This is a book about scientific fiction. This is about a brother's quest to change the world and save humanity from the ravages of time and disease. Along his way he faces many obstacles such as the morality police in the form of Christian conservatives, huge multinational corporations trying to profit from his expertise, his very own brother who looks at him like a pain in the ass know it all, and the worse most vile enemy of any scientist, ignorant people. These aren't his only enemies, oh no there are plenty to go around, but will his talent and willingness be enough to persevere against a world turned against him. I guess you will just have to read it and find out for yourself.
You know I have heard a lot of people struggle with calling this a science fiction book. To those people I say, "are you nuts?" Seriously the events of this book never happened, and the plot revolves around modern day science. Fiction plus science equals science fiction. It's getting on my nerves that people feel like if a book doesn’t have magic wielding psychic space elves in it, that it is not science fiction. When did sci-fi get such a bad rap? More and more I keep seeing things distance themselves from the sci-fi genera. The SYFY channel for example is now hosting wrestling on the network to get away from its roots. Sure they can say this move was just to protect and build the brand, but no having WWE on your channel is betrayal! What's next SYFY. . . Dr. Phil? Alright the main character is a man named Dr. Arthur Marshak. He and his younger brother start tinkering around with Arthur's idea to manipulate stem cells to regenerate damaged spinal tissue. I should mention that Arthur gets the idea during a night of hot passionate sex with a stranger he picked up from a benefit honoring Jesse. This is a character after my own heart. After getting some initial success Arthur runs with the idea with the notion of "why stop here" and attempts to regenerate other forms of tissue as well. Eventually word gets out that Arthur is playing God and that summons all the creepy crawlers out of the woodwork to stop him.
These aren't the only problems Arthur is facing. His personal life is a mess. His brother is with the woman he nearly married. The academic world shuns him for the crime of thinking its fair to benefit from the discoveries he has made. His mother is sick and the happy little family his made at work is having trouble.
As with all stories this one lives and dies with it's characters. Arthur comes off to a lot of people like the worst kind of know it all, the know you know is going to get the job done with a major success. By contrast his bother Jesse is supposed to come off as the champion of the people, the noble humanitarian. Really he is just a happy go lucky guy that gets things neatly handed to him and completely lacks his own initiative.
Julia is the catalyst. She ended up married to Jesse after falling in love with Arthur and nearly marrying the guy. In a lot of ways she is exactly like Arthur. She is smart, motivated, and highly successful. She can see the big picture where others cannot. So its no surprise that Arthur found her complementing to himself in every way, and that she takes to making something out of Jesse like Arthur did. Let that sink in for a moment. Arthur was having sex with the female version of himself. I am pretty sure that is as close to masturbation as it gets. Jesse is banging the female version of his brother. Ew.
Smaller roles are filled by Cassie Ianetta and Patricia Hayward. Cassie is a fellow scientist working under Arthur on another project. It is her bleeding heart that becomes the lynch pin for the moral conflict this book is centered around. Patricia is a writer the company hires to do the public relations for Arthur's lab. She becomes the love interest that allows us to see different facets of Arthur's personality.
The story itself is told from many different points of view. The book is nice in that it tells you who you are following at the beginning of each chapter. Also the story is mostly told in flashback during the hearing to determine the validity of Arthur's work.
Overall the book keeps things interesting by raising very relevant moral dilemmas that plague our time. Is the idea of cloning ethical. Should science be steered with a moral compass or allowed to roam freely where every the evidence and facts take it. Is humanity ready to outlive its natural lifespan. Where does religion and spirituality fit into all of this. Does health care really favor the rich and elite. The only way to find out is to gather the evidence and take the trip by reading the book.
No comments:
Post a Comment