about the book

Four futures. Four hard truths. And the fragile choices that still make us human.

This collection brings together four near-future stories rooted in hard trends already reshaping our world — climate instability, algorithmic influence on cognition, the commodification of memory, and the institutionalization of ageing. Rather than imagining distant ‘science fiction’ dystopias, these stories unfold in futures that feel unsettlingly familiar, where technology and systems advance quietly while human relationships strain, adapt, and sometimes resist.

Buy from Amazon Buy from Flipkart White Falcon Store

The Four Stories

The Last Writer of Kolkata
In a near-future Kolkata where memory, culture, and even grief is packaged and sold, an ageing writer quietly records a city that no longer listens. When his private words are appropriated and monetized, the story becomes a haunting meditation on erasure, resistance, and the fragile dignity of remembering.

2056: The Year of the Water and Fire
In a near-future Sundarbans battered by super-cyclones and rising seas, a grieving environmentalist, his resolute daughter, and a sentient AI boat are caught between prophecy and science as fire erupts beneath the ocean. When nature reclaims its power, is survival an act of technology, faith — or human courage?

Echo Chamber
In a future where minds are seamlessly linked and memories can be accessed, altered, and weaponized; a gifted intelligence analyst uncovers a conspiracy that turns thought itself into a tool of control. When belief is engineered, is freedom still a choice, or merely an illusion?

When the Rain Remembered
In a near-future Kolkata where ageing has been systematized and kindness regulated, an elderly couple shelter a displaced child inside a gated retirement enclave that has forgotten laughter. A tender meditation on belonging — asking whether homes are built by policy, or by the human instinct to care.

Reviews

• “Shakti Ghosal’s present book is not really about the future; it is about orientation. Across storms, cities, technologies, and departures, it invites us to notice how we live when certainty dissolves, and familiar maps no longer hold.” — Frank Marinko, Founder & Managing Partner, Empathinko, Australia
• “A luminous and deeply engaging collection of four shorts, rich in imagination and emotional intelligence. Quiet, powerful, and profoundly human — Shakti’s voice remains long after the last page has been turned. Fiction has never read more real.” — Bhaswar Mukherjee, Best Selling Author, The Founding Fathers of Fraud
• “Ghosal writes with precision and purpose that makes for a unique fusion of reality, fiction and caution. Highly recommended as a terrific read that makes for a thoughtful entry into 2026!” — Dr. Viraj P. Thacker, International Facilitator, Consultant & Author
• “What must we retain in the future to remain human? Each of the four near-future stories explores a different aspect of this central question. This book is best enjoyed by reading it slowly and pausing to reflect.” — RV Raman, Author, 2080: The Lattice & A Will to Kill