Genus - Jonathan Trigell
Synopsis from Amazon
In the Britain of a few tomorrows time, physical perfection is commonplace and self improvement has become an extinct expression: all the qualities men and women could aspire to can be purchased prior to birth. GENUS is a time of genetic selection and enrichment - life chances come on a sliding scale according to wealth. For some there is no money or choice, and an underclass has evolved; London's King's Cross, or The Kross as it is now known, has become a ghetto for the Unimproved. In The Kross, the natural, the dated, the cheap and the dull, live a brittle and unenviable existence. But unrest is growing; tension is mounting and a murderer is abroad in these dark quarters... Acclaimed author Jonathan Trigell's third novel is a breathtaking tour de force, exploring a dystopia of the not-too-distant-a future which will leave readers wondering not 'what if', as the original audience of Huxley's Brave New World did, but 'when'.
My thoughts:
I bought this as part of the 12 Days of Kindle, as I'm a bit of a fan of dystopian stories. I love reading about the darker side of what can possibly happen in the future. The story is mostly told through the eyes of Holman, one of the Unimproved (a dwarf) living in The Kross, which is a part of the city occupied by the 'genetic underclass'. Several people are found murdered in The Kross and they are all people who seem to be linked to Holman, and he becomes a suspect in the eyes of a local detective (Gunther, who has the best genes on the force!). This is quite the interesting future - we have vegetarian spiders which people keep as pets, or for silk production. They have babottweilers - a cross between baboon and rottweilers, livers designed to tolerate synthetic alcohol, and there have been several major wars to try to prevent Islamic government taking over Britain. But in amongst this, is also a very interesting story. It's a bit like unravelling a mystery, and every few chapters some tidbit of information (usually about Holman, and usually quite shocking) is revealed that shows the bigger picture of what is going on in this world and also changes the way you view the characters. I like books like that, where little secrets are revealed along the way that makes you see the characters a bit differently.
If you're a fan of dystopia, then I'd say this one should be on your TBR list.
8.5/10