Here's my contribution to the Kingdom Tour! Lucky me, I am first on the list to share my review of the anticipated novel: Kingdom! Feel free to check out other stops on the novel's tour through the First Rule Publicity site!
Synopsis:
In a secret laboratory hidden under the desert, a covert
bioengineering project--codename "Exodus"--has discovered the gene
responsible for the human soul.
Somewhere in the neon sprawl outside the nation's
collapsing economic core, a group of renegade monks are on the verge of
uncovering a secret that has eluded mankind for centuries.
In a glittering tower high above the urban decay, an
ascendant U.S. Senator is found dead--an apparent, yet inexplicable, suicide.
And in the streets below, a young man races through an
ultra modern metropolis on the verge of a violent revolution....closing in on
the terrible truth behind Exodus--and one man's dark vision for the future of
mankind.
Welcome to Tiber City.
KWEENY'S REVIEW:
Let me start by saying this is not traditionally a horror
novel, which is part of its charm. It’s very dark though, a bleak look at a
world ravaged by science gone amok. A dystopian future where man has meddled too
much, and in the process, set up his own downfall. As you read, things become more and more
apparent that even the people in slums don’t dare to dream. As if some
malevolent being will hear them and thus rip what little they have left from
their lives.
It’s just that kind of story.
So there is horror, and some of it is very personal. Which I
enjoyed. But it’s more of a SF with philosophical leanings. The novel itself is
written from three different perspectives, which at first can be a bit jarring,
but the writer weaves them together well so in the end they are seamless.
First we have a man
named Dylan Fitzgerald, whose fame and money come from his dead father. Then we
have Dr. Campbell, a scientist whose research into genetics and other such
things were meant to help make the world a better place. And lastly, Dr.
Morrison, who used the knowledge Dr. Campbell taught him to create monsters,
betray Campbell and build a mega corp that has tendrils in many pies. If you
are a big roleplaying dork like me, this world is very reminiscent of
Shadowrun, but yet somehow still close enough to be our own world. The tech
level isn’t completely over the top like in Shadowrun, but that’s part of why I
like it. Hell, I could even see hints of Resident Evil, with the whole creating
monsters by messing with DNA thing. (Or for those of you not gamer geeks like moi, think Bladerunner but with less
replicants and more human-gene-splicing) But it’s very thematically bio-punk,
edging on trans-humanism. There is no
apocalypse in this, just a world crumbling around the characters involved in
it. I could see it very easily becoming our world, as there is only a few years
difference from ours, and men like Dr. Campbell and Dr. Morrison would be who
we’d have to thank for that.
Normally having three perspectives would make things a bit
too jumbled and confusing, but O’Donnell
is a masterful storyteller. It’s surprisingly an easy read, with only a few
bumps at times in pacing and plot. But there are plenty of lush details about
every dark corner of this world, and the characters are very engaging. They are
all flawed, slightly broken people who despite knowing the world that surrounds
them wants to swallow them whole, still strive to endure in this terrible
place. And part of the beauty of O’Donnell’s writing style is you can see the
beauty in the decay, feel the touch of life even in death.
My favorite part by far is the characters, especially Dylan.
It’s probably because of how deeply personal I identified with him, despite his
financial situation. His father was a politician who killed himself, leaving
him a legacy both terrible and wonderful. Now he’s a fallen star, a person with
money and some fame that could do things mere mortals in the slums could only
imagine. And he pines for a love he lost, Megan Morrison, daughter of Michael
Morrison. But he spends most of his time in a drug fueled haze, trying to run
from the demons his father’s legacy has bestowed. Having lost my own mother to
suicide, I identified with him right away. His emotions and turmoil felt very
real. Little does Dylan know his role he will play in the bigger plot unfolding
through the course of this novel. That his connection to it all isn’t just
through his father.
But I also enjoyed Jonathan Campbell’s journey. His is less
personal for me, but by far the more interesting of the three characters and
his torture is very real. He created things that have destroyed, things that
were meant to better humanity but instead, has created sickness, decay and
death across the globe. Campbell is very
engaging as a character. Very flawed and seeking redemption. And through that
desire to find forgiveness for his mistakes, he stumbles upon a spiritual group
helping people who've fallen between the cracks. And these people are searching
for the gene responsible for the human soul.
And then there is Michael Morrison. I think his character is
probably the weakest, because to me he came off as the typical “evil,
backstabbing scientist”. I couldn't really relate to him, but he was a great foil to Campbell. He meddles in not only bio engineering, but
politics as well. I guess that’s part of the beauty of the Morrison character.
He reminds us how far detached the rich and powerful can be. How alien they are
to us and how hard it is to relate to their goals and desires. There’s probably
a human being under all that genetic modification and finely pressed clothing,
but it’s so repressed it might as well be gone. He’s perfect, white teethed,
and clean, where Campbell could have been like that, but instead “fell from
grace” when he ran from Morrison and their work. I guess that’s what makes
Morrison so scary to me. He represents the 1%. He’s gained so much power, so
much wealth; he can do pretty much anything he wants. And the worst part is,
he’s a scientist with all this power. A mad scientist who thinks his plans and
ideas are perfectly reasonable for progress.
If I had to point out a flaw within the novel it's this: At one
point there is too much telling and not enough showing. As a writer, you are
told to show the story, not tell the reader what’s going on. And for most of
the book O'Donnell does this, and beautifully. But there is a point in the
novel where a bunch of jargon is tossed at us, and it really took me out of the
story. Considering all the other things going on, the writer already explains
to us the plot of the novel so well he didn't need to go over it again by
adding the jargon notes that clearly
lay everything out. I know it’s hard to trust in a novel this dense that
readers are going to follow your ideas, especially outlandish semi-science ones,
but I could just fine without the extra jargon. I could piece it together from
bits of what the characters were going through, from things the cultists said,
from Morrison’s scheming. I didn't need a whole section full of boring,
cluttering jargon to explain the plot to me like an exposition fairy.
One of the greatest strengths of this book is the questions
it brings forward. The prose is written so that every word means something,
every syllable laced with purpose. All of the words are geared to bring you
into this dreadful, damned landscape of too much science, too much
modification, too much drugs and excess, too much suffering and greed. There’s
just way too much pain, and trying to find solace and spirituality through a
world burned alive seems like a fleeting task, especially for science.
But oh…they sure try to find the human soul. And they claim
it’s a gene at that.
Whether they find it or not, I’ll leave that for you to read
for yourself. But it’s definitely a book worth reading. It will leave you with
some interesting ideas to ponder, and make you very uncomfortable at times.
About the Author
Anderson O’Donnell presents a biopunk, dystopian noir-esque
thriller in this amazing read, KINGDOM. Most people are familiar with the
term “cyberpunk,” but “biopunk” is harder to nail down. In many ways, biopunk
is similar to the cyberpunk genre, and shares many of the same themes and
archetypes: the dystopian future; the overreliance on technology;
mega-corporations; a constant and overwhelming flow of data; the
anti-hero—these elements are integral parts of both genres.
Both genres are fueled, to some extent, by the sense of
rebellion and desire for individual freedom expressed by the original punk rock
revolution. But the main difference—the most important difference—is that while
cyberpunk focuses on invasive technological modification of the human body,
biopunk explores the dehumanizing consequences of biological modification, of
re-arranging our DNA in the pursuit of perfection.
Anderson lives in Connecticut with his wife and 2 sons. Anderson
himself deems Kingdom as “a thrill-a-minute, bio-punk myth that manages to
wrestle with the most pressing issues of the new millennium. O’Donnell has
crafted a kickass novel of tomorrow night, when the big party gets raided by
the monsters we’ve been building for the last half-century.”
His debut novel, Kingdom, a dystopian, biopunk thriller, is now
available in paperback and ebook format. Kingdom is the first part of the Tiber
City Trilogy. Look for part two, Exile, in the summer of 2013.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book
for review from First Rule
Publicity
from the author as part of a virtual book tour. I was not compensated nor was I
required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR,
Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in
Advertising.”
