Amortals by Matt Forbeck
Mar. 11th, 2011 10:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
The USA, tomorrow. For some, death is a thing of the past. But then they brought Secret Service agent Ronan “Methusaleh” Doonan back with a new clone body, to hunt his own killer.
That was their first mistake.
It’s almost 200 years in the future and Ronan Doonan is watching a thrideo of his own murder.
Doonan is an Amortal – a clone of a secret service agent who died almost 160 years earlier. The Amortal process is only available to the rich. With money flowing into cloning research, no money is spent on medical innovation or healthcare, which leaves the poor left with miserable and short life spans. Consequently Amortality has its opponents and as the first and therefore oldest Amortal in existence, plenty of people would murder Doonan to make their point. Forced by his boss, Patrón to partner with Amanda Querer Doonan’s investigation takes him from a criminal gang called the Kalis, to Amortality’s religious opponents and a conspiracy that goes straight to the heart of the U.S government.
Forbeck’s novel is a solid technological thriller set in a dystopian future where the divide between rich and poor is grossly accentuated. A lot of thought has gone into the world building, particularly the way in which Amortality has contributed to social and political divides and parallels can be drawn with the on-going healthcare debate in terms of the affect on healthcare provision and medical research.
Doonan knows that he is a copy but doesn’t see himself as substantially different to the original Doonan. As the investigation progresses however, he comes to question to what extent he is a construct rather than a person and really takes stock of the effect that his long life has had on his family and the people he love. Despite this though, Doonan never quite came together as a character for me. He’s there to examine issues and advance the plot, which means that the emotional reaction was never quite there – feeling more like he’s going through the motions then really experiencing anything. His scenes with his grandson and great grandson felt particularly contrived.
Supporting characters are perfunctory and there to advance plot, although it was refreshing to see Querer (the token female character) be more than just a love interest.
The book is tightly written until the final quarter, when pace is lost under the weight of exposition of plot background and twist explanation. The denouement is also spoilt by clichéd villain syndrome, complete with cackling mindless megalomania. There’s an open-ending and I’d be interested to read a sequel to see where Forbeck goes with the ideas next.
The Verdict:
A solid SF thriller set in a dystopian future, this book’s particularly interested in cloning and the effects of the same on society and the individual. There are some interesting ideas in the book, but the characterisation is perfunctory and Doonan never really lifted off the page for me to believe in his journey. The last quarter of the book also didn’t work for me, the heaviness of the plot explanation spoiling the pace and tension. However, an open ending means that I’d definitely be interested in checking out a sequel to the book if Matt Forbeck writes one.
Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the free copy of this book.
The USA, tomorrow. For some, death is a thing of the past. But then they brought Secret Service agent Ronan “Methusaleh” Doonan back with a new clone body, to hunt his own killer.
That was their first mistake.
It’s almost 200 years in the future and Ronan Doonan is watching a thrideo of his own murder.
Doonan is an Amortal – a clone of a secret service agent who died almost 160 years earlier. The Amortal process is only available to the rich. With money flowing into cloning research, no money is spent on medical innovation or healthcare, which leaves the poor left with miserable and short life spans. Consequently Amortality has its opponents and as the first and therefore oldest Amortal in existence, plenty of people would murder Doonan to make their point. Forced by his boss, Patrón to partner with Amanda Querer Doonan’s investigation takes him from a criminal gang called the Kalis, to Amortality’s religious opponents and a conspiracy that goes straight to the heart of the U.S government.
Forbeck’s novel is a solid technological thriller set in a dystopian future where the divide between rich and poor is grossly accentuated. A lot of thought has gone into the world building, particularly the way in which Amortality has contributed to social and political divides and parallels can be drawn with the on-going healthcare debate in terms of the affect on healthcare provision and medical research.
Doonan knows that he is a copy but doesn’t see himself as substantially different to the original Doonan. As the investigation progresses however, he comes to question to what extent he is a construct rather than a person and really takes stock of the effect that his long life has had on his family and the people he love. Despite this though, Doonan never quite came together as a character for me. He’s there to examine issues and advance the plot, which means that the emotional reaction was never quite there – feeling more like he’s going through the motions then really experiencing anything. His scenes with his grandson and great grandson felt particularly contrived.
Supporting characters are perfunctory and there to advance plot, although it was refreshing to see Querer (the token female character) be more than just a love interest.
The book is tightly written until the final quarter, when pace is lost under the weight of exposition of plot background and twist explanation. The denouement is also spoilt by clichéd villain syndrome, complete with cackling mindless megalomania. There’s an open-ending and I’d be interested to read a sequel to see where Forbeck goes with the ideas next.
The Verdict:
A solid SF thriller set in a dystopian future, this book’s particularly interested in cloning and the effects of the same on society and the individual. There are some interesting ideas in the book, but the characterisation is perfunctory and Doonan never really lifted off the page for me to believe in his journey. The last quarter of the book also didn’t work for me, the heaviness of the plot explanation spoiling the pace and tension. However, an open ending means that I’d definitely be interested in checking out a sequel to the book if Matt Forbeck writes one.
Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the free copy of this book.
