inventive book that is hard to put down. Eric Silberstein has imagined a future that somehow makes our present more intelligible. It's a future that reveals how technological advances threaten our humanity, and yet, at the center of the story is a deep human yearning that gives the book its thumping heart." --Sam Apple, author of Ravenous: Otto Warburg, the Nazis, and the Search for the Cancer-Diet Connection
"The Insecure Mind of Sergei Kraev is one of the most interesting and well-executed debut novels I've ever had the pleasure to read. It is a doomsday story that eschews easy spectacle and empty chaos for a nuanced exploration of how hubris, missed opportunities, and misguided choices can lead to disaster. Silberstein skillfully takes us into the thoughts and emotions of the key players, particularly Sergei, the naïve but well-meaning quantum algorithm expert, and Sunny, the ambitious, self-involved leader of a dance troupe that evolves into a dangerous cult. The final outcome is never in doubt - the book opens with the tragic events of 4/17/2120—but the reader is drawn inexorably forward by the question: how could this possibly have happened?" --Paul McEuen, author of Spiral
"I've read thousands of sci-fi stories, and the thing that stands out for me here is the originality—it doesn't quickly fall into some typical genre or pay tribute to some other great novel. This made it especially enjoyable...it deserves to be read and enjoyed widely!" --Bryan Gaensler, author of Extreme Cosmos