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The Destiny Makers

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George Turner's *The Destiny Makers* is set in the same future as his award-winning novel *Drowning Towers* (aka *The Sea and Summmer* in Australia/UK). Harry Ostrov is a detective in a future Melbourne that is slowly dying of overpopulation, rising sea levels, pollution and corporate greed. In this crowded world there are many crimes, but one worse than any other: life extension.

Ostrov investigates a case of an old man who is mysteriously becoming younger...the complication is that the old man is a former State Premier, with political connections much too hot for a mere detective.

Turner's portrayal of a near-future Australia is compelling: he was writing about global warming and climate change before many scientists even recognised there was a problem. But Turner's particular strength is in characterisation - each of his characters is a well-formed individual - and subtly enough drawn that it's impossible to find any character who is entirely "good" or "bad".

Foreign readers might not know that George Turner won the Miles Franklin Award (the top Australian novel award) for his *literary* fiction, before he 'went over to the dark side' and started writing science fiction. Thank goodness he never looked back.

Set in 2069, in a world massively overpopulated, the most seriously crimes are having children, and curing those who are going to die. Set in 2069, in a world massively overpopulated, the most seriously crimes are having children, and curing those who are going to die.

In a top secret medical facility, an old man has been cured in just such a situation. In a complicated secretive conspiracy involving the Premier and other powerful men, a detective has been assigned to guard this old man.

Things get worse from there.

I was first introduced to George Turner by picking up a nice looking novel in the science fiction section of my local second-hand bookstore. The novel was Down There In Darkness and the cover alone was hypnotizing enough. Once in the meat of the novel, the plot, too, was captivating with its essences of psychology and dystopian post-apocalypse Australia. That same novel also happens to be his last novel. Destiny Makers also has the psychological element but pre-dates the apocalypse, where the Earth is home to 12 billion people. Destiny Makers is about the cusp of cataclysm.

The setting of Destiny Makers is one to make you stop and think. There are many passages which describe the bleak future of an over-populated earth and the decisions which must be made in order for earth to survive and humanity to thrive again, once free of the restrain from the shackles of unbidden growth. The two major solutions to population decline are found on page 67; "...how to restrain birthing. Or perhaps, how to expedite dying." With only two solutions, the protagonists must decide... but keep in mind, it is also humanity which must decide the curtailing of population.

"We are sufficiently civilized to know what we should do; our problem is what we are." (Page 250) Harry is a police detective born of lowly Wardie status. His honesty and integrity highlight him for a specific job of guarding a mysterious man in a mysterious hospital. It's known soon enough that the man is the once-senile father of the Premier who has undergone the illegal operation of age-reversal, which has also unclouded his mind. This breach in population law by the Premier himself is large enough for a major issue, so security is tight.

"Humanity is a disease that slaughters everything in its ambit; now it must slaughter its own flesh in order to preserve a viable core." (Page 259) The Premier is clearly disturbed by his inability to make the decision of all decisions. International pressure is on shoulders on the Premier, which is why he brought back his father from the brink of death. However, any counsel sought by the Premier belittles the voice of the majority of Wardies. With a choice needing to be made, will the Premier crack under pressure?

"Who's killing the world? People. Can't stop eating, can't stop f***ing, can't stop living, can't stop anything. Everyone says it's the other man's fault so kill him but leave me alone to do as I like. You got to get people out of the world to let it live." (Page 275) Compound the hi-so Premier's break down in leadership with Harry's lo-so perseverance and the result is a gathering of peripheral characters which stabilize the plot: a psychologist, a trained security man and right-hand of Harry, political opposition, a blackmailing doctor, and the pregnant teenaged daughter of the Premier. It's wide enough cast to allow for all sorts of contingent outcomes and will have you guessing exactly WHAT decision must be made.

"...the race bred like maggots across the carcass of earth." (Page 310) As bleak and pessimistic as it may sound, the realist in me sees The Destiny Makers as a stepping stone in what the real world must eventually do in order to curb its own population. It's sadly inevitable that we can't naturally cull ourselves like rabbits facing starvation... a decision must be made. This is exactly what Gerooge Turner puts forth in The Destiny Makers. He may have been aiming for the mind of reader when he penned this novel, but be aware that it'll leave you feeling as if you've been punched in the gut.