Ada Palmer's book explores a fictional future where language and culture have evolved in the 25th century

Ada Palmer's book, Too Like the Lightning, is set in a futuristic world with flying cars, robots, and advanced technology. However, the focus of the story is not on the traditional themes of heroism and technology often found in science fiction. Instead, Palmer explores cultural developments, language evolution, religious identities, and metaphysics in this golden age future. Inspired by 18th-century philosophical novels and science fiction works, Palmer aims to revisit the future from a different perspective, incorporating questions about society, engineered constraints, and artificial constructs.