Shiri’s Review: The Genome
I have never not enjoyed one of Sergei Lukyanenko’s books (yes, I did deliberately double negative you, friends. Savor it). Granted, my sample is limited by an inability to speak, read, or in any way understand Russian beyond a few terms I learned when I was working with Russian speaking patients at a nursing home (please stand up, chew, please sit down). I know that Lukyanenko is far more prolific than his English catalog would suggest and I have never, and may never, have the opportunity to experience his larger body of work. Such is life.
Where is my brain salmon? I DEMAND A BRAIN SALMON.
Backorder? What the fuck?
I have, however, had the opportunity to partake of Lukyanenko’s Night Watch series (minus the last installment which I do have but which was put down out of podcast schedule necessity and was summarily interred under back issues of Batman. I really should find it because, if the first four are any indication, I will be rapt, engrossed, and in love).
The Night Watch novels aren’t easy reads. The style, the cadence, the sensibility, are all very different than those belonging to the majority of US/UK genre authors. The mastery of story, creativity, imagery, imagination, make it worth taking the time to adapt and, quite frankly, the slow-down gives the reader more time to savor the art.
I do not use the term “mind-blowing” lightly. Boss, rad, sweet, sure.
As regards Night Watch, I qualify with an “utterly.”
Night Watch is an utterly mind-blowing series.
There are film adaptations of the first two books: Night Watch and Day Watch. Though I can’t claim to completely comprehend either of them, I did find my viewings of said enjoyable. The movies do capture that special something present in Lukyanenko’s fantasy opus. I recommend them frequently with the caveats: you need to be okay with blood and you need to have a healthy ability to suspend disbelief.
The preceding is a very long way of saying I had precedent for, and expectation of, being completely and utterly mind-blow by Lukyankeno’s new book The Genome. Because yes, yes, and more yes.
And then maybe not so much.
There is a lot of good in this book:
The idea of the “spesh,” humans genetically modified in utero to be have all the characteristics necessary to be very, very good at one specific job while, at the same time, being programed not to know what they’re missing. Not a new concept but the most well defined execution I’ve read. Also the most palatable, most believable, and most firmly based in science.
The concept of the Human Empire, of its relationship to other species, the way it manipulates its own citizens for gain (a metaphor on one level, an exploration of inherent human greed and visceral fear on another).
The customs of the alien societies being well established and actually very different from those of the majority of humans. Each society having something that defines it as different and special in its own right.
A diverse cast. Characters of color, men, women, gay, straight, bi. Gender does not define speciality in this world and any one can be anything he/she chooses; or at least anything his/her parents choose. Though, now that I think of it, all the pilots are men.
Intrigue. Intrigue is always fun and it’s more fun when it’s interplanetary. Why? Because the inevitable conflagration is that much more exciting on a massive scale.
Cool tech. Energy crystals, VR, clones, genetic manipulation… that’s what I’m talking about, dude. None of this punch card crap. Though there are still paper contracts and lots of forms to fill out. In person. A lot of forms. And a large percentage of the population are administrative-speshes, nicknamed “spiders.” Which is both hilarious and terrifying.
A likable protagonist. I liked Alex. He had his douch-y moments, but who doesn’t and, quite frankly, he’s programmed for it. A vast improvement over Solaris‘ Doctor Kline. Alex had some depth. A purpose. I didn’t want to punch him in the mouth or kill him.
A surprise ending. I certainly didn’t see it coming.
There is also some not so good:
A surprise ending. I didn’t see it coming but the reason I didn’t see it coming is because it didn’t make any sense. A sudden Sherlock Clone who wasn’t, Alex not reverting to full pilot-spesh when everyone else reverted to their natural-manipulated selves… maybe I missed something?
People fall in eternal love way too fast. Though that seems to be common to the genre.
Bad translation. At least, it felt like one. The book is… stilted. Yes, it’s at least partly stylistic; the tradition of exposition and tell instead of show is alive and well but the book, which had a decent story and interesting characters, had absolutely no flow. It felt like Google Translate prepared it, or possibly a human who studied academic English rather than colloquial, everyday etc.
The split-personality treatment of female characters. They can be physically strong. Mentally strong. Have control over their own bodies, at least once they reach majority (have test tube babies, deliver their own babies, breast-feed, formula feed etc). They are free to enjoy sex, to initiate it, and to invent their own tricks. But damn those girls if they refuse to make the snacks, serve the drinks, and play hostess. Guh? The strongest characters in the Night Watch books are female. They solve the problems. They bail the guys out of trouble. They are more powerful, smarter, can see the bigger picture. So what the fuck happened in The Genome? Part of me thinks, “Maybe it’s a poking fun at the old school.” The more cynical, more rational, and honestly, more judgmental part of me says, “Yeah, you wish.”
And I do wish. Because I have so much respect for Lukyanenko as a writer, as a creative talent, as an inventor of worlds. And now I have to go all New Thor on his ass and take Mjolnir away, damn it.
Smart people making dumb decisions. Yes, Alex was set up. They all were. And yes, he did follow hiring tradition and he was on a time limit and he did need the money. But no background checks? No actual contacting of references? Kim the uber intelligent, uber powerful, uber sexy agent-spesh just accepts what the dude in the crystal tells her as truth, never, not even after her metamorphosis, questions any of it? Had either of them, or any of the other characters, done these or similar things, asked important questions, rational, reasonable questions there would have been no story. Problematic at best. But there must have been a better way to build the betrayal. More manipulation, more intrigue. More honest error than willfull blinds, lust for cash, and subservience to programming, which Alex shakes off easily enough at the end. The set up felt lazy and lazy is not a word I have every considered before in the context of Lukyanenko’s work.
On the whole, The Genome left me… perplexed. And not in the awesome, brain-mushroom cloud way the Night Watch baffled the crap out of me in the open-mouthed, wide-eyed, amazed way. More of a “what the fuck am I supposed to do with this” sort of baffled. There are a lot of holes, a lot of head-scratchers, and some downright nonsense. But there’s also a decent plot, some interesting twists on sci-fi convention, and good science.
If there’s another one in the series, I’ll loyalty read it, but blind devotion only holds up so long (you can ask my Dresden Files collections, which cuts off at a lone digital, half skimmed copy of book 14).
Would I recommend The Genome? I’m still considering. Ultimately, the answer will likely be: yes, with some reservations but I can’t promise.
Have you read The Genome? What did you think?
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