SPOILER ALERT!

WeLLLLLL, Putin might like and hate it

The Genome: A Novel - Sergei Lukyanenko

Disclaimer: ARC read via Netgalley

 

                Well, this is a strange one.

 

                Not the book itself, but the whole package – book and response.

 

                In short, Genome takes place in some unknown far future with aliens and humans who are either genetically manipulated to become a profession. In other words, a pilot is programmed differently (including the ejection of the ability to love) than say a prostitute. A fighter’s body has changes in it that a pilot’s wouldn’t. There are still some normals, people who haven’t been tinkered with, and there are also clones.

 

                Oh, and apparently when your genes have been altered, you are normal until like puberty and then your mutant genetic abilities come out after a metamorphosis, which sounds rather nasty. But afterwards you are considered an adult.

 

                Our hero is Alex, a pilot who helps a girl called Kim and this leads him to getting into an even bigger mess involving Aliens and a woman from a colony world whose specialty involves death and destruction. Her name is Janet. She’s also a doctor. Then there is a murder mystery.

 

                It’s a rather tightly written and plotted book, though there is a slight weak, shifting point in the middle. The characters are, for the most part, well drawn and believable. The questions raised are thought provoking. It is a different dystopia than say in the Hunger Games or Atwood’s work. More insidious because you can easily argue that it isn’t one. Should your whole life be pre determined before you are even born? Is it right to remove those aspects of humanity, such as compassion and love, in order to make a better detective (and why those)?

 

                Yet, and it’s a big yet. I found myself becoming rather queasy. It’s impossible to discuss why without using spoilers. Wave hi to them.

                The first problem I had was the whole relationship between Alex and Kim. It isn’t so much the fact that Kim had a crush/interest/love for Alex more the fact that they acted on it. It’s true; the reader isn’t told how old Alex is, though he has had four children. It is also true that Kim is considered an adult because she has undergone her metamorphosis. Still, it is rather difficult to overlook the fact that Kim is 14.

 

                Just ick! I’m sorry, but icky. I know 14 year olds have sex; I get it. I went to school with a classmate who was pregnant at 14. A relationship between a 14 year old and a mature adult man, however, is a whole other thing. It felt wrong.  Its manipulation when the man has the power, as is the case here. I don’t care that Kim is no longer a virgin. I don’t care that she’s programmed for it. I don’t care that she legally consents. Maybe it’s because I read this shortly after I read Lolita. Regardless of the reason, the whole under 18 and over 20 relationships always feels like icky to me, regardless of who the participants are. (Reverse the genders of Kim and Alex and I still would have a problem).

 

Additionally, there does seem to be a bit of wish fulfillment because Alex can have sexual with the other woman on the ship, both Kim and Janet is down with that. The whole relationship is made worse because Kim wants Alex because she has imprinted on him. It’s her genetic voodoo talking not herself. To be fair, it seems Alex is conflicted about the whole thing and does take steps to deal with the problem, but he still caves into the demands of seed without much debate.

 

                It just feels icky.

               

                The other problem is the implication that gayness can somehow be magically changed by a chemical. The purpose of the chemical was to replace the normal human settings, for example to give the pilot back the ability to love. Yet, when the gay member of the crew, the only normal in the book, is given the chemical, he becomes seemingly straight (admittedly, he could be bi). He is the only character to have his sexual presence changed. The others just get emotions back or back under control. Perhaps my view is influenced by the restrictions that the Russian government has placed on homosexual citizens. Regardless, I’m straight, and I even found that insulting.

 

It seems, however, that it could be that the plot as well as the whole gene science editing has to do with the theme of the novel. The question of humanity and what exactly makes us human. Lukyanenko is examining this in the novel, and for that, as well as for the questions about it that the reader must consider, the novel is worth reading.