40+

by George Ellis

Imagine everyone in the world had a life expectancy of 40. Everyone except you. Bill Remis retired at 33. He didn’t save much money. And he never bothered having kids. But when a few people in the world start living past 40, Bill’s predictable life is thrown into chaos. Could he be the next 40-something? Has he done everything wrong and wasted his life? 40+ is a fast-paced, witty sci-fi novella about age and how it shapes all our decisions. If you like smart dialogue, strong characters and some government conspiracies thrown in, then you’ll love this unique story. Read 40+ today and try not to question your own life choices too much!

Genres: Science Fiction

106 pages, Paperback

Published July 11, 2021

About the author

George Ellis lives in Austin, where he writes fantasy and science fiction books at night and runs an advertising agency by day. In addition to novels, he writes screenplays, viral videos and Internet memes.

Reviews

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique storyline. I haven’t read anything really like it before. Very quirky and funny. I would read more from this author

[Diane Catanzaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Logan's Run for the 21st century

My only complaint is that I would have liked more. But, I'm not certain there should be more. Very much like Bill's conclusion: not knowing is better. This was fast-paced, the characters believable, and the story more than enough to keep my attention.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a nice little novella that is set in a society where everyone had a set lifespan. Bill (our protagonist) becomes one the few that lives beyond that age and the story takes off from there. It's an unique concept and makes an interesting and fun read.
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway for this honest review.

[joyce marusarz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hope for more

This was a quick and exciting book. A mans life takes an unexpected and life altering turn. I hope the author expands the story and we see how things evolve

[Traci Otte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novella! It really made me think. The world described is just like ours, with smartphones and even the same social media. Since everyone for millenia dies at exactly 40 years old, would the world really be like what we have now? I wasn't motivated enough to Google various inventors, though. Perhaps since lives are shorter, people felt compelled to do more with the little time they had, so things would be pretty much the same. Another thing I wondered: Would I want to know exactly when I was going to die? I suppose if I grew up with everyone knowing that it wouldn't phase me, but if I was asked now if I wanted to know, I'm not sure what my answer would be. Yeah, the anxiety of not knowing would be ever-present, like it is now, but if I DID know, how would I live my life? I don't know. Basically, there's a lot I don't know, but that's okay. It's nice to think about that from time to time.

Anyway... very thought-provoking novella and quite interesting. I'm gonna go be happy I didn't die on my 40th birthday.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone in the world dies at 40. It's just a fact. Bill Remis had retired at 33. Now at 39 and some change, he knows his time will be up soon. Bill didn't tuck much away for retirement. He never married or had kids. His best friend, Paul, had just expired. There doesn't seem much left to do other than settle in and wait for his own expiration date. Then, the unthinkable happens. A small handful of people turn 40 and don't expire. Suddenly, Bill wonders what would happen if he turned 40 and lived.

The way that the author just established that humanity had always lived for 40 years, through the entire history of humankind, was perfect in its simplicity. There wasn't a huge back story to eat up huge chunks of this (already short) book. Once people start living past 40 and that gets explained, well, the wheels come off a bit for me. Of all the explanations posited by characters in the book this wasn't the most sensible or workable to me.

[Jordan Zajac · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t usually read sci-fi but this was a short, fun, and interesting read.

I absolutely loved the personalty and wittiness of the mc and I found myself laughing out loud multiple times. He was extremely relatable and I genuinely wish he was real so we could be friends. He really made this book a 4 star read.

I’ve never read anything quite like this so I enjoyed how unique this story was. I do wish it was longer but I also understand that the whole point of the book is learning to except things for how they are and not needing to know the end to everything.

Overall, a comical and interesting read.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story of what If you die at the age of 40. Only the author does a wonderful job with keeping us ask questions the whole way and get them answered fairly quick. Although this book is a novella I would have like it longer and it would have been a perfect 5 stars but the events leading up to the ending fell flat for me and was a complete twist I didn't see coming...although it was mentioned throughout, I thought of that as a joke and didn't think tha author would go there, but he did. At the end, he made it up with the last page for me and for that the total for me is 4.5.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read

A very interesting concept where everyone lives to exactly the same age and what happens when all of a sudden a few start living longer. The conspiracies that come up including aliens are very interesting. This is a good fun fast read book that you should all enjoy.
I received this book free from Goodreads.

[Candra Hodge · Rating 5 out of 5]

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Welcome to a world where everyone dies exactly when they turn 40. Civilization is built around this fact. What happens if suddenly, people start living longer?
I won this book thru a goodreads.com giveaway.

[Robdogincali · Rating 1 out of 5]

Waste of time…

An interesting premise that could have stimulated some interesting discussion…too bad the author did nothing with it. He took the path of least resistance at every turn. And then just quit on the idea.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, quick read.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.