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Sunday, December 7, 2014

The Genome by Sergei Ludyanenko

Science Fiction

From Goodreads:

"The Genome" is a new science fiction thriller by the author of the bestselling Night Watch series. In the far-future world of Alexander Romanov, humankind is divided into "naturals" and "speshes"--those who have been genetically modified to serve a specific purpose. Alex is a master pilot capable of maneuvering the dangerous realm of space by communicating directly with his ship. He is about to take on the most mysterious and challenging mission of his life when he happens upon Kim, a teenage girl with a desperate secret. Out of a sense of friendship, he agrees to help her, but this decision will end in conflict and tragedy for dozens of worlds.


Serei Ludyanenko is a popular Russian Science Fiction writer. Quite a few of his books have been translated into English and published in the US.  One of those is The Genome.
 
This is the first time I have read a book by Ludyanenko and was not sure what to expect.  What I found was the kind of Science Fiction I grew up on.  A fast paced story filled with interesting characters and a plot that just kept getting more and more interesting.  While there is a lot of action the story is mostly character driven and the character that drives it is Alexander Romanov.  He is a “speshes” or a genetically modified human.  We meet him as he is released from the hospital after recovering from a horrible accident.  The story unwinds from there.  In part one the characters are introduced, in part two the job is revealed and part three there is a mystery that must be solved.  If it is not there will be a terrible war.

The Genome has great world building and plot development.  The characters were fleshed out and fit the story.  There were things that did not fit the customs of today and were a little uncomfortable to read but they did fit the world the story is set in.

The characters split up at the end of the book and I did not see any obvious hooks for another book. Guess I will just have to wait and see if Ludyanenko plans another book in this universe he has built.

Open Road Media published The Genome by Sergei Lukyanenko in 2014. 

I received an ARC of The Genome from Netgalley in return for a honest review.


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