Inherit the Earth | |||||||||||||||
Brian Stableford | |||||||||||||||
Tor Books, 320 pages | |||||||||||||||
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A review by Jean-Louis Trudel
For several years now, Brian Stableford has been exploring the many splendors and
horrors of a future in the grip of a genetic engineering revolution. His collection
Sexual Chemistry envisioned various possible futures influenced by
biotechnology. This new novel by the veteran British writer is yet another look
at the same subject, con brio.
In the March 1998 issue of The New York Review of Science Fiction, Stableford
argued that a new strain of serious science fiction should meld the best traits of
early French and English speculative fiction -- to wit, the value put on inquisitiveness
in its own right and the importance given to addressing crises in a forthright
fashion -- with the storytelling energy and imaginative ambition of American SF. Up
to a point, this novel may be intended as a demonstration of the virtues of serious
science fiction as Stableford understands the form.
The crux of Inherit the Earth is the control and impact of life-extension
techniques. Biotechnology and nanotechnology have combined to reshape the world,
cutting the costs of computing power and providing humans with internal technologies
that allow their body to endure more and to endure longer than ever before. Before
the story begins, the little matter of avoiding a catastrophic population blow-up
once life is extended was settled in typical science fictional manner: a convenient
plague of infectious sterility reduced population growth and forced the development
of artificial wombs, thus putting into place the needed controls on the human
ability to reproduce.
So, after the shocks and crises of the 21st century, the survivors of the
22nd century are free to fight among each other to determine who will
inherit the Earth. Not unlike Bruce Sterling in Holy Fire, Stableford
transposes into the future the embryonic generational conflict of late 20th century
industrial societies: the struggle between dispossessed youth and an elder
generation gifted with uncounted wealth and the means to prolong life... indefinitely?
The main character, Damon Hart, is the son of the researcher who perfected artificial
wombs, thus saving humanity in the face of rampant sterility. He has rebelled and
struck out on his own, choosing to invest his talents in virtual reality rather than
biotechnology. However, when a shadowy terrorist group strikes at his dead father's
memory, Damon is suddenly a valuable pawn in a convoluted plot, compelled to dig into
a past he thought he knew and to ask embarrassing questions. Was the sterility
plague a tad too convenient?
Can even death be faked with sufficiently advanced genetic technology?
The future technologies explored by Stableford -- genetic engineering, nanotech, virtual
reality, networked cameras -- are rarely new or original to him, but he incorporates
them in a suspenseful tale of ratcheting tension and unexpected curves. Most efficiently,
they are used to dissect with scalpel-like precision every dimension of the issue. When
technology will deepen the chasms between young and old, individuals and corporations,
the bold radicals and the cautious conservatives, will only the latter be able to
inherit the Earth? As could be expected, Stableford finds a way to leave those who
value unchecked curiosity potentially enough room to play with.
This is as taut a thriller as they come, with enough surprises to stock an entire
Hollywood season. Stableford is even kind enough to let us deduce the
modus operandi used to achieve the story's most striking instance of future
tech subterfuge. Shouldn't we love an author who doesn't insult our intelligence?
Does it, in fact, get any better than this? Why not hope that Stableford is just hitting his stride...
Jean-Louis Trudel is a busy, bilingual writer from Canada, with two novels and fourteen young adult books to his credit in French. He's also a moderately prolific reviewer and short story writer. |
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