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Subtraction
Can society survive in a world where humans live for generations?
Professor Herbert Blane’s Life-Extension Therapy (LET) has changed the world, allowing humans to live for centuries. The first recipients of LET—the so-called early generations—amassed wealth and power with no intention of ever stepping aside. Now, society is fractured. Younger generations find themselves scrambling for resources, forced into cities where skyscrapers stretch a mile into the sky, leaving streets in perpetual twilight.
As resentment deepens, the New Generations Initiative (NGI)—a covert network of disenfranchised scientists, engineers, and strategists—rises to challenge the ruling elite. Led by scientist Boris Bagan and joined by Cynthia Wu and Curtis James, two brilliant researchers from Blane’s own lab, NGI launches an underground movement that engages in daring acts of sabotage to fight for a future worth living for. But will their revolt be enough to heal a broken society? Will they be remembered as traitors . . . or the only ones brave enough to change the future?
Subtraction is a gripping exploration of ambition, rebellion, and the cost of scientific progress.
Professor Herbert Blane’s Life-Extension Therapy (LET) has changed the world, allowing humans to live for centuries. The first recipients of LET—the so-called early generations—amassed wealth and power with no intention of ever stepping aside. Now, society is fractured. Younger generations find themselves scrambling for resources, forced into cities where skyscrapers stretch a mile into the sky, leaving streets in perpetual twilight.
As resentment deepens, the New Generations Initiative (NGI)—a covert network of disenfranchised scientists, engineers, and strategists—rises to challenge the ruling elite. Led by scientist Boris Bagan and joined by Cynthia Wu and Curtis James, two brilliant researchers from Blane’s own lab, NGI launches an underground movement that engages in daring acts of sabotage to fight for a future worth living for. But will their revolt be enough to heal a broken society? Will they be remembered as traitors . . . or the only ones brave enough to change the future?
Subtraction is a gripping exploration of ambition, rebellion, and the cost of scientific progress.
- GenresScience Fiction
262 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 21, 2026
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April 15, 2026Interesting idea, but fell completely flat to me. the writing style was dry, and the plot was quite illogical. thanks for the E-ARC.
March 31, 2026
Subtraction is a dystopian novel about a futuristic society that has developed advanced scientific technology that allows humans to live to 150+ years old. It took some time to adjust to the dialogue and structure as each chapter follows a new character, but once I got into a rhythm I really enjoyed the plot and the concepts it explored. 3.5-4 out of 5 stars and thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
K.W. Franklin’s imaginative “Subtraction” creates a world in which the dream of a radically extended lifespan is realized thanks to plausibly explained scientific advances. As this provocative novel examines the consequences for individuals and humanity, the reader along with the characters begins to question the costs of this dream. The plotting is propulsive and the important issues raised are compelling and linger in your mind. A great story and excellent read.
Review of advance copy received from Author
SUBTRACTION, by K. W. Franklin
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about our polarized society. Scratch a Millennial and you’ll hit a nerve about the political gerontocracy -- Biden or Trump, Pelosi or McConnell, Grassley or Sanders— leadership all past their sell-by dates and the resentment is off the charts. They have a point. Billionaires are propping up an aging ruling class. Career traction seems harder than ever for recent grads. There’s a housing shortage, baby boomers are slow to get out of the way, and it’s no coincidence that the birthrate has skidded to a record low. We shrug at the gridlock around policies that support young families, but entitlements for the elderly are sacred. And once again, old men are sending young men and women to war.
Can it get any worse? Easy: extend human lifespans by a couple hundred years.
K. W. Franklin’s Subtraction begins with a scientific breakthrough that does exactly that. The first people to receive the life‑extension therapy were already older, richer and privileged —and by the novel’s opening they have magnified their wealth and power over centuries.
What feels like an unquestionable gift at the level of the individual—a dramatically longer life—stresses the natural world beyond recognition. Franklin imagines astonishing changes to nearly every facet of life and we read convincing vignettes of what has been lost. No spoilers here, but think about how we would have to industrialize the food supply if the population quadrupled.
What made the book especially unsettling for me is how realistic it feels. Life extension doesn’t read as pure fantasy; so much is already attainable with existing gene editing. Franklin reveals how humans rewire the norms of relationships, ambition, authority. Oppression itself takes on a dreadful, almost unfathomable form. The novel moves quickly, but the ideas linger.
Franklin’s America has an insidious virtual‑reality game that functions as an opiate of the masses, and it is eventually weaponized by both sides. It is both stimulating and soothing. Does this sound like sci-fi when we are willingly stupefied by social media, addicted to gambling apps and anxiously attached to our little screens?
The suspense builds as the old vs. young deadlock bends but stubbornly refuses to break. My stomach knotted as the power dynamics forced increasingly radical choices. By the end, there’s a delicious moral ambiguity surrounding the hero’s methods—one that left me wondering what I would do if I stood in their place. How would I adapt, what would I hold dear, what would I be willing to relinquish – to subtract?
Subtraction is great book for people who like realistic science-based fiction, readers who are watching politics through a generational lens, and fans of moral gray zones. This is a richly layered story with timeless themes and fascinating characters -- I would love to see it made into a film.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about our polarized society. Scratch a Millennial and you’ll hit a nerve about the political gerontocracy -- Biden or Trump, Pelosi or McConnell, Grassley or Sanders— leadership all past their sell-by dates and the resentment is off the charts. They have a point. Billionaires are propping up an aging ruling class. Career traction seems harder than ever for recent grads. There’s a housing shortage, baby boomers are slow to get out of the way, and it’s no coincidence that the birthrate has skidded to a record low. We shrug at the gridlock around policies that support young families, but entitlements for the elderly are sacred. And once again, old men are sending young men and women to war.
Can it get any worse? Easy: extend human lifespans by a couple hundred years.
K. W. Franklin’s Subtraction begins with a scientific breakthrough that does exactly that. The first people to receive the life‑extension therapy were already older, richer and privileged —and by the novel’s opening they have magnified their wealth and power over centuries.
What feels like an unquestionable gift at the level of the individual—a dramatically longer life—stresses the natural world beyond recognition. Franklin imagines astonishing changes to nearly every facet of life and we read convincing vignettes of what has been lost. No spoilers here, but think about how we would have to industrialize the food supply if the population quadrupled.
What made the book especially unsettling for me is how realistic it feels. Life extension doesn’t read as pure fantasy; so much is already attainable with existing gene editing. Franklin reveals how humans rewire the norms of relationships, ambition, authority. Oppression itself takes on a dreadful, almost unfathomable form. The novel moves quickly, but the ideas linger.
Franklin’s America has an insidious virtual‑reality game that functions as an opiate of the masses, and it is eventually weaponized by both sides. It is both stimulating and soothing. Does this sound like sci-fi when we are willingly stupefied by social media, addicted to gambling apps and anxiously attached to our little screens?
The suspense builds as the old vs. young deadlock bends but stubbornly refuses to break. My stomach knotted as the power dynamics forced increasingly radical choices. By the end, there’s a delicious moral ambiguity surrounding the hero’s methods—one that left me wondering what I would do if I stood in their place. How would I adapt, what would I hold dear, what would I be willing to relinquish – to subtract?
Subtraction is great book for people who like realistic science-based fiction, readers who are watching politics through a generational lens, and fans of moral gray zones. This is a richly layered story with timeless themes and fascinating characters -- I would love to see it made into a film.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and were written entirely by me.
I stopped reading this book after finishing 10% of it. While the concept interested me, I could not get past the writing style. It is more similar to the style of writing you might see in a clinical report or a textbook than that of a sci-fi novel. That is not to say that it's "bad" writing – it is clear, grammatically correct, and uses simple language (as opposed to jargon or rarely used words). I just think it is more academic than creative. I knew I would not be able to read a whole book that is written in "clinical report" style, no matter how interesting or exciting the events of the story are. That's just not what I'm looking for when I read for entertainment.
Here are some examples of what I mean:
The prose tends to be “flat” – lacking in sensory, emotional, and intellectual detail. At the beginning of Chapter 2, when a character finds out that an extremely invasive medical procedure has been performed on him without his consent, that he will be restrained in a hospital bed for a month, and that he may not be allowed to leave alive, he barely reacts. He asks his captors questions, but does not at any point scream or struggle against his restraints, which is the reaction one might expect to such a situation. He also doesn't have any questions going through his mind as he learns what has happened to him. There is no mention of post-surgical pain or other symptoms and sensations, even though this character has just undergone a major surgery. It is a strange scene because the character is underreacting to such a degree that it's just not plausible to me.
The dialogue is wooden – dry and matter-of-fact – and in longer passages, it comes across as rehearsed, as if it were a speech that the character had prepared for:.
“Cynthia, let me tell you a story. When I was growing up, my dog died. I remember asking my father why she had to die. He told me that she died of old age, that dogs don’t live as long as we do. I asked him why they didn’t live longer, and he said no one knew, they just don’t. Then, when I was a teenager, I became close with my grandmother. She seemed to me the most sensible one in the family. Years later she passed away at ninety-three. Most people at the service said they would miss her but didn’t seem especially sad, saying that she had lived a long life. That made me think back to what my father had said about our dog. I decided then that what I wanted to do in my career was to work on this thing we call aging. One month later I graduated from college after not having taken a single science course. No graduate program would look at me. I got a job in a professor’s lab taking care of the lab animals, the mice and rats….[monologue continues]”
I stopped reading this book after finishing 10% of it. While the concept interested me, I could not get past the writing style. It is more similar to the style of writing you might see in a clinical report or a textbook than that of a sci-fi novel. That is not to say that it's "bad" writing – it is clear, grammatically correct, and uses simple language (as opposed to jargon or rarely used words). I just think it is more academic than creative. I knew I would not be able to read a whole book that is written in "clinical report" style, no matter how interesting or exciting the events of the story are. That's just not what I'm looking for when I read for entertainment.
Here are some examples of what I mean:
The prose tends to be “flat” – lacking in sensory, emotional, and intellectual detail. At the beginning of Chapter 2, when a character finds out that an extremely invasive medical procedure has been performed on him without his consent, that he will be restrained in a hospital bed for a month, and that he may not be allowed to leave alive, he barely reacts. He asks his captors questions, but does not at any point scream or struggle against his restraints, which is the reaction one might expect to such a situation. He also doesn't have any questions going through his mind as he learns what has happened to him. There is no mention of post-surgical pain or other symptoms and sensations, even though this character has just undergone a major surgery. It is a strange scene because the character is underreacting to such a degree that it's just not plausible to me.
The dialogue is wooden – dry and matter-of-fact – and in longer passages, it comes across as rehearsed, as if it were a speech that the character had prepared for:.
“Cynthia, let me tell you a story. When I was growing up, my dog died. I remember asking my father why she had to die. He told me that she died of old age, that dogs don’t live as long as we do. I asked him why they didn’t live longer, and he said no one knew, they just don’t. Then, when I was a teenager, I became close with my grandmother. She seemed to me the most sensible one in the family. Years later she passed away at ninety-three. Most people at the service said they would miss her but didn’t seem especially sad, saying that she had lived a long life. That made me think back to what my father had said about our dog. I decided then that what I wanted to do in my career was to work on this thing we call aging. One month later I graduated from college after not having taken a single science course. No graduate program would look at me. I got a job in a professor’s lab taking care of the lab animals, the mice and rats….[monologue continues]”
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Subtraction imagines a future in which, due to advances in medicine, humans live on average 280 years. This is also an automation-driven, post-scarcity future, in which the vast majority of people do not have to work to survive and everyone is assured a basic income. The central conflict in the story happens between the newer generations and the early generations from the beginning of life extension, who've acquired great wealth and advantages that the newer generations can't hope to attain. The story is told through a multitude of perspectives, with the point-of-view character shifting with every short chapter.
Despite being a short book, this one took me several weeks to get through. I struggled with the prose, which felt stilted to me. The author infrequently uses contraction, and doesn't vary his sentence structure up much. Often, it will just say explicitly what a character is thinking and why. Exposition is delivered clumsily. The dialogue, of which there's a lot, feels unnatural. Were it not as short as it is, this would have been a DNF for me.
I found it hard to care about anyone in this book when there were so many half-formed characters we never spent much time with. Even by the end there were only a few I could consistently keep track of. I also found the main class struggle a little hard to believe. The leader of the newer generation resistance is a group of talented scientists at the top of their field struggling to get prompted, so their demands are earlier promotions for the newer generations and mandatory retirement at age 140. Similar issues today as we move towards a post-scarcity economy aren't met with calls for mandatory retirement, but better social safety programs. It seems like the large resistance in the book would have more likely wanted their basic income increased as well as their other goals, at least.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this one early. Unfortunately, it wasn't for me.
Despite being a short book, this one took me several weeks to get through. I struggled with the prose, which felt stilted to me. The author infrequently uses contraction, and doesn't vary his sentence structure up much. Often, it will just say explicitly what a character is thinking and why. Exposition is delivered clumsily. The dialogue, of which there's a lot, feels unnatural. Were it not as short as it is, this would have been a DNF for me.
I found it hard to care about anyone in this book when there were so many half-formed characters we never spent much time with. Even by the end there were only a few I could consistently keep track of. I also found the main class struggle a little hard to believe. The leader of the newer generation resistance is a group of talented scientists at the top of their field struggling to get prompted, so their demands are earlier promotions for the newer generations and mandatory retirement at age 140. Similar issues today as we move towards a post-scarcity economy aren't met with calls for mandatory retirement, but better social safety programs. It seems like the large resistance in the book would have more likely wanted their basic income increased as well as their other goals, at least.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this one early. Unfortunately, it wasn't for me.
Did Not Finish
March 16, 2026DNF a little over halfway.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
The premise of this book hooked me; in a future where humans are able to live over 200 years easily, what happens to society? How does the gap between classes change? How do lifestyles and habits change? Definitely an interesting premise. However, the book doesn't really focus too much on those ideas. Instead, we mostly focus on a group of "new generation" individuals who are fighting against the older generations, who they believe need to step down from power.
The writing in this is ultimately what turned me off, and I could not find it in myself to keep reading the book. This is very much a "tell, don't show" sort of writer. You don't get a lot of description, and instead are told everything that is going on (sometimes even boiling down to "They had an arguement. Then they decided xyz" with no development on what the arguement was.). When there was dialogue, it came off as completely odd and definitely not the way humans speak. I found myself skimming through large chunks, and just not caring about most of the characters.
I'm sure there's an audience out there for this, but unfortunately it's not me.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
The premise of this book hooked me; in a future where humans are able to live over 200 years easily, what happens to society? How does the gap between classes change? How do lifestyles and habits change? Definitely an interesting premise. However, the book doesn't really focus too much on those ideas. Instead, we mostly focus on a group of "new generation" individuals who are fighting against the older generations, who they believe need to step down from power.
The writing in this is ultimately what turned me off, and I could not find it in myself to keep reading the book. This is very much a "tell, don't show" sort of writer. You don't get a lot of description, and instead are told everything that is going on (sometimes even boiling down to "They had an arguement. Then they decided xyz" with no development on what the arguement was.). When there was dialogue, it came off as completely odd and definitely not the way humans speak. I found myself skimming through large chunks, and just not caring about most of the characters.
I'm sure there's an audience out there for this, but unfortunately it's not me.
April 22, 2026
Massive thanks to K. W. Franklin, GFB and NetGalley for this free advanced copy of Subtraction. This review is being left voluntarily and all opinions expressed are my own.
This book is a futuristic biomedical thriller that takes place in a society where scientific advancements have allowed human beings to live beyond 250 years old.
I found the story to be very engaging. It kept my attention throughout and I was eager to read on to discover how the various plotlines would play out.
The author cleverly speculates over what might happen if we ever manage to successfully extend our limited lifespans and the impact it might have if we don't die at the sort of age we currently do.
It was a really good piece of dystopian fiction. Some of the concepts explored, while futuristic, don't feel that far removed from modern society and the direction it seems to be heading in.
I will definitely read more from this author in the future.
This book is a futuristic biomedical thriller that takes place in a society where scientific advancements have allowed human beings to live beyond 250 years old.
I found the story to be very engaging. It kept my attention throughout and I was eager to read on to discover how the various plotlines would play out.
The author cleverly speculates over what might happen if we ever manage to successfully extend our limited lifespans and the impact it might have if we don't die at the sort of age we currently do.
It was a really good piece of dystopian fiction. Some of the concepts explored, while futuristic, don't feel that far removed from modern society and the direction it seems to be heading in.
I will definitely read more from this author in the future.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Subtraction is a pretty original idea that immediately makes you think about what our own future will be. Which is my fav thing about reading scifi!
What made this story so compelling to me was how all of the people in this new generation were all so believable, led by Boris Bagan and joined by Cynthia Wu and Curtis James. It really brings heart and tension to the rebellion and makes it feel real. These aren’t just radicals they’re brilliant scientists forced to turn against the system they once helped build, and their moral struggles add real depth to the story.
The world-building is vivid, the pacing is strong, and the themes of power, inequality, and the cost of progress stay with you long after you finish. Subtraction is a gripping scifi novel that’s both entertaining and thought provoking.
What made this story so compelling to me was how all of the people in this new generation were all so believable, led by Boris Bagan and joined by Cynthia Wu and Curtis James. It really brings heart and tension to the rebellion and makes it feel real. These aren’t just radicals they’re brilliant scientists forced to turn against the system they once helped build, and their moral struggles add real depth to the story.
The world-building is vivid, the pacing is strong, and the themes of power, inequality, and the cost of progress stay with you long after you finish. Subtraction is a gripping scifi novel that’s both entertaining and thought provoking.
May 21, 2026
ARC read via netgalley
Really enjoyed this book, i couldn't put it down and finished it within a few days.
Definitely touches on a lot of issues already starting to be seen in the world - rise of AI, robots taking people jobs, over population, environmental damage, mass extinction of animals, lack of opportunities and goals for young people leading to boredom, lack of motivation and frustration.
Lots of characters to keep track of which was a little tricky at times, each was introduced well and their stories developed gradually throughout the book.
Would definatly recommend to more sci-fi lovers.
Really enjoyed this book, i couldn't put it down and finished it within a few days.
Definitely touches on a lot of issues already starting to be seen in the world - rise of AI, robots taking people jobs, over population, environmental damage, mass extinction of animals, lack of opportunities and goals for young people leading to boredom, lack of motivation and frustration.
Lots of characters to keep track of which was a little tricky at times, each was introduced well and their stories developed gradually throughout the book.
Would definatly recommend to more sci-fi lovers.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I loved the concept of this book. The idea that we can use science to greatly extend the human life - and then deal with the repercussions of that technology economically and environmentally - spoke to me initially.
However, I was bored while reading this book. It read more like a procedural documentary rather with very little insight into the internal monologue of the characters. There were too many characters introduced and each chapter was too short to invest in any character.
I do think this is a book for someone. It is just not a book for me personally.
However, I was bored while reading this book. It read more like a procedural documentary rather with very little insight into the internal monologue of the characters. There were too many characters introduced and each chapter was too short to invest in any character.
I do think this is a book for someone. It is just not a book for me personally.
April 25, 2026
I found the book's premise -- that science and technology can extend human longevity by centuries -- to be most intriguing. The way this dystopian society evolves with its population living much longer than ever before is entirely plausible. It delves into societal repercussions of rich versus poor, young versus old, wealth and lack thereof. I look forward to more material from this author in the future.
Susan E.
Susan E.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Such a cool book. I loved the premise and well developed characters. I loved the sci-fi predictions and social comments on wealth and power. In this age of medical and technological advancement what are the political and economic considerations. This book would be an excellent book club candidate. 5 of 5 stars all day long.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews