A review by ablotial
Seed by Rob Ziegler

4.0

This book was really awesome! I think there were a few things that could have been done better, hence the 4 instead of 5 star rating, but I really enjoyed the plot and the way the story line all fell together.

The book takes place in a future where large cities have been reduced to rubble, gangs rule the open roads, and food and water are hard to come by due to the climate changes that are slowly roasting the citizens. In the midst of all this is Satori, a company whose goal is to genetically engineer food that will grow in such climates (each seed has a bar code!) and also to engineer creatures to grow the food, keep the company running, defend the company, etc. The company is masterminded by four ancient men who have been kept alive for ... centuries? ... inside a special pod, and a "computer" (also named Satori) that is very much in touch with DNA and the entire company (the physical building, I mean) is a part of her. Or she is a part of it. Hard to say.

When it becomes clear that Satori has ulterior motives after one of their "designers" leaves, the government (which has mostly been reduced to a seed distribution mechanism) sends in a team to figure out what is going on. The story follows three stories -- one of the military members, the "designer" and her mate (also a designer), and two boys (Brood and Pollo) who have been living on the road and whose lives become entwined with Satori in more ways than one.

I loved the idea of the barcoded seed and the genetic engineering of food and creatures. I loved the way the stories interacted. And I loved the cultural aspects to the book, and the random Spanish thrown in here and there. The ending was a little weird, but nothing I couldn't deal with.