Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon

Follow the Chums of Chance as they travel via airship (sometimes through the interior of the earth) to the Chicago world’s fair, Iceland, Italy, Austria, and basically everywhere on various missions of observation/reconnaissance.

Along with the Chums, the novel more-or-less centers around three families (Traverse, Webb, and Vibe) as their lives become intertwined in commerce and worker’s rights, and eventually, what becomes the leading motivation for most characters, layer-upon-layer of revenge. The anarchist movements of the day (set from 1893 until just after WWI), including those in Colorado, drive the action as dynamite and bombs are set to gain attention and basic human rights from corrupt owners. As it develops and things escalate, Pynchon shows the natural end of capitalism and its inherent need to consume absolutely everything (the destruction of all available resources and our world).