The Word Exchange
The Word Exchange is a science fiction novel by Alena Graedon, published in 2014. It is a dystopian thriller set in the not very distant future when the printed word has nearly vanished, technology dominates, and language has become a commodity. An online "Word Exchange" has taken the effort out of looking up words, a mere convenience until real dictionaries are no longer available. Then it becomes possible to corner the market for words. The novel has been translated into eight different languages. Plot Anana Johnson's father, world renowned linguist and Chief Editor of the North American Dictionary of the English Language, has gone missing. Doug (Douglas Samuel Johnson) was in his Manhattan office at the Dictionary seeing to the last details before the 3rd edition went to press, and then he was not. Even his name was missing from the Dictionary database, one clue among several he has left behind for his daughter. In the post-print world of the not very distant future, Anana had been enjoying her job at the NADEL, a scholarly foundation-funded project, even though she was not much of a reader, herself. Like most people, she got all the news and narrative she wanted on