The New York Times Book Review - Siddhartha Mukherjee
…essential reading for those who think about the future. The algorithms that Harari describes are not trying to imitate humans; they are trying to become human, and possibly exceed our abilities.
From the Publisher
Homo Deus will shock you. It will entertain you. Above all, it will make you think in ways you had not thought before.” — Daniel Kahneman, author of Thinking Fast, and Slow
“Thrilling to watch such a talented author trample so freely across so many disciplines... Harari’s skill lies in the way he tilts the prism in all these fields and looks at the world in different ways, providing fresh angles on what we thought we knew... scintillating.” — Financial Times
“Spellbinding… This is a very intelligent book, full of sharp insights and mordant wit... It is a quirky and cool book, with a sliver of ice at its heart... It is hard to imagine anyone could read this book without getting an occasional, vertiginous thrill.” — Guardian
“Harari is an intellectual magpie who has plucked theories and data from many disciplines - including philosophy, theology, computer science and biology - to produce a brilliantly original, thought-provoking and important study of where mankind is heading.” — Evening Standard (London)
“I enjoyed reading about these topics not from another futurist but from a historian, contextualizing our current ways of thinking amid humanity’s long march–especially…with Harari’s ability to capsulize big ideas memorably and mingle them with a light, dry humor…Harari offers not just history lessons but a meta-history lesson.” — Washington Post
“What elevates Harari above many chroniclers of our age is his exceptional clarity and focus.” — London Sunday Times
“A remarkable book, full of insights and thoughtful reinterpretations of what we thought we knew about ourselves and our history.” — The Guardian
“Provocative...the handiwork of a gifted thinker.” — Jennifer Senior, New York Times
“[A] great book…not only alters the way you see the world after you’ve read it, it also casts the past in a different light. In Homo Deus, Yuval Noah Harari shows us where mankind is headed in an absolutely clear-sighted & accessible manner.” — Mail on Sunday
“Like all great epics, Sapiens demanded a sequel. Homo Deus, in which that likely apocalyptic future is imagined in spooling detail, is that book. It is a highly seductive scenario planner for the numerous ways in which we might overreach ourselves.” — The Observer (London)
“Thank God someone finally wrote [this] exact book.” — Sebastian Junger, New York Times Book Review
“Harari is an exceptional writer, who seems to have been specially chosen by the muses as a conduit for the zeitgeist… Fascinating reading.” — Times Literary Supplement (London)
“Sapiens takes readers on a sweeping tour of the history of our species…. Harari’s formidable intellect sheds light on the biggest breakthroughs in the human story…important reading for serious-minded, self-reflective sapiens.” — Washington Post
“Sapiens tackles the biggest questions of history and of the modern world, and it is written in unforgettably vivid language.” — Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel, Collapse, and The World until Yesterday
“In Sapiens, Harari delves deep into our history as a species to help us understand who we are and what made us this way. An engrossing read.” — Dan Ariely, New York Times Bestselling author of Predictably Irrational, The Upside of Irrationality, and The Honest Truth About Dishonesty
“Provocative… essential reading.” — New York Times Book Review
“Thought-provoking and enlightening, Harari’s books is a must-read for anyone interested in the future of our species.” — BookPage
“…[S]hares DNA with the work of writers like Jared Diamond … while drawing freely from other disciplines in both the humanities and sciences. It’s emphatically a work for the general reader eager to grapple with big ideas, but who is equally hungry for context for today’s headlines.” — Shelf Awareness
Jennifer Senior
Provocative...the handiwork of a gifted thinker.
Washington Post
I enjoyed reading about these topics not from another futurist but from a historian, contextualizing our current ways of thinking amid humanity’s long march–especially…with Harari’s ability to capsulize big ideas memorably and mingle them with a light, dry humor…Harari offers not just history lessons but a meta-history lesson.
Financial Times
Thrilling to watch such a talented author trample so freely across so many disciplines... Harari’s skill lies in the way he tilts the prism in all these fields and looks at the world in different ways, providing fresh angles on what we thought we knew... scintillating.
Evening Standard (London)
Harari is an intellectual magpie who has plucked theories and data from many disciplines - including philosophy, theology, computer science and biology - to produce a brilliantly original, thought-provoking and important study of where mankind is heading.
Guardian
Spellbinding… This is a very intelligent book, full of sharp insights and mordant wit... It is a quirky and cool book, with a sliver of ice at its heart... It is hard to imagine anyone could read this book without getting an occasional, vertiginous thrill.
Daniel Kahneman
Homo Deus will shock you. It will entertain you. Above all, it will make you think in ways you had not thought before.
London Sunday Times
What elevates Harari above many chroniclers of our age is his exceptional clarity and focus.
Mail on Sunday
[A] great book…not only alters the way you see the world after you’ve read it, it also casts the past in a different light. In Homo Deus, Yuval Noah Harari shows us where mankind is headed in an absolutely clear-sighted & accessible manner.
The Guardian
A remarkable book, full of insights and thoughtful reinterpretations of what we thought we knew about ourselves and our history.
The Observer (London)
Like all great epics, Sapiens demanded a sequel. Homo Deus, in which that likely apocalyptic future is imagined in spooling detail, is that book. It is a highly seductive scenario planner for the numerous ways in which we might overreach ourselves.
Financial Times
Thrilling to watch such a talented author trample so freely across so many disciplines... Harari’s skill lies in the way he tilts the prism in all these fields and looks at the world in different ways, providing fresh angles on what we thought we knew... scintillating.
Washington Post
I enjoyed reading about these topics not from another futurist but from a historian, contextualizing our current ways of thinking amid humanity’s long march–especially…with Harari’s ability to capsulize big ideas memorably and mingle them with a light, dry humor…Harari offers not just history lessons but a meta-history lesson.
Shelf Awareness
…[S]hares DNA with the work of writers like Jared Diamond … while drawing freely from other disciplines in both the humanities and sciences. It’s emphatically a work for the general reader eager to grapple with big ideas, but who is equally hungry for context for today’s headlines.
New York Times Book Review
Provocative… essential reading.
Jared Diamond
Sapiens tackles the biggest questions of history and of the modern world, and it is written in unforgettably vivid language.
Dan Ariely
In Sapiens, Harari delves deep into our history as a species to help us understand who we are and what made us this way. An engrossing read.
Times Literary Supplement (London)
Harari is an exceptional writer, who seems to have been specially chosen by the muses as a conduit for the zeitgeist… Fascinating reading.
BookPage
Thought-provoking and enlightening, Harari’s books is a must-read for anyone interested in the future of our species.
Sebastian Junger
Thank God someone finally wrote [this] exact book.
PBS Newshour
Homo Deus is great, accessible science writing… This is a super fun read.
Bill Gates
Praise for Sapiens: “I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a fun, engaging look at early human history . . . you’ll have a hard time putting it down.
The Financial Times
Thrilling to watch such a talented author trample so freely across so many disciplines... Harrari’s skill lies in the way he tilts the prism in all these fields and looks at the world in different ways, providing fresh angles on what we thought we knew... scintillating.
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2016-11-23
In an intellectually provocative follow-up to Sapiens (2015), Harari (History/Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem) looks to the future.Throughout history, humans prayed for deliverance from famine, disease, and war with spotty success. For centuries, prophets agreed that all of the suffering was "an integral part of God's cosmic plan." Today, obesity kills more humans than starvation, old age more than disease, and suicide more than murder. Having reduced three horsemen of the apocalypse to technical problems, what will humans do next? Harari's answer: we will become gods—not perfect but like Greek or Hindu gods: immortal and possessing superpowers but with some foibles. Although an atheist, the author does not demean religion. "Up until modern times," he writes, "most cultures believed that humans play a part in some cosmic plan…devised by the omnipotent gods, or by the eternal laws of nature, and humankind could not change it. The cosmic plan gave meaning to human life, but also restricted human power." Even without this agency, this belief gave our lives meaning: disasters happened for a reason, and everything would work out for the best. Deeply satisfying, this remains a core belief of most humans, including nonchurchgoers. Since the Enlightenment, the explosion of knowledge has produced dazzling progress but limited the influence of God. Many thinkers—if not the general public—agree that there is no cosmic plan but also that humans are no longer humble victims of fate. This is humanism, which grants us immense power, the benefits of which are obvious but come at a painful price. Modern culture is the most creative in history, but, faced with "a universe devoid of meaning," it's "plagued with more existential angst than any previous culture." As in Sapiens, smoothly tackles thorny issues and leads us through "our current predicament and our possible futures." A relentlessly fascinating book that is sure to become—and deserves to be—a bestseller.
