Archive for the ‘Stephanie Saulter’ Category
Regeneration by Stephanie Saulter
Posted on: August 25, 2015
Regeneration (®evolution, book 3) by Stephanie Saulter
published on Aug 6, 2015
where I got it: received review copy from the publisher (Thanks Jo Fletcher Books!)
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Ya’ll already know i’m a huge fan of Stephanie Saulter’s ®evolution series. She pulls no punches, allows no escape from the way she portrays the “us vs them” attitude and keeps you from looking away for even one second. If you’re looking for a political thrillers with modern relevance, you could do a lot worse than her debut novel, Gemsigns, the first in her ®evolution trilogy. I’ve tried to keep this review spoiler free, so for those of you who are just joining us, go check out my review of Gemsigns and Binary (in fact, after reading my review of Binary, take a nice close look at the blurbs on Regeneration).
Regeneration takes place about ten years after Binary, and life in London is finally halfway decent for the gem population. They’ve integrated into society, norm families are (mostly) no longer afraid to let their children go to school with Gem children, Gem-run businesses are thriving. It’s almost as if the strife of the last 50 years never happened. Almost, but not quite. The old guard doesn’t forget, and the new generation doesn’t quite understand what makes their parents so damn nervous.
The first novel in the series, Gemsigns, was a political powder-keg that revolved around a civil rights movement. It was followed by Binary, in which a society at large makes it’s first attempts to break down the barriers between “us” and “them’. Regeneration is the next step in the process: Acceptance as a complete shift of the status quo, and how people react to it. This novel doesn’t focus on the politics anywhere near as much as the previous two books in the series, yet I couldn’t help but draw parallels to recent political issues that have made real life headlines. It’s scary how close these books come to reality.
My Best Reads of the Year 2014
Posted on: December 19, 2014
2014 has been a pretty good year for me. Personally, I’m damn impressed with how many of these books were actually published in 2014. As a bonus, there’s even a few novellas and short stories in here. In no particular order, here are my favorite reads of 2014!
Favorite Novels:
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett (2014) – that this book is on my list should surprise no one. And if you haven’t read it yet, seriously, get with the program. This is one of those amazing books that defies genre categorization, it just *is*. To give you a big picture without spoiling anything, it’s about watching your worldview dissolve before your eyes, and understanding that games can be played with many sets of rules. Also? it’s simply fucking amazing.
Gemsigns by Stephanie Saulter (2014) – This is probably the most important book I read in 2014. Remember when Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother took high school government classes by storm? I wish the same for this book. Gemsigns touches on enforced marginalization, building (and breaking down) cultures of racism and classism and fear, and religiously and politically promoted hatred, and handles it in a blunt and emotional way. Also? fucking awesome. And for what it’s worth, I cried at the end.
Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer (2014) – I’ve been a Vandermeer fan for a long, long time (yet somehow I can still eat mushrooms). Annihilation was strange, surreal, and seemed to be magnetically attuned to me. The words in the tunnel rang for me like a tuning fork. And there was just something about characters who don’t have names. I am a jerk, however, because I own but haven’t yet read the third book in the series.
Gemsigns by Stephanie Saulter
Posted on: March 31, 2014
Gemsigns by Stephanie Saulter (®Evolution Book 1)
published in the UK April 2014, US May 2014
where I got it: received review copy from the publisher (Thanks Jo Fletcher books!)
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Plagued by an often fatal syndrome, it was the miracle of genetic manipulation that allowed humanity to survive and to ensure that future generations would live in a world safe from disease, from birth defects, and from congenital conditions. The corporations known as Gemtechs who developed these life saving technologies were quick to realize that their boon to society was directly linked to vast profits and additional technological developments. Children born under the auspices of the Gemtechs were designed with vast genetic manipulations, everything from extended eyesight to super strength, to savants of all kinds. The property of a Gemtech from the day of their birth, they knew nothing except a life of indentured servitude.
Until now.
Gemsigns takes place a year after the Declaration, the piece of legislation that gave the Genetically Modified People (known as “gems”) a modicum of human rights and the legal ability to separate themselves from their parent Gemtechs and integrate into regular society. Forced to display their “gemsigns”, usually naturally florescently colored hair,the gems know every instant of every day that they are different, and that normal humans see them as inferior, dangerous, and other. The big question is, are they as human as you and me? Because if they are, don’t they deserve human rights?
Dr. Eli Walker has been hired to research the situations of gems who are integrating. After generations of forced servitude (let’s just call it what it is: slavery), how are the gems handling finding a job that meets their abilities, or paying their rent? Are they becoming too dependent on social services? After one particularly violent interaction where a norm child was killed, can any gem even be trusted around normal children? Dr. Walker has his work cut out for him, and the European Conference on the Status of Genetically Modified Humans is right around the corner. This will be a landmark moment for the gems, either providing them full human rights, or solidifying their legal permanent status as slaves. Legal status aside, is humanity ready or even able to accept as equals those they have seen as inferior?
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