A thought-provoking and satisfying story about modern man’s powers and limitations.
A single father encounters an eccentric billionaire who’s attempting to bring back an extinct species in Rich’s hard–SF novel.
Widower and botanist Muir O’Brien discovers a rare fern while hunting in the wilds of Oregon—so rare, in fact, that it was believed to have disappeared forever during the last ice age. He finds it on the property of a mysterious company called Arcadia, which occupies a lot of otherwise uninhabited countryside. The person behind Arcadia is Leo Bonelli, the richest man on Earth and the mind behind the world’s largest biotech company, SynBioData. He’s often accused of playing God, and his newest endeavors may just prove his critics right—as they “would allow not only the prevention of disease through the elimination of the genetic mutations that cause it, but the creation and reshaping of life itself.” Leo takes an interest in Muir, letting him in on some of his plans for his 10,000-square-mile “experiment in biodiversity” in the Oregon high desert. But Muir soon realizes that Leo plans to do something that no one sees coming: resurrect humankind’s extinct cousin, the Neanderthal. It’s a plan that will have far-reaching consequences in the lives of Muir and his daughter, Lilith. Rich’s prose is smooth and measured, laying out the particulars of scientific theory in minute detail, and he does the same for his characters’ surroundings: “Instead of a window, [Muir’s] desk faced a wall of shelves covered with scores of small pots, each of which nurtured the seedling of a de-extincted Paleolithic plant.” With its mix of cutting-edge science and moral quandaries, readers will find that the book reminds them at times of the work of the late bestselling author Michael Crichton. However, the thriller element of this novel is relatively muted to allow for a deeper examination of the characters and their relationships. Although the novel ends up in a place that some will find predictable, it’s still a highly readable and timely riff on the Frankenstein theme.
A thought-provoking and satisfying story about modern man’s powers and limitations.Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2020
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 216
Publisher: Vector Books LLC
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Buckle up—fans of page-turning SF may find themselves binge-reading this novel in one butt-numbing marathon session.
Like a truck with no brakes speeding down a steep mountain road, Islington’s latest is an adrenaline-fueled SF thrill ride that follows a biomechanically enhanced assassin as he tries to understand his mysterious origins.
The chaotic opening scene gives readers a clear indication of what they’re in for: Contract killer Azure, attempting to complete a mission, is involved in a life-or-death battle with a multieyed biomachine called an Argos. “The thing’s bipedal but has six gorilla-like arms that end in half-metre-long claws,” he complains. After Azure barely dispatches the monster and kills his target, his AI assistant, Atti, informs him of his next job: protecting an elderly—and incredibly rich—woman living in a sprawling underground bunker in the middle of nowhere. “Old Woman,” as Azure calls her, isn’t forthcoming with personal details; all Azure can suss out is that she may be the target of a powerful organized crime syndicate—the same organization that employs him! Is Azure’s ultimate goal to save her or kill her? Although the worldbuilding could’ve been more comprehensive, Islington’s editing choices are brilliant—he strips away the insignificant narrative content to create a streamlined, action-packed adventure with seemingly one goal: to keep the reader furiously turning pages. The various mysteries—Azure’s murky beginnings, the tragic death of his best friend years earlier, Old Woman’s true identity, etc.—maintain the momentum and intensity. The takeaway here is the narrative potential of the characters as well as the plethora of subjects that could be explored more deeply, like immortality for the rich, cloning, and the potential to create bioengineered nightmares for “security.” Islington leaves the conclusion tantalizingly ambiguous. This novel could be the jumping-off point for a memorable series.
Buckle up—fans of page-turning SF may find themselves binge-reading this novel in one butt-numbing marathon session.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9781668239247
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Saga/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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