I’m not finished with Edenborn, by Nick Sagan, but I feel compelled to write about it. It’s a little bit post-apocalyptic Earth, a little bit Hot Zone, and a little bit Poisonwood Bible.
Because we use antibacterial soap, a giant killer bug …. kidding.
A viral plague, kind of like Ebola and Marburg but with a better mutation power, starts to wipe out everyone. Everyone, AND MONKEYS. You know you’re screwed when the monkeys start dying too.
What are people supposed to do? There’s a year, maybe two before all humans will be gone.
Put faith in a corporation, natch. A company comes up with a way to genetically fix the susceptibility for the disease, but by the time the embryos are fertilized, all the scientists will have died. Taking a page out of Matrix, they form a virtual reality for these babies to grow up in. Cyber-parents, cyber-friends, etc. Once grown enough, the program explains what happens, and let’s them wake up.
That’s just the backstory. This handful of people have to then try to repopulate the world. The book picks up when this first generation has created a second generation of 16-9 year olds.
The story is told in chapters of alternating voice, like Poisonwood Bible. The story is laid out slowly, gaining insight about past events from different characters. The storyline is fascinating enough, and I haven’t poked any holes in it, but the real treat is the combination of the first person accounts with the incredible setting.
Maybe I have a fascination with post-apocalyptic life, but I love the idea of living in a castle and scavenging for stuff that millions of people left behind. I could have, like, eight Mini Coopers.
Being a sci-fi thriller, I’m jumping out of my seat reading it (OK, listening to it on my iPod) because of the plot. Actually, audiobook is a great way to experience this book, because the voice changes with each of the character changes.
I have to say, the book is a bit of a winner. If you’re looking for a solid read for this fall, something to read on the train, this is it. Plus, it’s like $8 on Amazon.
Oh, and apparently it’s the sequel to Idlewild, which chronicles the VR to actual reality shift for the original humans. Woot!
