frankvanmeer's review
4.0
Ok, I'm going to honest here.
At the core of it all, it seems to be just another Dar and Kerry novel. It has the same characters, the same setting (only this is in the future) and the same story as Tropical Storm had.
But let's dig in a bit deeper.
The setting is somewhat a mix between the movie Waterworld and the [b:Orchid Volume 1|19006217|Orchid Volume 1|Tom Morello|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1385576886s/19006217.jpg|18242963] graphic novels. The world as we know it doesn't exist anymore, and life is a real bitch. Unless you are tested and found good enough to do something important, or you are biologically engineered in a spacestation. Jess is an agent for an organization that deals with security and espionage. Dev is an experiment, and is thrown into the deep end of a life she is barely, or even not, prepared for.
Both are partnered and sent on missions, but something is not as it should be, and it is up to both our intrepid heroines to find out what that is and fix it. So far, it is pretty cliché and could be a dime a dozen story. But there is an undercurrent here, and it has to do with society and the place the so called Biological Alternatives (which Dev is)have. Or rather, the place they don't have. Although being genetically human, they are classified as non citizens, and are looked down upon and just barely tolerated, as their one and only function is to do jobs no one else wants to do.
I have read comments about equalling BA's to slaves, and in a way, they are. They are carefully "grown" and completely controlled, only able to do the things they are programmed for.
And as we learn more about them, through Dev, the BA's don't like it much either, as despite all the genetical engineering and rigid programming, they are able to have feelings and even dreams about wanting to do more than what's expected of them, and, dare we say it, have ambitions.
But downside, as earth is called, don't know that, don't even want to know that. They are just there to do menial work and most natural born simply hate them.
So we get thrown into the story, as Jess is recovering from a mission gone bad, because her partner (called techs) betrays her and she barely escapes with her life. Trust between the Agent and the Tech is vital for mission success, and now there's a lot of friction going on between the other agents and their techs. So much so, it endangers the entire organization.
Then she gets ordered to partner up with, of all things, a new experimental Biological Alternative, which has gotten a crash course in all things operations through a week of heavy programming. Trusting no one, certainly not a lowly BA as a partner, Jess decides to opt out, but at the last moment is brought back by the big boss of it all, and she is convinced to take on Dev and root out the moll inside. Much to the outrage of anyone else.
Again, pretty standard scifi, were it not for Dev. Because Dev is an absolute joy to read about. She is a 17 and a half (standard) years old, and knows absolutely nothing about life or operations beyond what with she is programmed for. It's a bit funny though, because we learn they get a thorough education and training, but al she has known for her entire life is the space station she was "born" on. But there is a secret, only known to her maker. She is one of kind so far, and unbeknownst to Dev, she is engineered to learn, and make decisions, and act human. So we have someone that acts as any other other human adult, but everything she encounters is new to her and she has no clue at all what to do or think. The conversations between Jess and Dev are very nice to read. Dev adapts and learns (although she most of the time has to resort to a computer to find out what all these humans talk about), and proves her worth during her first mission, by showing piloting skills no one has ever seen.
It is a slow story though (but I like that) and ends in a ..to be continued. I only read this because I saw the sequel being scheduled for december this year. It is in every way a Melissa Good book. If you didn't like Dar and Kerry, don't bother. But the interaction between Jess and Dev is what makes this a good read. The sci fi ho hum is a bit standard, the world building has holes the size of the Titanic, but Dev really makes this book shine. I can't wait for the sequel.
At the core of it all, it seems to be just another Dar and Kerry novel. It has the same characters, the same setting (only this is in the future) and the same story as Tropical Storm had.
But let's dig in a bit deeper.
The setting is somewhat a mix between the movie Waterworld and the [b:Orchid Volume 1|19006217|Orchid Volume 1|Tom Morello|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1385576886s/19006217.jpg|18242963] graphic novels. The world as we know it doesn't exist anymore, and life is a real bitch. Unless you are tested and found good enough to do something important, or you are biologically engineered in a spacestation. Jess is an agent for an organization that deals with security and espionage. Dev is an experiment, and is thrown into the deep end of a life she is barely, or even not, prepared for.
Both are partnered and sent on missions, but something is not as it should be, and it is up to both our intrepid heroines to find out what that is and fix it. So far, it is pretty cliché and could be a dime a dozen story. But there is an undercurrent here, and it has to do with society and the place the so called Biological Alternatives (which Dev is)have. Or rather, the place they don't have. Although being genetically human, they are classified as non citizens, and are looked down upon and just barely tolerated, as their one and only function is to do jobs no one else wants to do.
I have read comments about equalling BA's to slaves, and in a way, they are. They are carefully "grown" and completely controlled, only able to do the things they are programmed for.
And as we learn more about them, through Dev, the BA's don't like it much either, as despite all the genetical engineering and rigid programming, they are able to have feelings and even dreams about wanting to do more than what's expected of them, and, dare we say it, have ambitions.
But downside, as earth is called, don't know that, don't even want to know that. They are just there to do menial work and most natural born simply hate them.
So we get thrown into the story, as Jess is recovering from a mission gone bad, because her partner (called techs) betrays her and she barely escapes with her life. Trust between the Agent and the Tech is vital for mission success, and now there's a lot of friction going on between the other agents and their techs. So much so, it endangers the entire organization.
Then she gets ordered to partner up with, of all things, a new experimental Biological Alternative, which has gotten a crash course in all things operations through a week of heavy programming. Trusting no one, certainly not a lowly BA as a partner, Jess decides to opt out, but at the last moment is brought back by the big boss of it all, and she is convinced to take on Dev and root out the moll inside. Much to the outrage of anyone else.
Again, pretty standard scifi, were it not for Dev. Because Dev is an absolute joy to read about. She is a 17 and a half (standard) years old, and knows absolutely nothing about life or operations beyond what with she is programmed for. It's a bit funny though, because we learn they get a thorough education and training, but al she has known for her entire life is the space station she was "born" on. But there is a secret, only known to her maker. She is one of kind so far, and unbeknownst to Dev, she is engineered to learn, and make decisions, and act human. So we have someone that acts as any other other human adult, but everything she encounters is new to her and she has no clue at all what to do or think. The conversations between Jess and Dev are very nice to read. Dev adapts and learns (although she most of the time has to resort to a computer to find out what all these humans talk about), and proves her worth during her first mission, by showing piloting skills no one has ever seen.
It is a slow story though (but I like that) and ends in a ..to be continued. I only read this because I saw the sequel being scheduled for december this year. It is in every way a Melissa Good book. If you didn't like Dar and Kerry, don't bother. But the interaction between Jess and Dev is what makes this a good read. The sci fi ho hum is a bit standard, the world building has holes the size of the Titanic, but Dev really makes this book shine. I can't wait for the sequel.
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