Customer Reviews

The Immortality Factor

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Grenford Laboratory Director Arthur Marshak discovers a method for human organ regeneration that enables the host body to replace ailing parts. The announcement causes a tsunami of support and criticism. Some called him God's agent on earth while others claimed he was a blasphemer.

Arthur agrees to appear before a Congressional "science court" in Washington, D.C. so that his project is not destroyed by politicians pandering their political base as he believes strongly that his achievement is a great gift to mankind. On the science court board is Arthur's estranged brother, Jesse, a winner of humanitarian awards for his work with the poor in the Bronx. Jesse opposes the technique claiming another example of money buying health as only the wealthy would be able to afford it. He has personal reasons to be against it too as he and Arthur fell in love with Julia, but he married her and then there is their late mother to split them further.

This is an insightful exciting medical thriller that makes a strong case to keep politics out of scientific research. The story line is at its best during the tribunal hearings as all sorts of irrelevant headline grabbing sound bites is tossed continually including by the "judges". The relationship triangle feels stiff and out of place as means to add sibling conflict. On the other hand a hostile business takeover attempt though not as explored like the politics intervening in science is interesting as the other firm has agenda to squash certain unacceptable research. Fans will enjoy Ben Bova's latest tale as he argues politics and science research are a bad combination.

Harriet Klausner

Although Ben Bova is one of the Greats of science fiction, this is not a science fiction novel. I wouldn't exactly call it a "thriller," either, since the biggest weapon involved is an animal tranquilizer dart. In terms of genre, "medical fiction" seems to come closest. The novel is really a drama about the issue of animal and human experimentation in medical research, where morality, science, business, politics, and religion collide.

The protagonists are two brothers, one a physician and the other a commercial research lab director, who find themselves on opposite sides of the issues as the lab races to develop a method of growing replacement human organs. Conflict between the brothers is heightened by a love triangle that is intricately woven into the well-plotted story. The climax of the plot is a "science court" to try the issue, an idea that has been mooted for several years now in the science policy community, and whose pros and cons are illustrated here in fictional form.

Bova makes no secret where his sympathies lie; he is 100% pro-science, to the extent that readers who feel strongly about animal rights may actually dislike the book. One of the characters in the book is a thinly-disguised send-up of Jeremy Rifkin, the anti-technology activist; other satirized characters include venal politicians and anti-stem-cell-research preachers.

There are enough plot reversals and personal conflicts to keep the book interesting and well-paced throughout. The heros are given enough flaws to make them seem like real people, warts and all, and the science, politics, and business issues are worked out in a pretty realistic fashion. People who enjoy reading issue-oriented fiction may like to give this one a try.

You can always rely on this author to give you a solid novel. Ranked with the classic "fathers" of science fiction, I expected an entertaining, diverting afternoon with a good summer book.

What I got was a riviting story centered on a debate about whether scientific feasibility or ethical concerns about the science should be primary considerations -- or if the two can be brought together.

This book is a reissue of a book issued some years ago that, at that time, was edited rather heavily. The Immortality Factor brings in previously deleted chapters, giving a fuller story. We have two brothers who come up on rather different sides of an issue about organ regeneration. In addition, we have strong secondary characters who support or oppose the research. All of this centers on a "trial" of the science itself, set in Washington, DC. The book has an interesting structure, with chapters alternating between the viewpoint of different characters, and the research itself.

I don't want to create a spoiler; let me just say that any thinking reader will have to confront and consider his or her own feelings on the matter. While it is true that the author clearly has an opinion, this book would make an excellent "book club" addition that would generate lots of interesting debate.

I hope any lover of science fiction (although that really isn't the correct genre for this particular book), medical thrillers, or future science thrillers reads and enjoys this excellent book.

I've been reading Ben Bova for long enough that I don't worry that his next book that I pick up will be a clunker...but unfortunately, for my money, that's what "The Immortality Factor" is.

It's an OK-enough premise: stuffed shirt scientist Arthur Marshak cracks the biology of organ regeneration, which triggers all sorts of emotional mayhem not only in the general populace, but within those near and dear to him.

But that strong premise is dressed up in unconvincing flim-flam, like the 'trial' that acts as the narrative structure for the plot. For reasons that are unconvincingly presented, Arthur must defend 'the science' of his breakthrough in what can only be described as a Kangaroo Court. The outcome of said trial is to "...determine the scientific validity of organ regeneration in human beings [and] making a recommendation of public policy to the highest levels of government."

It's tenuous stuff indeed, and even Arthur recognises that "It's going to be a circus". (And I have to admit, I missed the rationale that convinces Arthur - and more importantly, his Board of Directors - to participate in the trial in the first place.)

Of itself, the trial is annoying, but it's ultimately a forgivable scene setting device.

But what I could not forgive, and it's what makes "The Immortality Factor" drab and dull for me, is the word smithing.

Bova opens the book in the third person for Chapter 1 and 2, then falls back into first person mode at Chapter 3, with each chapter then from a different character's viewpoint. It's a jarring thig to do, quite frankly, but OK, let's get over that.

No, the real shame is that the "voices" of the characters are identical. Male, female, young, old...they all sound the same. It drains away the tension and anticipation, and levels the emotional landscape to the point that you don't really care who's doing what to whom.

It does not - and should not - have to be this way. Counterpoint Bova's monotonal characters with the eloquence of fellow scifi writer, L. E. Modesitt Jr in his outstanding novel "The Eternity Artifact". Chapters of first person voices and each character is wonderfully unique in content and context.

So, we have an experienced author writing on a contentious topic that deserves deep consideration. That's to be applauded. But the outcome failed to inspire any real reflection on the issues. And that, for me, is a disappointing waste of both Bova's time, and mine.

I only got through the first 50 pages or so of this book, but I thought it was horrible. I am a scientist and I was embarassed for Bova at how two-dimensional the characters were and how their behavior was nothing like the way real scientists behave. The book (at least the part I read) was so full on factual inaccuracies that it was excruciating to read. Sorry to all of you folks who liked the book, but this is just my two cents.