Borderless (An Analog Novel Book 2)

by Eliot Peper

  Cars, telegrams, planes, phones, trains, broadcast media, and container ships made the world smaller. Now the internet is stitching the strange, scary, and wonderful pieces together into a single civilization.

  Unfortunately the results aren’t always pretty. As I write this, authoritarian populism is rearing its ugly head, hate-mongers dominate the news cycle, and a country of immigrants is beginning to turn away people like Marvin. This is something my grandparents would recognize in a heartbeat.

  Fear at an uncertain future is all too understandable. Technology isn’t just making our national borders more porous, it’s shifting the borders of the twentieth-century social contract and causing a lot of people a lot of suffering. But letting fear get in the way of reason leads to ruin. Civilization is more delicate than it seems, and unlike previous civilizations that were geographically limited, this is the only one we’ve got.

  Progress is painful. We use technology to do work we would prefer to avoid and then need to make up new jobs for ourselves. We enjoy the cheap prices made possible by offshore manufacturing and then realize we can’t enforce social or environmental regulations across the supply chain. We download entire libraries of pirated music and then discover we must support artists if we want more of what we love.

  Problems beget solutions beget new problems. The snake eats its tail, and we go round and round again. But that doesn’t mean things don’t get better. Child mortality, infectious disease, poverty, and violent death are at all-time lows. Literacy, longevity, and scientific knowledge are at all-time highs. There isn’t a time in all of history I’d rather live in than the present, and there’s nothing more important than doing our part to build a better future.

  By the time I finally reached the end of the rough draft, Diana had become a close friend. As a quirky and dangerously competent spy, she was enormous fun to write. Chapter by chapter, she developed a stronger and stronger sense of agency until I felt like I was documenting her adventures rather than inventing them. Diana proved herself to be the kind of person who doesn’t shy away from hard truths, who confronts and overcomes her own flaws, who aspires to serve rather than rule others, and who fights through all the madness and pain that life throws her way in order to do what she feels is right.

  I have a lot to learn from her. Perhaps we all do.

  Thank you for reading. I put my heart and soul into this story, and if you’re still with me, I can only hope that it resonated with you. As in so many other arenas of life, the borders delineating the publishing industry are changing fast. But there’s at least one thing that’s as true as ever: writers write manuscripts, but books succeed thanks to the support and enthusiasm of readers. If you enjoyed Borderless, please leave a review and tell your friends about it. It may feel insignificant, but nothing is more powerful than word of mouth.

  Onward and upward.

  Cheers,

  Eliot

  FURTHER READING

  People often ask about the writing process, but I find the reading process much more interesting. Reading is a superpower that we too often take for granted. It is telepathy. It is a time machine. It is a magic door into countless new worlds, hearts, and minds.

  I am a reader first and a writer second.

  Ever since I can remember, I’ve loved books. When my parents read me stories as a child, I would stare into the middle distance and lose myself in them indefinitely. Growing up, I would hide among the dusty library stacks until closing time. When high school English teachers passed out assignments, I ignored the curriculum and ventured off on my own. Curiosity is my drug of choice.

  Sometimes reading a book stokes my enthusiasm so much that I simply can’t wait to dive into a new story. My dearest hope is that Borderless did that for you. There are so many incredible books out there, fiction and nonfiction, that can entertain, inform, and transform us. Read. Read. Read some more. Oh, and please share your favorites so we can benefit from your discoveries.

  After finishing a great book, I often wish I could ask the author what they are reading. What books touch their very core? Where do they find inspiration? Where does their enthusiasm lead them? I’ve found many of my favorite books thanks to recommendations from my favorite authors.

  I’m sure you’ve realized it by now, but I’m a little crazy. Obsessed, even. But if you just happen to be a little crazy too, then I’ve got a secret for you.

  Every once in a while, I send a simple personal email sharing books that have changed my life. Because reading is such an integral part of my creative process, I often find gems in unlikely places. The goal of the newsletter is to recommend books that crackle and fizz with big ideas, keep us turning pages deep into the night, and help us find meaning in a changing world.

  I also share writing updates and respond to every single note from folks on the mailing list, so joining is the best way to get or stay in touch with me. There’s nothing I love more than hearing from readers.

  Oh, and if you decide to join our little gang, promise me this: when you come across a story that moves you, pay it forward and pass it on.

  Sign up here: www.eliotpeper.com.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Our culture unfairly privileges the author’s role. Books are collaborative efforts from inspiration all the way to distribution.

  Adrienne Procaccinni, Paul Morrissey, Courtney Miller, Colleen Lindsay, Brittany Russell, Kristin King, and the rockstar team at Amazon Publishing turned the raw manuscript into a book and shared it with the world.

  DongWon Song, my indefatigable agent, provided wise counsel and necessary course corrections.

  Tegan Tigani was a fabulous editor and whipped the manuscript into shape. Any surviving errors are mine alone.

  Josh Anon, Lucas Carlson, and Tim Erickson contributed invaluable notes that helped make the story the best it could be.

  Kevin Barrett Kane and Emma Hall designed the breathtaking cover.

  Craig Lauer, Carl Franzen, Danny Crichton, Cyrus Farivar, Josh Elman, Tim Chang, Brad Feld, Malka Older, Micah Baldwin, Berit Anderson, Brett Horvath, Nick Farmer, Cory Doctorow, Katie Moran, William Gibson, Ramez Naam, Hugh Howey, Craig Mod, Patrick Tanguay, Meg Howre, Ben Casnocha, Omar El Akkad, Barry Eisler, Kevin Kelly, Elizabeth Bear, Rick Klau, Janis Williamson, Klint Finley, Warren Ellis, Zeynep Tufekci, Laurie Acheson, Azeem Azhar, Janet Morse, Chris Anderson, Becky Thomas, Eric Holthaus, Max Gladstone, Tim Ferriss, George Eiskamp, Edith Howe-Byrne, Mike Masnick, Eric Raab, Nick Harkaway, Feliz Ventura, Dan Ancona, Jake Chapman, Carlos Hernandez, James Zhang, Jorge Luis Borges, Om Malik, Daniel Suarez, Haje Jan Kamps, Tim O’Reilly, Ken Davenport, Bryan Walsh, Ryan Holiday, Kevin Bankston, Maria Popova, Nick Greene, Franco Faraudo, Seth Godin, Andrew Chamberlain, Ev Williams, and Ada Palmer were deep, powerful, and generous sources of ideas and inspiration.

  Karen and Erik Peper, my wonderful parents, taught me to follow my curiosity.

  Andrea Castillo, my brilliant and beautiful wife, was a patient, insightful, and exceptional creative partner. Our dog, Claire, kept me company as I wrote.

  Finally, you read Borderless. In doing so, you brought Diana and her world to life, and hopefully she will stay with you as you brave your own adventures.

  To all, a thousand thanks.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Photo © 2014 Russell Edwards

  Eliot Peper is the author of Cumulus, True Blue, Neon Fever Dream, The Uncommon Series, and Bandwidth, the first novel in the Analog Series. His near-future thrillers have been praised by The Verge, Popular Science, Businessweek, io9, and Ars Technica. Eliot is an editor at Scout and an adviser to entrepreneurs and investors. He has helped build various technology businesses, survived dengue fever, translated Virgil’s Aeneid from the original Latin, worked as an entrepreneur-in-residence at a venture capital firm, and explored the ancient Himalayan kingdom of Mustang. His writing has appeared in Harvard Business Review, TechCrunch, and the Chicago Review of Books; and he has been a speaker at Google, Qualcomm, Future in Rev
iew, and the Conference on World Affairs.

  Visit www.eliotpeper.com to learn more—and to sign up for his reading recommendation newsletter.