Skip to main content
book cover for The Price of Perfection

The Price of Perfection

You must sign in to see if this title is available for request. Sign In or Register Now

Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app


1

To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.

2

Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.

Pub Date 20 Jan 2026 | Archive Date 10 Dec 2025

Michael G. Barash | Ontology Tales


Talking about this book? Use #ThePriceofPerfection #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

What is the price for the perfect life, a perfect world?

In a time where virtual reality simulations can surpass anything money can buy in the real world, this is not just a philosophical musing. For Erika Verne and her daughter, Veronica, this is the defining question of their lives.

In a stratified society that leaves the underclass to survive in a world of smog, Erika makes the ultimate desperate gamble. Putting her daughter's life in the hands of a fabled corporation, its enigmatic founder, and his utopic virtual-reality simulation, she made the only decision she thought made sense—the only way to give her daughter the perfect life.

But what is the price of perfection? Is it just maternal sacrifice or is there more to it than Erika ever imagined? Can love still bridge not just class boundaries but existential ones as well? Is the human soul equipped for the sublime? In their saga, Erika and Veronica will not only confront life’s big questions, but what happens when mother and daughter can’t agree on the answers.

Expect an unsettling character-driven psychological thriller and philosophical sci-fi epic that, despite its grandest, headiest, and dizziest explorations of the human condition, never strays from its heart—the perfectly imperfect love of a mother-daughter relationship.

Along the way, you'll meet broken people trying their best to heal, worlds that have long stopped trying, and a young woman who will inspire, frustrate, and terrify in equal measure.

Perfect for fans of Philip K. Dick, Ursula K. Le Guin, or Ted Chiang who are looking for a Black Mirror-esque literary science fiction story with cyberpunk grit, psychological suspense, and profound family drama all while grappling with the deepest questions of what it means to be human in a world where humanity itself is up for debate.


What is the price for the perfect life, a perfect world?

In a time where virtual reality simulations can surpass anything money can buy in the real world, this is not just a philosophical musing...


Available Editions

EDITION Ebook
ISBN 9393611200596
PRICE US$9.99 (USD)
PAGES 1014

Available on NetGalley

NetGalley Reader (EPUB)
NetGalley Shelf App (EPUB)
Send to Kindle (EPUB)
Download (EPUB)