Customer Reviews

Genetopia

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In the ancient settlement Trecosann, Flintreco Eltarn notices by her playful flirting with the Tallyman that his younger sister by four years Amberlinetreco is on the verge of maturing into a young woman. Still he rejoices that there remains enough of the child that he grew up with.

However, during a Treco clan gala, Flint cannot find Amber; he soon concludes that she is simply gone. No one seems concerned except Flint who knows she may have decided she had enough abuse from their cruel father and left on her own accord; however more likely Flint assumes the worst that slavers abducted her thinking she is a mutt for market. Feeling nothing toward any other member except perhaps hatred of his father, Flint decides over the objection of his kin, to search for the only family member he cares about, Amber; when he finds her as expects to do he will insure her safety even if he has to battle slavers and slave owners.

The above two paragraphs are the opening gambit in a futuristic tale in which biotechnology has gotten out of control. There are a few purebred humans who are subject to being tossed into the changing vats. There are also Mutts who are slaves whispering that one day they will be free; obvious parallels to the slavery of this country add depth. This is a thought provoking science fiction story that is more a coming of age tale that condemns any "ology" or ism that cause harm. The fascinating story line contains several interesting spins. For instance ironically the audience knows up front what happened to Amber while Flint can only conjecture while he learns who he is in a world off kilter, as Amber is just the mechanism to propel the hero to begin his quest. Fans of deep thrillers will appreciate this fine parable of a man frightened by what the future holds, but sets forth anyway.

Harriet Klausner

Genetopia is about a dangerous world and its inhabitants. It's not a dangerous world because it's filled with monsters but because it can make a monster of anyone who touches, drinks, breathes, or walks in the wrong place. Nano- and biotechnology got into the wild a long time before our story, and True humans are doing everything they can to remain the dominant species. In this world any deviation from the norm can mark you as non-human and cost you your liberty or your life.

It's a marvelously rich book about what it means to be human and where we'll go in the future. It's also about a boy's journey into manhood and all the lessons he learns. In many ways this reminded me of Huckleberry Finn. It's a book that makes you think and that makes it a book worth reading. For the complete review see the February issue of SFRevu.com.

Some readers may find that Brooke has a tendency to overtly state what he is trying to convey in the story. Rather than layer the theme in subtlety, Brooke has instead opted to simply have his characters think, say, or feel exactly what he is trying to teach. The story might seem a little preachy to some readers, spending more time on trying to teach the reader something about change than to tell a story. But this is not a thinly veiled social commentary. It is a good story, simple, and written in tightly packed scenes that come from Brooke's skill as a short story writer. Each scene is powerful in its own right, and each chapter tells a mini-story, and the whole makes an enjoyable novel. Like most short story writers, Brooke is writing with economy, not using many words to relate the narrative, but rather striking right to the heart of the issue.

Genetopia is well-written, asks good questions, and provides an unusual answer. The resolution is heartwarming and sad all at once, and wraps up the story in an unexpected way. Like Heinlein and other science fiction authors, Brooke is asking questions about the nature of humanity and the role science plays in defining that humanity in the future. In Brooke's vision, science has changed us into something different, not better, nor worse, only different. Flint and Amberline are compelling characters, and their journeys take quite a few unexpected twists. Brooke has written a tight, interesting, and unusual novel in Genetopia that I recommend as a good read for those who want to explore the nature of humanity and for those readers interested in the lost civilizations style science fiction.

This is a good book. The author is a master of finding and using exactly the right words to convey the desired emotions, and he can create characters who're interesting, varied, well-developed, and never break character for the sake of the plot. It also has ambitions of being a great book, but it does not rely on excessive symbolism, and it leaves the soapboxing and mystical hocus-pocus to a comparative minimum. What it does instead is why I can't call it a recommendable book: it creates a possible future civilization from the ground up, introduces us to that civilization's preconceptions and stereotypes, then shows, in brutal and precise detail, exactly what comes of putting those stereotypes into action. One sequence with a masochistic slave reminds me of nothing so much as the worst sort of Japanese pornography one may stumble across by mistake online, but every hint of sexual voyeurism has been ripped away, replaced with an indictment of a strength I have only previously seen in books about the Holocaust. In short, either read through to the hopeful part, or don't read it at all.