Thrive by Kenneth Oppel

Thrive is the final installment in the Bloom trilogy opening where the second book left off. A cryptogen ship has just been shot down by the Canadian military. From the vessel three cryptogens emerge; a flyer with dazzling golden wings, a swimmer and a runner. All the cryptogens are wearing special masks to help them breathe, as Earth's environment is still somewhat toxic to them. After Anaya convinces both sides to stand down, the cryptogens are brought inside. 

Seth has also returned to Deadman's Island. He fills Petra and Anaya in on what happened to him and Esta when they were left behind: Sienna was captured by police,  how Darren stung Seth with his tail causing Esta to force him to jump from the boat after blasting him with sound and how the marine police captured Esta from the boat.

The three rebel cryptogens have been placed into the Vancouver Aquarium's biodome, now "a cryptogenic landscape of high black grass, berry-laden  vines snaking  from buried pit plants, and seed-spitting water lilies floating serenely on a pond so acidic no human would dare swim in it..." The cryptogen ship has also been moved into the biodome. 

Colonel Pearson has Anaya, Petra and Seth communicate with the cryptogens so they can learn what they are planning. Terra, the rebel cryptogen, explains to Anaya that there are not many rebels aboard their vessel of over seven hundred thousand aliens which is now orbiting Earth. She also reveals that there were ten rebel landings on the planet but refuses to reveal the locations of the other landings. Terra tells Anaya that they need to extract the code from the hybrid's blood to make a chemical weapon and that the final invasion is planned in a little over a month so they need to move fast. Once the weapon is made, it can be taken back to the alien ship and released there. This will allow the rebels to gain control of the ship, overwhelm the flyers who are in command and leave, preventing the invasion.

In Petra's communications with her cryptogen, she can't sense the alien's gender and decides to use the pronouns ze and zir (in a nod to the current gender ideology fad). She learns that the swimmer is a scientist who took part in creating the human hybrids and that there are thousands of hybrids on Earth. The swimmer tells Petra that they created the hybrids because they needed them as a safe place to keep the "substance" and also as translators.

As Seth communicates with the flyer, whom he calls the general, he is shown the battle on the cryptogen's planet in which the runner and swimmers are destroyed by the sonic blasts from the flyers. The general was wounded but tended to by runners who saved his life. This experience changed how he viewed the swimmers and runners. When those who treated him were all killed he was disgusted by what had happened and became a spy for the rebel cryptogens. The general was responsible for starting the rains on Earth that led to the changes in the ecosystem and to the human hybrids. He tells Seth that the rebels have come to form an alliance with the humans and fight against the invasion. He also tells Seth that they hid a code inside of the hybrids and they now need it. The code is to make a virus which will permanently destroy the flyers ability to use sound as a weapon. Seth also learns that he will never achieve his dream of flying as his body is too heavy.

Later that day, over dinner, Anaya reveals that Terra told her they can repair their damaged ship's hull but the levitation system is damaged. There is however a ship that crashed sixteen years ago when they first came to Earth, and if they can locate it, they might be able to salvage the part.  

Seth continues to be focused on helping Esta, who Dr. Weber reveals is being held in a detention center in the U.S. She is accused of murdering Dr. Ritter. When Seth protests that she's innocent and that he killed Ritter, Dr. Weber tells him he's considered an accessory to the murder. When Seth expresses his determination to find Esta, Dr. Weber promises to ask Colonel Pearson where she's being held.

Pearson arrives and reveals to the group that intelligence has discovered that at least two ships, one over North Korea and another over the Suez Canal have been shot down. Pearson refuses to tell the Americans anything, for fear of jeopardizing their ability to make the weapon. 

The next day Terra takes Anaya inside their ship to extract what they need from her body to make their weapon. While they are working on making the virus into a weapon, Terra works on locating the crashed cryptogen ship in the hopes they can use its levitation device for their own ship. The crash site turns out to be located in northeastern British Columbia, in a swamp, with the ship underwater. To recover the levitation device, Petra and the swimmer are flown out to the site in a helicopter. But the retrieval proves to be daunting as Petra and the swimmer must fight off giant squids while the helicopter is almost taken down by giant parasitic creatures.

Meanwhile Seth has learned that Esta is being detained at Point Roberts. This leads him to sneak away from the aquarium to rescue her, but he only succeeds in getting himself captured and back into the hands of the cruel Dr. Ritter who it turns out has survived. Back at the base, Terra, with the help of Anaya and Dr. Weber is successful in creating a virus that affects the flyers' ability to use their sound weapon. But are they too late?

The early arrival of the cryptogen invasion force throws all their plans into chaos. As the cryptogens attack new plans are needed if they are to use their weapon on the flyers and give the rebel cryptogens and Earth a chance.

Discussion

Thrive is a fitting conclusion to Kenneth Oppel's Bloom trilogy about human's overcoming an alien invasion. In this series,  the story focuses on a group of human-alien hybrids, bred by a rebel alien faction, determined to thwart their planet's colonization of Earth. The novel is filled with character-driven action scenes including an epic battle between humans, hybrids, rebel cryptogens and the invading cryptogens. The ending is predictable and upbeat, with a final battle between the cryptogens, rebels, hybrids and humans.

Thrive is arguably the weakest of the three novels, with the events almost anti-climatic. Readers know the humans will prevail in the end. And after so many gruesome creatures in the first two books, any new ones the humans encounter seem almost expected. But in Thrive, the three main characters, Anaya, Petra and Seth, finally come into their own, each facing their own fears and challenges. This is especially true of Petra and Seth. 

In Thrive, Petra steps up to do her part to help out. Initially she has been reluctant, still struggling to accept the physiological changes she's experiencing and wanting her old life and her human body back. But with the help of the swimmer and as the situation becomes more dire, Petra rises to the challenge, helping in the recovery of the levitation device, saving the swimmer's life, devising a way to spread the viral weapon when the rebel's plan falls apart, and attempting to rescue the trapped hybrids on the cryptogen ship over Point Roberts.

Seth also commits himself. Abandoned by his mother, Seth has struggled to belong, and is now forced to choose who he will fight for; humans or cryptogens. The commander of the cryptogens tells him the human hybrids were mean to inherit the new earth and that they will thrive in it. He is also told he will fly, something he has dreamed of all his life. But this doesn't fit with what Terra has told them back in the biodome. Unlike Esta, Seth notes the difference in the way the commander and Terra have presented what is happening and he's not sure who he can trust. He also has, in the back of his mind, "the general's sonic message...wanting to be opened." From this message, Seth learns the truth about the cryptogen commander and her intentions for the hybrids. He also learns that he must finally make a choice, a painful one because he learns the truth about the one person he has come to identify with but who is a traitor.

For Esta, there is only one choice, solidarity with the cryptogens. On the cryptogen ship, Seth, Esta, Darren and Siena are given accounts of what happened on the cryptogen's planet that are much different from what Terra has told Anaya . While Esta accepts what she is being told, Charles counters, "Even if we don't know whose story is true...we know one thing for sure. These guys are here to take over our planet. That does not make them the good guys. Are you okay with everyone dying but us?" After the general and the swimmer rebels are captured and killed by the cryptogen flyer commander, Esta tells her fellow hybrids they have to make a choice. She tells them the choice is obvious because the cryptogens are going to win, meaning the hybrids will be safe. And so she acts on what she believes.

Thrive is an exciting read, with lots of battles, gruesome creatures, evil cryptogens and human traitors. Young readers will enjoy the satisfying ending, in what is one of Oppel's best offerings to date.

Book Details:

Thrive by Kenneth Oppel
Toronto: HarperCollins Publishers Inc.  2021
405 pp.

Hatch by Kenneth Oppel

Hatch, the second novel in Kenneth Oppel's Overthrow trilogy, picks up exactly where the first book, Bloom left off. The spraying of Stanley Park with an experimental herbicide appears to be working.  The cryptogenic black grass and vines that have spread throughout the world, "crowding out crops, sending strangling vines into houses, waiting underground to trap and eat animals and people in the acid-filled sacs" are dying. However, Petra, Anaya and Seth's joy is cut short when it begins to rain, not just raindrops but "gleaming, translucent beads" that quickly burst, releasing some kind of new life form. Anaya, realizing what they are, acts quickly to trap some eggs into a coffee cup. 

In the lab they discover that there are several new and frightening cryptogenic life forms that quickly try to hide. These are another part of the alien ecosystem that is invading Earth. Suddenly, Colonel Pearson arrives with soldiers, informing them that the lab is now under the authority of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and that the children are to be taken to holding cells downstairs.

All three teens are interrogated by Dr. Ritter who is in charge of a special task force in the United States, along with Dr. Weber and Colonel Pearson. Dr. Ritter informs Petra, that MRI scans of their brains have revealed that they have something in their brains that transmits radio pulses. On the morning the black grass began dying, the comms team picked up powerful radio pulses coming from where the three teens were sleeping. Dr. Weber believes that the children are transmitting biological data to the cryptogens to see if they can survive on Earth. They are also able to receive transmissions, as Seth's strange dreams seem to prove. After his interrogation of Seth, Ritter determines they are a threat and has the three teens transported to a secure location in the United States.

In the new location, they are given medical exams, ordered into jumpsuits identified with W for water, L for land and A for air and taken to a gymnasium where there are many other kids like them. Paul Samson, a military intelligence officer tells Petra that they are in an underground bunker that blocks all radio communication. 

The three teens make new friends with those who are undergoing similar changes; Petra meets a boy named Darren who is shedding skin, growing a tail but who also has a unique patterning developing on his body, Anaya meets Charles who seems super smart, and Seth meets Esta a flyer like himself but who is very angry.  In the gym, everyone is being evaluated; the runners are encouraged to run treadmills and practice jumping, the flyers to use their sharp feathers to slash and to try to fly, and the swimmers are evaluated for endurance by holding their breath. While Darren is certain they are being trained as soldiers, Petra believes they are simply being studied.

At bedtime, Dr. Ritter takes Anaya out of the bunker and mildly sedates her so that she can transmit with the cryptogens, allowing them to locate the source of the radio pulses. While sedated, Anaya begins to communicate with a cryptogen, named Terra, hearing the word, "help". Back in the dormitory that night, Anaya tells Petra what she experienced and tells her the presence felt motherly.

The next day Seth reveals that he and Esta have discovered that they can communicate telepathically. Petra and Anaya also have this ability. Petra wants to tell Dr. Ritter but the others are against this. After a nuclear attack on the cryptogenic ship fails, Ritter has Anaya attempt to contact the cryptogens again. When the transmission ends abruptly, Ritter accuses Anaya of stopping it. However, Anaya finds that the cryptogen has implanted in her mind a box that shows her what happened to the cryptogen's world. A war between the three major species resulted in the enslavement of the runners and swimmers by the flyers who could destroy the other two using a kind of sound weapon. The runners and swimmers were made to forge spacecrafts and were eventually loaded onto these ships as slave soldiers. These ships docked together to become the ship now orbiting Earth. 

Petra decides to tell Paul Samson about Anaya's vision. However, unknown to her, Ritter has heard everything and has many questions about what Anaya's experienced. The next day, during an unexpected birthday party, Ritter informs the teens that they will be implementing a protocol to remove the changes they are experiencing with the goal of returning all of them to their human selves. Petra, Anaya, Seth, Darren, Charles and Esta argue about what this means. Petra also reveals that she's told Ritter about Anaya's vision and that he knows about their telepathic abilities through monitoring the radio activity. 

Seth now believes they need to escape, but Petra and Charles are against the idea. Their views change when Seth is taken away after he and Darren fight, and Esta who likes Seth, uses telepathic sound to hurt Darren. After goading Seth to hurt him, Dr. Ritter tells him he plans to remove Seth's transmitting organ in his brain. Meanwhile, Petra approaches Paul to tell him that it was Esta who hurt Darren, not Seth. Paul tells Petra that they are no longer safe at the bunker and that he's contacted Dr. Weber to help them escape.

During their escape, Seth and Esta become separated from Anaya and Petra who are safely taken back to Deadman's Island. There, Anaya continues receives more messages from the cryptogen Terra who claims to be a runner who is awake in the ship. She promises to help Anaya and arranges a meeting. But the rendezvous appears to be a trap as it seems the final battle for their planet is just beginning.

Discussion

Hatch is an exciting second novel in the Overthrow trilogy by Canadian author Kenneth Oppel. In this novel, readers learn about the cryptogen's world and how they came to Earth, although their reason for doing so is not yet clear. But the main focus is on the continuing terraforming of Earth to suit the cryptogens as well as the developing abilities of Seth, Anaya and Petra and the other teens like them and the role they may play in all of this.

As the two girls, Anaya and Petra watch their bodies changing to be come more and more alien, both struggle with their identity, with the changes and who and what they are becoming. Anaya who has never considered herself pretty and who was not athletic before the changes began, finds she has incredible stamina on the treadmill. When she is complimented by Charles, Anaya thinks, "...she was pleased by his compliment. I like myself better like this. The moment she had the thought she realized how crazy it sounded. But it was true. She liked this new, healthier, stronger version of herself."

For Petra, the changes make her worried she won't be loved. When Seth, whom she is attracted to, leaves their group for Esta, Petra believes she's no longer pretty. Anaya remembers "...how Petra had confided her worst fear to her: she was terrified that if her body changed, she'd become monstrous and no one could ever love her." Petra asks Anaya, "I'm still me, right?" Although Anaya answers in the affirmative, she wonders. "...lately she'd caught herself wondering if it was true. Everything that had happened to her body -- her speed, her strength, her brain that could talk to an alien species -- it had started to change how she thought. And wasn't that an inside change?..."

In contrast to the girls, Seth and Darren both like the changes that are happening to their bodies. Darren sees himself as a soldier, while Seth, who's been dreaming of flying for years, sees the changes he's experiencing as good. Unlike Petra who volunteers to have surgery to remove her cryptogenic features, Seth is determined to keep his.

However, as the changes continue, the three teens begin to feel less and less human and notice they are becoming more like the cryptogens. For example, they begin to notice that they crave cryptogen plants and animals. When Darren orders a Big Mac and fries, he finds this favourite food suddenly doesn't taste very good.  Seth, who along with Esta and Sienna eats the flesh of an insect he has killed, and finds it delicious. "As he chewed, he felt like the meat was satisfying a hunger he'd never known he had. It tasted right. He couldn't believe he'd gone so long without it." Anaya finds a black vine growing up from the pavement on Deadman's Island and eats not only the red berries but the entire vine itself too. And Petra gobbles the eggs she is supposed to capture in the bay, finding them "deliciously salty."

Petra tells Anaya she feels like a monster for eating an egg and finally admits, "We're changing. We have no control over ourselves. What're we going to do next?" Anaya admits that since they are part cryptogen, they are behaving as they do, eating what they eat. Petra questions what they are becoming. "Remember when you said, I'm still me? What if it's not like that? What if we're not going to stay the same inside? What if we're going to change on the outside and the inside? What if we start thinking like them?"

Later on Anaya, after the death of Petra's mother wonders if she might be right about the changes."They had changed. They weren't the same people, even on the inside. Petra craved cryptogenic insects, she loved being underwater, and she had a venomous tail that seemed to act on its own. And she, Anaya, felt the same kind of hunger for cryptogenic plants. But the biggest change for her was the powerful mental connection to Terra, which seemed to guide her own thoughts. Was she being brainwashed?"

Overall, Hatch is a good second novel that sets the stage for the arrival of the cryptogens and the final showdown. There's plenty of gross monsters and heart-pounding battles between the teens and these alien life forms to keep readers engaged and wanting more. At the same time, Terra, the cryptogen who has been communicating with Anaya offers enough mystery as to whether she's really on the side of the humans and is part of a "resistance" as she claims, or simply misleading the young girl. And readers are left to wonder which side will the three teens choose, as they become more and more like the invading aliens.

The final installment, Thrive, will be published in May, 2021.

Book Details:

Hatch by Kenneth Oppel
Toronto: HarperCollins Publishing Ltd.   2020
397 pp

Bloom by Kenneth Oppel

Teenager Anaya Riggs is allergic to everything and she has acne. She is allergic to smoke, dust, tree and grass pollen, gluten, eggs and milk to name just a few. She carries EpiPens everywhere with her. She's constantly sneezing and her eyes are often swollen. Her father Michael is a botanist with the Ministry of Agriculture's experimental farm so Anaya knows a bit about plants. Her mother Lilah Dara is a pilot. 

One day, on her way home from school, Anaya notices a black shoot, almost a foot high, jutting out from a barren patch on her family's front lawn. She can't imagine what this strange plant might be since her father hasn't been able to ever grow anything on that patch of lawn.

Petra Sumner is allergic to water, a disorder called aquagenic urticaria. No one, even her specialist in Vancouver, B.C. seems to know how to help her. So after school one rainy day, Petra, encased and totally covered by her large umbrella, walks to Alicia Dumont's office to see if she can get a walk-in appointment. Dumont is a naturopath. However, because Petra isn't accompanied by her parents, she is refused an appointment. 

Walking home in the rain, Petra gets wet. But when she is picked up by her mom and taken home, she is shocked to see that the rain has not harmed her. She races outside to collect some of this amazing water.  Over the next day Petra wipes her face with the water she's saved and even drinks some of it.

Seth Robertson is now living on Mr. and Mrs. Antos broccoli farm. The Antoses are Seth's seventh family since his mother abandoned him as a baby. At first he hadn't helped out much on the farm, but today Seth decides to help the kindly Mr. Antos pull out the large black plants that have suddenly started growing between the rows. The towering plants are hard to cut down and Seth cuts his hands on the sharp spikes on the stalks.

The next morning Anaya and her father visit the Antos's farm to investigate the large black plants. Her father has no idea what these strange plants are. When they return home, they learn that the strange black plants are being reported all over the world. Meanwhile, Petra wakes up to discover that the water she collected and saved now seems to be growing black plants in it. She panics because she's been washing her face with the water and drinking it.

The next day as the black plants, now close to twelve feet high, begin to clog out their crop, Mr. Antos decides to burn it. The thick black smoke seems to go after the older man and he has to be taken to hospital. At a community meeting that night, no one seems to know what is happening but some suspect that the night's previous rain has had something to do with the appearance of the black grass. Petra brings forward the bottles of water she saved, explaining that black plants have sprouted in the water overnight. The meeting abruptly ends when the black plants outside begin spewing forth massive amounts of pollen, causing everyone to experience a serious allergic reaction. Only Anaya, Petra and Seth are not sneezing.

At school Anaya notices that the school field has no black grass. Puzzled she and her friends decide to bag some soil samples. Meanwhile at home that night, Anaya's mother who is a pilot, shows them pictures of Cordova Island at  the top of the Gulf Island Archipelago. Anaya's mother noticed while banking over the island, that the black grass on a small island in a marsh, is dying. Anaya's dad decides to travel to the island to investigate.  The next morning Anaya discovers the soil sample she bagged now has thick black vines growing out of it and up their house. On the vines are flowers that trap and eat birds.

The true nature of the empty field at school is revealed when Anaya and her friends watch a deer suddenly pulled into a pit that has opened in the ground. Ignoring Anaya's warnings, some of her classmates run out onto the field only to fall into other pits. Soon Anaya, Seth and Petra find themselves trapped as well. The pits are giant plants that spray a mist which numbs their victims and then release acid to burn and digest them. The three teens are able rescue their classmates who are badly injured, but they are mysteriously unharmed. In the hospital, Anaya, Petra and Seth begin to realize they are different. Seth points out that they are not allergic to the plants, and the plant mist and acid did not affect them. When Petra talks about how she was born with a tail, Seth reveals that he was born with bony growths on his arms that look like feathers.

From this point on, conditions on Salt Spring Island begin to rapidly deteriorate. The power goes out and Petra and her mother are almost trapped by a gigantic pit plant that swallows their car, while Anaya and her mother are almost killed by the black vines while they were sleeping. Seth discovers that the black vines have overtaken the Antos farmhouse, killing Mrs. Antos in her bed.

Because they were largely unharmed by the pit plants, all three teens are brought to the local hospital by CSIS. Dr. Stephanie Weber, a scientist from CSIS wants to study Anaya, Petra and Seth to find out why they seem to be immune to the effects of the plants. She reveals that the plants are not from Earth but are cryptogenic or alien and that this information is not yet common knowledge. Dr. Weber tells them their planet is being invaded and colonized. 

The three teens are taken by helicopter to a military base near Stanley Park, on Deadman's Island. While Anaya and Petra's mothers are not allowed to accompany them, Carlene Lee, Seth's appointed guardian is. Testing reveals the true nature of Anaya, Petra and Seth. Their mixture of alien and human DNA is evidenced by the changes all three are experiencing in their bodies. They also learn there are others  just like them. As they set out to rescue Anaya's father who hasn't been heard from, it becomes increasingly apparent  that humanity's survival may depend on understanding the changes they are experiencing and how they came to be.

Discussion

Bloom is the first book in a trilogy by well respected Canadian author, Kenneth Oppel. Bloom is a sort of cross between The Day of the Triffids and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a mixture of science fiction and horror in the tradition of classic sci-fi writer John Wyndham.

Oppel employs a great deal of foreshadowing in his novel, providing his readers hints of events to come. For example, medical tests reveal that Anaya, Petra and Seth are part alien. That they are different is evident early in the novel as two of the teens have unusual allergies. And later on when the three teens not only are not allergic to the black plants but Anaya and Petra begin to lose their own serious allergies. Anaya's acne and allergies begin to subside almost immediately after the rain and she begins to feel strong, excelling at gym. "She'd even done gym today...What was most amazing was the high jump. Usually she just crashed through the bar, but this time she cleared it, even after Mr. Hilborn raised it twice. It was like she'd finally figured out how to use her legs. They felt strong as they pushed her into the air...."  Petra who is highly allergic to water, finds the rainwater healing and invigorating.

Soon these changes are more pronounced with Anaya's toenails turning black and jagged like claws, Petra shedding scaly skin like a snake molting and re-growing the tail she was born with, and Seth re-growing feathers out of his arms. These changes all foreshadow the revelation that they are half alien and are undergoing some kind of internal physiological change. This is just one of the many ways Oppel builds tension and suspense in his novel. The reader begins to suspect that Anaya, Petra and Seth are connected to the black plants in some way that is not yet apparent.

Oppel quickly sets the stage as the invasion overwhelms the planet: crops are overrun, power fails, people are encased in black vines as they sleep, clogging their nose and mouth, and pit plants lure animals to their death with beautiful red berries. The author keeps his readers engaged as the novel races from one terrifying event to the next. After saving some of their classmates from the pit plants, Anaya, Petra and Seth accompany a rescue mission led by Dr. Weber to find Anaya's father. But this too goes terribly wrong, with the plants taking down their helicopter and attempting to kill everyone. This event allows the characters the opportunity to demonstrate how their changing bodies are enabling them to successfully fight back the alien plant and animal invaders.

Just when the reader has hope that humans are getting the upper hand by using the bacterial spray that successfully targets the black plants, Oppel throws in the cliffhanger, a second rain, not of water but of eggs that hatch!

The characters in the story are realistic and well developed with typical teenager fears and struggles. Anaya and Petra used to be best friends but Anaya's betrayal by revealing Petra's secret, destroyed their friendship. Anaya with her acne wants to be beautiful like Petra, while Petra fears losing her looks because she is afraid of what this might mean for her in the future. Oppel also reveals how each character is coping with the changes they are undergoing. Of the three, Petra is the one most afraid of what she might be turning into, something that no doubt will be addressed in the next book.

Bloom is one of the better science fiction novels to come out in recent years and will appeal to a wide audience. Ironically, some of the behaviours of minor characters and situations mirror the current pandemic situation, even though this novel was penned before the pandemic. It is well written, thrilling and very suspenseful. A great start to this new trilogy!

Book Details

Bloom by Kenneth Oppel
Toronto: HarperCollins Publisher Ltd.      2020
313 pp.

Transmission by Morgan Rice

Transmission is the first book in the Invasion Chronicles by well-known fantasy and sci fi author Morgan Rice. In this novel, a terminally ill boy believes he is receiving transmissions from aliens and travels to SETI to get help in decoding them. But the transmissions, meant to be a warning, come to late to prevent a world-wide catastrophe for Earth.

Thirteen-year-old Kevin McKenzie has been having "visions" for weeks. Kevin, who lives with his  mother, an advertising agency employee, in Walnut Creek, tries to convince her the visions are real. It wasn't until he fainted that his mother finally took him to the doctor. This eventually let to the hospital and then to see Dr. Markham who diagnosed Kevin with a form of leukodystrophy.  The rare illness which affects the myelin sheath of the brain will eventually kill him. In the hallucinations, Kevin sees a strange landscape, palm trees with twisted trunks and a purple sky. And always there are two sets of numbers: 23h 06m 29.283s and -05 02' 28.59

When Kevin has another fainting spell and vision at school and begins talking about planets, the principal suggests that Kevin should stay home. At this point Kevin decides to see Dr. Yalestrom, a psychologist.When Dr. Yalestrom asks Kevin to draw what he sees in his visions, he lets "the pencil flow over the paper automatically" and produces a detailed blueprint of a spaceship. Dr. Yalestrom believes that Kevin's visions are him trying to come to terms with his illness. The fire and destruction he sees reflect the sense of doom and the numbers counting down are part of that ending.

Kevin finally decides to tell his best friend Luna about his visions. To his surprise, Luna believes that his visions are really ones of an alien world and wonders if somehow his illness has given him the ability to connect to it. When Luna enters the first set of numbers into her phone, she tells Kevin they bring up the TRAPPIST-1e system which has planets believe to harbour life. Luna believes that Kevin should contact the scientists from SETI.

At first Kevin is dismissive of Luna's suggestion but then he decides to ask his mother to take him. His mother however, wants nothing to do with this and at first refuses to drive him to San Francisco to meet with the SETI scientists. She eventually relents and the two set out for the SETI Institute in Mountain View. At SETI, Kevin and his mother are initially turned down, but when the receptionist learns that Kevin is terminally ill, she arranges for Dr. Elise Levin, the director to see them. During his time in the lobby of the building, Kevin has a vision in which he sees a silvery object in space with the words Pioneer 11.

In talking to Dr. Levin and telling her about his hallucinations, the meaning of the numbers and that he believes someone is attempting to contact Earth. She is skeptical and tells Kevin she needs something new as proof his visions are authentic. Kevin then states that he believes they will receive a signal from Pioneer 11, a deep space probe NASA launched. Almost immediately Dr. Levin's phone rings and she is told that NASA is receiving telemetry from Pioneer 11.

Dr. Levin and Kevin race to NASA where Kevin meets Dr. Brewster and Phil a researcher who runs a number of tests on him. Eventually is allowed to listen to the Pioneer telemetry and he is able to decipher more messages, this one, "We are coming. Be prepared to accept us." However, Dr. Brewster remains skeptical. He is eventually able to translate a much longer message which has come from aliens almost forty years ago. It reveals that their world has been destroyed, three inhabited planets out of seven. Their home planet was destroyed by fires, after the collapse of their colonies.

Kevin rebels against Brewster's determination to keep the messages secret and tells the media what has been happening. He does this because he believes the messages are for all the people of Earth. More messages reveal that the aliens have sent capsules out to all the inhabited worlds, with a record of their history. It says that the capsules have a tight seal to preserve them and that they must find the capsule. Eventually the coordinates to the location of the capsule are sent. These coordinates are shared with the public and are eventually determined to be a location in the Colombian rainforest. Kevin along with his mom, Luna, Dr. Levin, Dr. Brewster and Ted, are determined to find the capsule before other teams of scientists. They have no idea that their discovery will unleash an overwhelming terror on Earth.

Discussion

Transmission is a fun, quick sci fi read that is best suited for ages nine to twelve. A young boy, suffering from a terminal illness discovers that he is able to receive and decode messages from an alien civilization. Unknown to Kevin and the NASA scientists there are two sets of messages, some are a warning that some of the messages are misleading and have been sent by aliens who will harm Earth. Eventually Kevin receives a message that is a warning to the people of Earth not to open a capsule that has landed on Earth, or they risk destruction. Unfortunately, this message is not decoded in time to prevent a world-wide catastrophe, which only Kevin and Luna do not succumb to. This sets the stage for the next book in the series.

There are plenty of holes in Rice's story line. For example when it is discovered the alien object has landed in the Colombian rain forest, the world's scientists race to Colombia hoping to locate it. It's unlikely a sovereign country would allow hordes of scientific teams to simply descend on the a delicate ecosystem so quickly. Scientists and upper level government officials would need to co-ordinate with Colombian officials to organize the search and to determine what will happen to the capsule.

As is typical in many juvenile and young adult novels, the adults in Transmission are generally portrayed as dumb, violent and unable to resolve issues or solve problems. Instead that seems to be the job of the thirteen-year-old protagonist who is remarkably good at getting the adults to do what he suggests.

Despite these flaws, Transmission is an exciting novel that reads quickly and will leave readers wanting more.

Book Details:

Transmission by Morgan Rice
Self published
169 pp.

The Jamie Drake Equation by Christopher Edge

Jamie Drake's family consists of his father and mother and his younger sister Charlie. Jamie's father, Commander Dan Drake is an astronaut who is currently on a mission on the International Space Station. His mission is to launch special probes into space looking for intelligent life. 

On Friday Commander Drake will travel from the International Space Station to the newly constructed Lux Aeterna launch platform.From there he will launch the nano-spacecraft called the Light Swarm probes by firing the Lux Aeterna's laser array. The sails of the probes will be caught in the laser beam and travel out as seventy-five percent of the speed of light. Their destination is a star called Tau Ceti, which is one hundred trillion kilometers from Earth. It will take approximately fifteen years for the probes to reach Tau Ceti. They will search for alien life in the system and relay the information back to Earth - which will take another fifteen years.

Jamie's 6th grade class is currently "learning about alien worlds, interstellar travel, and nanotechnology." His teacher, Mrs. Solomon assigns the class a project to "invent an alien".

After school Jamie is picked up by his grandfather, an aging has-been rocker with a  pony tail. Jamie's granddad Neil used to be the lead singer of a rock group called Death Panda. Jamie and his family live at Grandad Neil's home in Bramsfield. His family has moved around over the years due to his father's career as a Royal Air Force pilot. While waiting for dinner, Jamie decides to hike up to Beacon Hill where it is quiet and he can't hear his granddad's guitar. During a phone call from his dad, Jamie learns that there used to be an observatory on Beacon Hill. Afterwards, Jamie cliimbs to the top of Beacon Hill where he finds "half hidden behind a bank of trees, a squat redbrick building topped with a white dome-shaped roof."  Near the derelict observatory Jamie sees a strange robotic mechanism.

At this point he is confronted by a older woman who forces him into the observatory.  The woman is suspicious of Jamie but when he reveals that his father is Commander Dan Drake the woman recognizes him. She reveals that she is Professor Forster, an astronomer who happens to be searching for alien life in the universe. Unofficially, she is searching for a signal from the entire universe. Professor Forster explains Drake's Equation which is used to estimate how many intelligent alien civilizations might exist in the Milky Way, to Jamie. She also tells Jamie that we have been using radio telescopes to scan for alien transmissions since the 1960s.  Now she is using the observatory as a secret location for the "mobile Laser Optical Ground Station that is hooked up to the Hubble Space Telescope." which she hacked into when it was in line to be retired.

While Professor Forster goes outside to do a quick check on the ground station, Jamie decides to recharge his phone by connecting it to a USB cable coming from her laptop. Suddenly Jamie realizes that his phone is receiving the incoming transmission from Hubble. Frantic he rushes to disconnect the phone, spilling tea over the laptop,  just as Professor Forster returns.

Later that night, Jamie hears a strange buzzing sound from his phone and when he turns it on he sees a new icon in the shape of a golden spiral. The icon spins in time with the phone's buzzing sound. When he taps the icon, his finger suddenly glows. The  next day during a math test, Jamie's phone begins buzzing again, and he taps the spinning icon which is now taking up half the phone's screen. The familiar tingle in his finger returns. But when he tries to use the phone's calculate, it begins spitting out numbers that don't seem to make sense. Things become even more bizarre when Jamie finds he suddenly knows the answer to the math problem. Even stranger is that his answer to a question to create his own equation results in a strange equation that he doesn't understand as well as pages and pages filled with unknown symbols and letters.

The unusual behaviour continues in art class when Jamie creates a stunning picture of a landscape "twin suns shine in a bright purple sky above a vast forest of giant plants and ferns. Black flowers bloom in every direction, and rising above these, huge golden spirals shimmer like trapped sunlight. The shape of these unearthly skyscrapers is the same as the spiral icon on my phone,...each golden spiral is actually a sprawling alien city winding into the sky."

But when Jamie's phone begins sending messages that seem to come from an alien needing help, he knows this is bigger than he realized. While his dad doesn't believe him, Dr. Forster does agree that it seems like some sort of extraterrestrial signal has been downloaded into his phone. However, it soon becomes apparent to Jamie that he is able to communicate with an alien whom he names Buzz. When Jamie's father is in danger of losing his life, both Jamie and the alien work together to help each other.

Discussion

The Jamie Drake Equation is a delightful story that mixes science with fiction. It's a sweet mashup that is reminiscent of the movie E.T. in which a boy befriends an alien in trouble and helps him out, all the while dealing with his own struggles in growing up. Although the novel incorporates plenty of science, ultimately this is a story about a young boy discovering what really matters and realizing that his parents are not perfect.

Jamie's father is a world famous astronaut who is on a mission on the International Space Station. The day his father is to launch important probes to seek out intelligent life in a distant system, happens also to be Jamie's birthday. Jamie not only has to share his father with the world, but he also has to share his birthday with an important event as well. His father's busy and demanding career means that Jamie doesn't get much time with him. When he tries to talk to his father about what's happening on his phone, his father doesn't believe him and thinks he's making it up to get his attention. When Jamie needs his father the most to help him solve a problem in HIS life his father isn't there for him. "Dad has always said I can tell him anything - any problem I've got, any worry I have, and he'll help me to sort it out....All I need is for Dad to believe me and then he'll be able to tell me what to do."

Adding to Jamie's worries about the strange messages and his father up in space is the shocking revelation that his parents are divorcing. While divorce is a reality for many children today, this was such a lovely, fresh story up to this point, that bringing the issue of divorce into the story was disappointing. It would be nice for children to be able to read some stories where parents succeed in their marriages - as many do. The divorce subplot is used to drive the story. Jamie's anger and frustration at his dad for leaving the family, his fear for his dad in space all reach a climax during an assembly at Austen Park Primary school. 

During the assembly Jamie finds himself becoming increasingly angry, especially since his father and mother are divorcing. "Is this what life is going to be like now? Sharing my dad with a roomful of strangers and getting my birthday presents secondhand? Having everyone think that Dad's some kind of superhero, when really he's tearing our family apart?" His angry outburst at the assembly is an expression of the sadness and sense of loss he is experiencing over his parents' divorce.

Although Edge moves well into science fiction to resolve the disaster facing Jamie's dad in space, the conclusion is both heartwarming and satisfying. Jamie's relationship with an alien being he names Buzz is reminsicent of E.T. It turns out Buzz is an alien life form that calls itself the Hi'ive. They had to choose between their bodies and their minds, moving beyond the physical world, becoming energy. In this form Buzz can both help Jamie and be helped by Jamie.

Overall, The Jamie Drake Equation is a well written short novel, ideal for younger readers who might be interested in science, aliens and space travel. Edge includes lots of science tidbits for young readers to chew on and includes short chapter called The Science of The Jamie Drake Equation where he examines some of the science in the novel.

Book Details:

The Jamie Drake Equation by Christopher Edge
New York: Delacourte Press    2017
185 pp.

Leia: Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray

Leia: Princess of Alderaan is the third novel in the Star Wars series written by Claudia Gray. In this novel, sixteen-year-old Princess Leia is coming of age and must prove herself worthy of the throne of Alderaan. Adopted as a baby by Breha and Bail Organa after Bail returns from a mysterious mission, Leia has grown up in the palace preparing for the day when she will oversee Alderaan.

Leia's Day of Demand has arrived and guests from worlds across the galaxy are present on Alderaan. Many of her father's diplomatic allies in the Imperial Senate, including Winmey Lenz and Mon Mothma of Chandrella, Tynnra Pamlo from Taris and Cinderon Malpe of Derella, are in attendance.

In the Day of Demand, Leia's right to be declared an heir must first see her prove her worth through a series of "Challenges". For her Challenge of the Mind, Leia will help her father in the Imperial Senate and represent Alderaan in the Apprentice Legislature. For her Challenge of the Body she plans to climb Alderaan's Appenza Peak to its summit. For her Challenge of the Heart, Leia intends to undertake aid missions to planets in need.

However, after the ceremony, Leia is left alone and she feels abandoned and forgotten by her parents who seem unduly preoccupied. Her father is often in discussions with various senators and her mother seems focused on planning her next state dinner. In an attempt to do something too impressive for them to ignore, Leia impulsively decides to undertake a mission to the planet, Wobani. This planet, never prosperous, has seen its economy destroyed by a program ordered by Emperor Palpatine. Suffering from famine and isolated by travel restrictions, Wobani is on the verge of collapse with millions of refugees. With her ship Tantive IV filled with rations, Leia along with Captain Antilles arrive to a shocking scene of thousands of starving people. Leia attempts to transport some of the refugees to her home planet of Alderaan, appealing to the Imperial officer in charge, Major Tedam. However, he refuses her request, telling her she must leave with only her crew on board. In a daring move, Leia circumvents the restriction by hiring on one hundred refugees as crew members.

Their return to Alderaan is further complicated when they stop at the deep space station, Calderos Station only to discover that it has been attacked. The Tantive IV is allowed to continue on, but Leia realizes that people are beginning to fight back against the tyranny of the Empire. When Leia returns home, the pride she feels at what she has accomplished is quickly dispelled when she learns of the possible fallout from her actions from her mother, Queen Breha.

The next day Leia travels to a region of Alderaan containing the Appenza Peak to rendezvous with her pathfinding class. The group includes the wealthy Chassellon Stevis of Coruscant, Harp Allor of Chandrila, Sssamm Ashsssen of Fillithar (a planet with serpentine-like life forms), Amilyn Holdo of Gatalenta and Kier Domadi of Alderaan. Leading their group is Chief Pangie of the Chandrilan Pathfinding Corps who tells them they will visit different climates on different worlds. This challenge is to climb partway up the mountain and then to find their way back down. When Harp breaks her ankle, the group separates into those who want to help her led by Princess Leia and those who don't led by Chassellon. During the journey down the mountain, Leia and Kier talk about her responsibilities and life on Alderaan.

Princess Leia - played by actress Carrie Fisher in the original trilogy.

Leia's next duty is to attend the first session of the Apprentice Legislature on Coruscant. Because her father is a senator in the Imperial Senate, they have a penthouse apartment known as Cantham House which Leia is familiar with. Leia and her fellow apprentices first attend a reception where they are greeted by Grand Moff Whilhuff Tarkin, who is Emperor Palpatine's second. Leia introduces herself to Tarkin, whom she finds unsettling and not entirely friendly.

Leia had hoped to spend some time with her much absent father, but when she returns to their family's apartment, she learns from her father that he must leave for a meeting with Mon Mothma and will be away on a fact-finding mission for at least a week. In his absence, Leia attends the first session of the Apprentice Legislature. After introductions are made, the young apprentices are tasked with determining which planet should be the location of Emperor Palpatine's new aeronautical engineering academy. Leia, with the help of Kier, manage to convince the assembly to choose Arreyel, a planet suffering from being on the wrong side in the Clone Wars.

Later that evening, while working late in her office at the Apprentice Legislature, Leia inadvertently stumbles upon some puzzling information regarding Calderos Station - the outpost that was attacked. While analyzing the space traffic patterns through Calderos Station, Leia discovers that several unusual planets are involved including Crait and Itapi Prime. Leia believes these unusual traffic patterns through the station are "traces of people who were rising up against the Empire..." in a very dangerous way.

Uncertain as to what to do, Leia decides to investigate herself. Using the Polestar piloted by Lieutenant Ress Batten, she travels to Crait, a planet covered in salt flats. The Polestar is able to escape a weak tractor beam and identifies a small settlement in the northern area of the planet. But once on Crait, Princess Leia is taken by unidentified soldiers while Batten is forced to remain with the ship. To Leia's shock, she meets her father who is also stunned to see his daughter.

Leia reveals to him how she was able to track the rebels to Crait. She questions her father on having attacked the Empire, reminding him that he has always maintained they "had to exercise influence through the Senate, to change the system from within."  But Leia is also amazed and wants to be a part of her father's efforts to weaken the Empire from within. Her father however is adamant that she is not to be involved, believing that if they are discovered, her ignorance will save her.

It is an unexpected meeting with Grand Moff Tarkin that sees Leia thrown headlong into a dangerous situation that threatens not only her family but the entire rebellion movement.

Discussion

Fans of Star Wars will definitely enjoy this well-written novel about Princess Leia of Alderaan and her life before she becomes involved in the Rebel Alliance. 

Gray spends some time creating the setting for the events that happen in the novel, although those readers unfamiliar with the Star Wars canon may have difficulty understanding the various characters, different planets and life forms. The novel contains many references to characters, events and settings in the Star Wars movies. The assumption is that most young readers will know the story line well enough to understand these references. For example, when Princess Leia visits the mining colony on Onoam, a moon orbiting the planet Naboo. Readers will recall that Naboo is actually the home planet of Leia's biological mother, a fact she doesn't yet know in this novel. Sometimes Gray helps her readers with descriptions that clarify. For example, Sssamm Ashsssen is a snake-like life form lacking legs and hands. His physical nature becomes apparent on the hike on the mountain as he aids Leia and her companions taking the injured Harp to safety.

The essential story line in Leia: Princess of Alderaan focuses on Leia's coming of age and her journey into the beginnings of rebellion against the Empire's tyranny. As Leia begins attending the Apprentice Legislature, she is working towards the goal of some day becoming Queen of Alderaan and representing her planet in the Senate. But her new acquaintance, Kier Domadi offers a suggestion Leia has not ever considered - choosing her own path. This concept is expressed metaphorically in the journey Leia takes on the mountain during her first pathfinder session, when Harp Allor is injured. Leia forges a new alliance with some of the pathfinders to find a route down the mountain, different from the one they took in the ascent.

When Leia uncovers her parents involvement in the resistance to the Empire, she is  inspired by their courage to forge her own path in life. She wants to act because "the battle ahead was one for her future..." At first Leia has no concept of what her role in the resistance to the Empire might be. Initially she believes that if she can document some of the Empire's excesses and get this information to those who can use it, this might be helpful. But as Mon Mothma explains to a naïve Leia, "The people of the galaxy know Palpatine is corrupt and cruel." She explains, "Trillions of people understand what he truly is, and with every day that passes, more of them become willing to do whatever it takes to see the Empire fall."

As it turns out, Leia's most valuable asset appears to be her presence on Coruscant. Leia's doubts about ever playing a meaningful role in helping to bring down Palpatine are quickly dispelled when she realizes during a conversation with Moff Tarkin, that he knows about the secret armada her parents and others have been amassing at Paucris Major. Suddenly Leia is vitally important to the resistance in a way she could never have imagined, as the only one who can warn her father that the Empire knows and is coming for them. This turn of events will cost Leia dearly, but it will prove her mettle in the far more dangerous times to come.

Gray has crafted Leia's character well; she's believable and true to the character in the original movie trilogy. Leia is intelligent, decisive, a quick learner, and able to assess the people around her quickly and fairly. For example, at first she believes Kier might be standoffish and stiff-necked but quickly comes to realize that he is shy. Kier adds depth to Leia's character, acting as a love interest and as someone who questions Leia's parents involvement with the beginning rebellion because of the threat it poses to the peaceful, beautiful and wealthy Alderaan. Kier believes that Alderaan is possibly "...the one truly safe place in the entire Empire". It is as he is dying that Leia fortunately discovers his plan to inform the Empire about the rebellion fleet. Kier loves Alderaan more than he hates the Empire, something Leia understands but does not agree with. As Star Wars fans know, Kier has under-estimated the evil of the Empire, as Alderaan is eventually annihilated by the Death Star.

Perhaps the most delightful character in the novel is Amilyn Holdo, an eccentric human, with wildly coloured hair, an odd young woman with a loopy way of talking, but who, in the end, proves to be both insightful and a courageous young woman.

Overall, Leia: Princess of Alderaan is well done and will appeal to fans of the Stars Wars movies and science fiction fans too.

Book Details:

Leia: Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray
Glendale, California: Disney- Lucasfilms Books    2017
409 pp.

The Evolution of Claire by Tess Sharpe

Claire Dearing has just finished her freshman year of college and is packing up her room to return home for the summer. Claire wants "a bigger life. One far from here. One that's never boring. One that's always a challenge. One where I fix problems and always have the answer." Her older sister Karen picks her up and on the long drive home reveals that their parents are struggling in their marriage, but trying counselling. They discuss Claire's plans for the summer. She has applied to six internships, four at law firms and one internship with a judge. But the one she really wants is with the Masrani Corporation, run by Simon Masrani who is continuing the work of Dr. Hammond on dinosaurs. Masrani has expanded Dr. Hammond's work of creating the world's first dinosaur park, Jurassic Park. The park never opened.

Masrani's internship program, Bright Minds, is looking for "the best and brightest" in the country. He is planning to open a park where people can experience the dinosaurs on Isla Nublar.

However, Claire learns from Karen that she did in fact receive an offer of an internship at Bright Minds.Although her mother has reservations, Claire is determined to do something risky and different.

On her flight to connect up with the other interns, Claire meets Justin, a business major. As it turns out they discover that they are both Bright Minds interns. Clair and Justin also meet some of the  other twelve interns including Eric and Tanya whom Claire suspects are siblings, Wyatt whose father works on the island and Ronnie a girl who plans on attending West Point in the fall. While waiting for the ferry,  that will take them to Isla Nublar, Jessica assistant to Beverly Jamison tells them a bit about the park. They learn it will open next year with eight species of dinosaurs including a herd of Triceratops and Brachiosaurs.On the ferry Claire realizes there are also many others traveling with them who are not interns but are vets, trainers, scientists and other specialists.

Claire's roommate is Tanya Skye, while Tanya's brother,  Eric's roommate is Wyatt. Their lodgings are on the fourth floor of the park's luxury hotel. In the morning Mr. Masrani welcomes the interns, telling them they are integral to the opening of the park in nine months. New species are continuing to arrive from their secondary location, Isla Sorna but he also warns them that some carnivorous dinosaurs such as T. Rex and Dilophosaurus are restricted. As the monorail is not yet completed, the interns are taken on a drive through the park to Gyrosphere Valley where they see the herd of Triceratops.

At lunch, Claire dines with Simon Masrani who is intrigued by Claire, her life goals and her vision of the future. After lunch, they visit the command center and then the labs in the basement. Dr. Wu who worked with Dr. Hammond on the original Jurassic Park, has continued to refine the technique that extracts dinosaur DNA. During their visit, Claire overhears a conversation between Simon Masrani and Dr. Wu in which Wu references an earlier group of interns. She later asks Justin if he caught Wu's remark but he was unable to hear what he said.

Wyatt tell them that there are rumours about "phantom interns", a previous group of interns from an earlier program renamed after the incident. Wyatt explains that "They're called phantom interns because all evidence of the program disappeared..." This was done because something terrible happened and was covered up. According to Wyatt, some of the Brachiosaurses were brought over from Isla Sorna to Isla Nublar and interns were brought in to help the dinosaurs acclimatize to their new surroundings. A few months into the process, a severe storm knocked out the island's electrical grid forcing the evacuation of the park and the island. In the process, a female intern was left behind.

That night, while alone in her room writing up her journal, Clair makes a startling discovery: a notebook, its spine cracked and its pages yellowed, tucked inside the box spring of her bed. It appears to be someone's journal. Over the next two weeks, Claire and the interns spend time with the trainers and vets, learning about the dinosaurs. At first everything seems quite normal but gradually Claire begins to suspect that not everything is as it seems. With Justin's help she begins to try to solve a past mystery only to stumble onto a plan to steal the park's technology, one that will have deadly consequences for one of the interns.

Discussion

Fans of the recent Jurassic World movies will enjoy reading Sharpe's novel which is set during Claire Dearing's young adult years and explores how she came to be involved in the development of the new Jurassic Park on Isla Nublar.

Sharpe takes time to develop Claire as a character, who at the beginning of the novel seems to be the quintessential modern teenager, deeply concerned with animal rights, determined to be a trailblazer for women. Sharpe crafts her as an ambitious young woman who wants a life that's very different from her older sister Karen. While Karen has returned home after college, gotten an job, married and had a child, Claire doesn't feel that inclination. Although she sees herself as someone who follows the rules, she admits that "...there's another side of me, the reckless side, that's all about wonder and discovery, that wants something else." Claire wants "...to be the kind of woman who could make laws and enact the kind of sweeping change that was needed."  And indeed, Sharpe grows her character throughout the novel, towards her ambition. Claire becomes more assertive as an intern. At first she dismisses Wyatt's story about a missing intern, even showing surprisingly little curiosity about a journal she finds just after Wyatt's allegations. But when she begins to suspect that Masrani and the park administration are covering up something she doggedly pursues the trail of evidence.

The Evolution of Claire is somewhat formulaic, true to the story lines in the previous Jurassic Park movies: visitors, in this case young student interns arrive at the park, are awestruck by the beautiful, majestic dinosaurs. Meanwhile, there is an undercurrent of something suspicious happening at the park, a deadly carnivorous dinosaur is inadvertently let loose, and mayhem and death follow. The book's heroine survives, only to become employed by the park. The events that lead up to the novel's terrifying climax are common to the movies; these prehistoric creatures are deadly and just can't be contained.

Sharpe foreshadows Claire's deadly encounter with the raptor in the novel's climax. For example, Claire's sister Karen insists that she purchase bear spray, something Claire is reluctant to do. "You and Mom both have a totally wrong idea of what's going to be going on during my internship." she tells her sister.  But it is Claire who is unprepared for what she will face on the island.

The science isn't always spot on but after all, this is science fiction. For example, when Claire and her fellow interns visit Dr. Wu's lab, the scientists are in the middle of extracting dinosaur DNA from a mosquito's body - by hand. Mosquito's are tiny fragile insects and the level of accuracy required to extract, by hand using a needle is so great, it's unlikely this would be done manually. Instead, it would be done with highly specialized, computerized equipment.

This novel will appeal to those readers who enjoy the Jurassic Park movies and want to read more about Claire Dearing in the most recent novel. It might be interesting to read the backstory to Owen Grady, the velociraptor trainer and the other principal character in the movie.

Book Details:

The Evolution of Claire by Tess Sharpe
New York:  Random House Children's Books     2018
390 pp.

Unearthed by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Unearthed is the newest science fiction novel by this best-selling duo. The story is told in alternating narratives by sixteen-year-old Amelia (Mia) Radcliffe and seventeen-year-old Jules Thomas Addison. Both Mia and Jules are on the alien planet called Gaia but for very different reasons; Mia is a scavver hoping to find relics to sell while Jules is there to learn more about the Undying.

With conditions on Earth declining rapidly, the International Alliance (IA) was created with the purpose of building a spacecraft that could travel to  Alpha Centauri to a planet named Centaurus in the nearest solar system. The world pooled together resources and sent three hundred colonists into space. But eight years into their journey, the IA received  a final transmission that was a plea for help. The IA was either unable to or unwilling to act.

Fifty years ago, while some astronomers were searching for further signals from the Centaurus mission they picked up a new signal. Jule's father, Elliott Addison now a renowned mathematician and linguist was eighteen-years-old and a student when he deciphered the messages which came from a civilation called the Undying. He was able to decode the message and learned it not only provided the instructions on how to build a portal to the planet, Gaia, but also how their technology destroyed them. Their technology has been hidden and only those who are worthy, who pass a test will obtain it. Astronauts and trained scientists were sent to Gaia where they located a large temple complex. A solar cell was found in this temple complex, brought back to Earth where it is currently being used to power what is left of the west coast of the United States.

Elliott Addison continued to work on the code and discovered "a code within a code". At first this second layer of code was thought to be a distortion in the signal and was ignored for decades. However, Addison discovered that it maps out a shape similar to a Fibonacci spiral, reminiscent of a Nautilus shell or the shape of the Milky Way. The code also contains one word which Addison believes means "catastrophe" or "the end of everything". He believed the Undying were sending a warning.

Because of this Dr. Addison begged the IA not to rush into further exploration of Gaia but to move slowly if only for the safety of mankind and of those sent to explore the planet. However, having seen what the Undying technology could accomplish, the IA refused. This led Addison to attempt to warn the world during a television interview. He was arrested and incarcerated.

A few weeks ago while looking at topographic maps of Gaia, Jules Addison discovered a spiral-shaped temple, small and hidden at the end of a canyon. Jules believes this temple holds the clue to what the second code really means. Although no one is officially supposed to be on the planet, Jules was able to arrange a way to get to Gaia. His trip to Gaia was financed by Global Energy Solutions who obtained  a formal International Alliance I.D. that of Francois LaRoux which allowed him to pose as a junior technician on the orbital station around Gaia.

The novel opens with Mia Radcliffe struggling to fend off two other scavvers. Jules stumbles upon this confrontation and manages to overpower the man while Mia deals with the woman. After escaping this situation, Mia wants to continue on her own. Jules learns that Mia is on Gaia to scavenge from the temples, making him angry. However both Jules and Mia need one another; Jules is inexperienced but he convinces Mia varied skills while Mia needs the knowledge of the temples that Jules seems to have.  Each is keeping secrets from the other; Jules that he is the son of Elliot Addison,that he's on Gaia to find out the truth about the Undying  and Mia who is on Gaia to make enough money from her scavenging to free her younger sister Evie from slavery. Mia is determined to travel to the large temple where she hopes to find more artifacts but Jules tells her that this is merely a decoy and that the real treasure is contained within a smaller temple. Mia reluctantly agrees to go with Jules plan.

To reach the smaller temple they must travel part way through a canyon however when they reach the canyon, Jules and Mia are shocked to see a large expedition. To thwart this group, they disable their skimmer bikes and steal one. This allows them to reach the small temple within a day. After resting overnight, they enter the temple and begin to work their way through each room and each puzzle. It is during this time that Mia realizes that Jules is the son of Elliott Addison. After the first day they manage to successfuly navigate to the bottom of a pit but when they awaken the next morning, Jules and Mia are captured by a group sent out by the woman named Mink who hired Mia. The group is led by a woman named Liz and she is determined that Jules and Mia will lead them to the secret to be discovered deep in the temple.

However, as Jules and Mia work their way through the temple, they make both an astonishing discovery and uncover what might be the real reason behind the Undying's messages. A reason that is far more terrifying than anything they could have imagined.

Discussion

In Unearthed, Kaufman and Spooner have crafted an exciting, fast-paced novel with a mystery as the central part of the plot. According to their website the book was originally billed as an Indiana Jones and Lara Croft mashup, which is a fairly accurate description of this novel. An ancient alien race, the Undying has sent a message to Earth with information on how to build a portal to their planet, and offering technology to those who can prove themselves worthy by solving the clues they have left behind. Earth is dying and the alien technology is the last hope to save the planet and mankind. But just who are the Undying and is their technology really the panacea it promises to be?

The authors use dual narrators who are very different; Jules, a clean-cut, naive but brilliant academic and Amelia, a street-wise high-school dropout who scavenges for a living. They begin their relationship with a healthy bout of mistrust that is complicated by a growing mutual attraction. Unexpectedly thrown together,  Jules and Mia embark on an Indiana Jones type of exploration of a temple on the alien planet, having to solve a series of hierglyphic puzzles to avoid being skewered, crushed or thrown into pits. The story is kept moving along with the introduction of a group who take Jules and Mia captive as well as the main characters growing uneasiness have about what's really going on.

While Jules is portrayed as honorable, intelligent and caring, Amelia is resourceful and resilient, a quick thinker whose ability to act is an asset in tight situations. It is Amelia, not the brilliant academic Jules, who comes to the realization that what they've been led to believe doesn't fit the reality of what's happening on Gaia. This leads to a remarkable twist in the story and a cliffhanger ending with the perfect setup for the concluding novel.

Kaufman and Spooner's writing combines a number of strengths which make their novels so appealing. Their storylines are imaginative and engaging, often having some unsolved mystery that retains readers' interest. They are characterized by unexpected twists that make the reader reconsider what is happening in the novel. And they are able to craft complex characters that are unique and often opposites, creating a source of conflict that must be resolved. The only distraction in Unearthed is the almost immediate angst and romanticized infatuation that occurs between Jules and Mia, despite meeting under dangerous circumstances on an alien planet light-years from Earth. For the most part, this romantic aspect of their relationship doesn't overwhelm the storyline, although near the climax of the story, their feelings for one another do come to the fore.

Overall another good novel by this duo, and the sequel to Unearthed will be eagerly awaited by their fans!

Book Details:

Unearthed by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
New York: Hyperion       2018
328 pp.

Tool of War by Paolo Bacigalupi

Tool of War is the final installment in Bacigalupi's Ship Breaker trilogy. The last installment, The Drowned Cities was written over five years ago, making remembering the story line, challenging. The series is set in post-apocalyptic America which has been destroyed by civil war and global climate change that resulted in many coastal cities destroyed by rising seas. Many parts of the continent have descended into brutal conflict with the use of child soldiers. This third installment focuses on Tool, known as Karta-Kul, a half man, half beast, an augment, genetically designed for war and for blind obedience.

The novel opens with Tool, the genetically designed man-beast having just defeated the Army of God and now  ruling over the Drowned Cities, "a coastline swamped by rising sea levels and political hatreds, a place of shattered rubble and eternal gunfire."  

However, Tool has managed to organize his own "pack". He knows all his soldiers, their smells, their sounds because his ears and his sight are far better than any human's. He can hear the triumph of his army as they defeat the Army of God soldiers trying to overtake his palace.

Tool  watches the final moments of a battle from the rotunda in a shattered marble palace, the waters of ocean lapping against the front steps. When quiet falls on the ruined city, Tool is questioned by the young humans who follow him as to what happens next for the Drowned Cities. Tool never moves on to rule the cities because his life and that of those around him vanishes in an instant of fire and hell.

High above the Pacific Ocean in the dirigible Annapurna, General Caroa hunts a specific augment. His analyst, Arial Jones, a brilliant, young but new recruit is eager to please her senior officer. Jones works in the Mercier Corporation's Global Strategic Intelligence Center and she has tracked the augment Caroa is seeking to the Drowned Cities. Caroa orders Jones to fire six Havoc 5's at Tool in order to kill him. While the missiles with their incredible firepower and chemicals completely destroy everything and everyone, Tool at the last minute senses the missiles and attempts to escape.

Meanwhile on board the Raker, a clipper sitting in the harbour, Mahalia is thrown onto the deck from the blast. Mahalia had been supervising the loading of artwork onto the clipper when the blast occurred. The palace is leveled, blackened and on fire, the marble steps liquefying due to the heat. Mahalia realizes her old friend Tool has been killed in the attack and grieves deeply because he helped save her and restart her life. She also knows they have to get the Raker out of the harbour because Tool's surviving soldiers will try to take the ship for their own. Captain Almadi reluctantly agrees to sail the damaged ship up the coast, even though a category three hurricane is bearing down on them. Tool having sensed the attack, dove into the waters by the palace. Although on fire and terribly injured by shrapnel he manages to cling to the clipper ship as it sails out of the harbour.

On the Annapurna, General Caroa celebrates what he hopes is the end of a nightmare - the death of the augment known as Blood and the hope of a promotion to Mercier's Executive Committee. But Caroa's celebration is short-lived as Junior Analyst Jones calls him to the Strategic Intelligence Center on the command deck. There Jones shows Caroa evidence that the augment has unbelievably survived the Havoc missile attack. By tracking the augment's heat signature, they see him beneath a clipper ship. Caroa orders Jones to hit the ship but she tells him they have no remaining missiles. When the video feed breaks up due to the storm, Caroa orders Jones to find the ship so they can destroy it.

Tool has lost his pack, the soldier boys he commanded in securing the Drowned Cities. As the storm deepens and the ship begins to founder, Tool hauls himself aboard. There he sees his old pack, Mahalia, Ocho and others attempting to save their ship, struggling with the mast, unable to raise the sail. Tool with his brute strength saves the ship. Eventually the Raker anchors in a small cove, and Mahalia attempts to treat Tool's horrific wounds. She uses all the StimGrowth packs and liters of cell knitters on Tool. Ocho believes Tool will die but Mahalia tells him this is the kind of war Tool was designed for. On the deck of the Raker, Tool tells Mahalia and Ocho that Mercier who owns him is trying to kill him and that they are in danger. He agrees to stay with them until they arrive at Seascape Boston where he will seek out medical help.

On the Annapurna, Jones' conscience is troubled over the innocent lives destroyed in the Havoc attack. Determined to limit the casualties while still doing her job she discovers the identity of the ship and its probable destination. When Caroa orders the Strike Raptors, Jones finds a way to prevent them from being used and instead convinces Caroa to use the Stitch and Ditch kill squads for a cleaner kill.

At Seascape Boston, Mahalia, Ocho, Stick and Stork and Tool  hide out in an ancient brownstone while Van gets the meds Tool needs to heal. After a Stitch and Ditch squad take out the wrong augment, Mahalia and Ocho realize Tool is still being tracked. Tool is beginning to heal from the meds but he is still not himself. He tells Mahalia that she and her crew need to leave before Mercier attacks again. However, it is too late as their building is quickly surrounded. Although Mahalia is determined to fight alongside Tool, he knows this is a fight they cannot survive.

Can Tool overcome his conditioning to fight for the freedom he believes his kind deserve, to protect the humans who are his pack and end the conflict between himself and his creator, General Caroa forever?

Discussion

Tool of War completes the Ship Breaker trilogy by continuing the sage of Tool, the half man-half beast or augment created by General Caroa. The Ship Breaker series has offered readers the opportunity to consider several contemporary issues such as the use of child soldiers in war, the global influence of large corporations and the potentially destabilizing effects of catastrophic global climate change. 

In Tool of War the  issue of genetic manipulation of embryos in which human embryos are grossly modified using various animal DNA is considered. In the novel, such creatures are called "augments" of which there are many types (for example gorilla-dominant augments) and are used as combat soldiers and slaves, although society doesn't regard them as such. They do the grunt work in the post-apocalyptic society of the series. "They were everywhere: helping ships off-load freight, hauling strong boxes of cash for merchant transfers, muscling clear paths for corporate princesses. The augments stood sentry outside the embassies of the trading companies, and knelt in temples alongside humans..." In the dystopian world of Tool of War both humans and augments have been conditioned to treat one another a certain way with humans believing they are completely under control and the augments genetically altered and conditioned to be loyal unto death. That is until General Caroa was tasked to create a "better" augment.

Caroa designed, bred and trained Tool because battles with military augments were often ending in stalemates. So under the direction of Mercier, new, magnificent warriors, "Stronger, better, smarter, faster." were developed. "We needed creatures that were hypercompetent. Natural engines of strategy, tactics, learning, violence, stamina, fearlessness. Tolerant of poisons and chemical attacks. Resistant to fire and cold and fear and pain..." One of the best was an augment Caroa named Blood but who also goes by other names, Karta-Kul and Tool. Unlike previous iterations of augments, Tool has the ability to break from his conditioning to be loyal and he also has the ability to influence other augments to renege on their conditioning. Caroa recognizes the danger; the augments could then begin to turn on humanity.

General Caroa reveals to Analyst Jones that Tool has already turned on him once. Jones doesn't believe this because "Augments are obedient! They can't break free of that! They pine and die without their masters. Everyone knows---" But Caroa states, "What if everything we know is wrong?...Think, Jones, of all the augments on the Annapurna right now. Our incorruptible, fearless Fast Attack Claws and Fists. Imagine all that loyalty. Gone." As Caroa tells Jones about Tool,  "If our friend recovers sufficiently, I fear that we will bear witness to humanity's extinction."  However, at this point, Caroa notes that Tool "...is not operating as he should...He has capacities that he is not using, and I don't know why. Is it a ruse? Some trick? Or maybe he's lost the skill?"

Unfortunately for General Caroa and the Annapurna, Tool is able to tap into his abilities. As he begins to recover from his injuries, Tool suspects "Something his creators had done to him, to ensure control." is preventing him from accessing his strength. "Tool felt new blood surging through the fibers of his muscles, filling him with strength. But still it was walled off from him, as if thick sea ice covered the ocean of his capabilities, and he was left peering through to it, knowing the power that lurked beneath the surface, but unable to chip through to its depths. Something held him back from using his true strength." 

However, Tool begins to rebel against his conditioning but he finds it difficult to overcome his genes and conditioning. His inner conflict becomes the main theme of this novel. When he is attacked in Seascape, Tool fights his intense desire to surrender. " Tool was seized with a powerful urge to surrender...He could actually feel his muscles fighting to make him surrender...As if he were possessed by the will of his masters." He succeeds but his struggle costs his human friends their lives. He rescues Mahalia and tells her, "There will be no ore running, or hiding. I have run from Mercier for years...Now I will hunt, as I was always meant to. Now I will war, as I was designed to."  Mahalia questions if Tool will be able to overcome the conditioning bred into him, despite Tool's assertions that he will not succumb again.

In Seascape, Tool begins to see the augments as they really are, as slaves."They lived among humans as slaves, and thought of themselves as anything but. Disgusting that they did not see themselves for what they were." Jayant Patel, Nita's father insists that Tool is property and that since he is owned by Mercier he needs to be returned. Tool however refuses to comply and demonstrates why Mercier fears him - he is able to resist his training and is capable of influencing other augments to do the same. "My creators do not fear my individual rebellion. They fear the uprising that I will inevitably lead." This suggests that Tool is determined to lead the augments in an uprising.

How augments are seen by humans in this post-apocalyptic world is revealed in a conversation between Nailer and Nita. Nailer tells Nita that Tool is unlike other augments, because he views humans as people, "Not masters. Not owners. Just people." However Nita realizes that humans do not view augments the same way. "...You treat your augments well, but they aren't people. And they don't ask to be treated just like people. They don't demand things the way people demand things..." This is what makes Tool different.

After the situation between Global Patel and Mercier is resolved, Nita's views regarding the augments change. Designed and trained to do tasks that normal humans could not, Nita and her fellow humans never gave the augments a second thought. "Now she couldn't help feeling there was something wrong with the very language used to describe augments. Words like ownership came easily when a creature was grown from handpicked cells, developed  in a creche, and purchase from a selection of other augments." She notes that despite their animal characteristics, they feel loss and success and she acknowledges they are people. This leads her to agree to help Tool.

Tool knows he will never be at peace unless he destroys Caroa. Tool's final confrontation with Caroa is filled with uncertainty as Tool struggles between his conditioning, his love for Caroa and his desire to be free. It is graphic and brutal. But when that is accomplished, Tool feels the weight of Caroa's death and he admits to himself, "The killing of Caroa had not been easy on his mind." In many ways Tool, half-man, half-beast, is more human than Caroa and those who created him. He spares Jones, realizing that like him, she is struggling to survive, that she is a flawed creature too, and to free Mahalia, Ocho and the others from the Raker. He is by far the most interesting character in this series, and evolved into the focus of the novels.

Tool of War is a brutal telling of the cat and mouse game between General Caroa and Tool. It's an unrelenting dark story with no comic relief. Yet the novel ends on a hopeful note. Does Tool lead his rebellion against humanity? We don't know and aren't told in the Epilogue. The title of the novel is a double entendre: referring to both Tool by name but also by his function as a war weapon.

Bacigalupi, brings back several characters from the first book, Shipbreaker. Nailer Lopez, now an engineer on a tanker, is shocked to once again encounter Tool. Tool who helped Nailer, is satisfied to see that he has grown into a strong, assured young human as has his friend Nita Patel, the rich girl he saved in Ship Breaker. Although they have changed much, Tool places his hope in them.

Tool of War offers a thrilling conclusion to the Ship Breaker series. Bacigalupi is a master storyteller who does not disappoint!

Book Details:

Tool of War by Paolo Bacigalupi
New York: Little, Brown and Company  2017
373 pp.

Replica by Lauren Oliver

Replica is Lauren Oliver's newest young adult offering. The novel is described as a "flip book" with two stories that can be read either separately or interchangeably, one or multiple chapters at a time.

GEMMA
Sixteen year old Gemma Ives lives in a beautiful mansion in North Carolina with her mom, Kristina and her father Geoffrey who co-founded the sixth largest pharmaceutical company, Fine & Ives. Gemma's health has never been good. She's overweight and because of her numerous health issues she's not allowed to participate in gym. Her best friend is April Ruiz, a dark haired beauty.  Both April and Gemma have overly protective parents.  Gemma had resigned herself to spending spring break at home but April managed to convince both their parents to allow them to drive to Bowling Springs, Florida where April's grandparents lived. They plan to leave on Saturday April 19.

When Gemma arrives home from school on the Friday she finds the police at her house investigating a threatening act of vandalism in which a Frankenstein mask was thrown through a window and a note stating "your sick your a monster you deserve to die"  Gemma believes the perpetrator of this was mean girl Chloe DeWitt however she overhears her father and mother talking about the break-in that evening. Her father insists that this is a message for him. From their conversation, Gemma learns that there was a breach at Haven and that "one of them escaped". Although her father believes "it won't live. No way it can live." he is concerned he will be in serious trouble if what is going on at Haven is discovered. That's because he knew what Saperstein was doing with the new funding even though he left the pharmaceutical company, Fine and Ives that he helped found. Gemma has no idea what her parents are discussing but what happened ends up affecting her spring break plans. Because Bowling Springs is only fifty miles from Haven, Gemma's parents decide to pull her from her spring break trip.

Gemma is completely desolate at losing her chance to spend the break with April. On her third day into break she is accosted by a strange man who seems vaguely familiar to her,  who knows her name and who questions her about Haven. She is able to get away and goes into the Quick-Mart where a classmate, Pete Rogers works, to call her mother.

That night, Gemma begins researching into Haven, Dr. Saperstein and her father's former company Fine & Ives. She learns the Haven Institute is a research facility located on Spruce Island in Florida, founded by Richard Haven. Haven died in a car accident the year Gemma was born and was replaced by Dr. Mark Saperstein whom Gemma's father knew. She also discovers that her father's company Fine & Ives Pharmaceuticals had contracted Haven to undertake the company's research but this was years after her father left the company over the direction it was taking. What interests Gemma is the conspiracy websites, specifically HavenFiles.com by Jacob Witz. Witz had tracked down a "Nurse M" who worked at Haven but before he could interview her she was found dead from suicide.

Pete Rogers shows up at Gemma's home that evening to return her change and for a tour of her palatial home. When he mentions that he's leaving for Florida in the morning, Gemma decides that she needs to get to Florida and to Spruce Island to learn what she can about Haven Institute.  Pete agrees to take her and the next morning, Gemma quietly leaves her home and the two drive to Florida. On the way down they learn there has been an explosion off Barrel Key and fire burning out of control on Spruce Island. Pete realizes this is where Gemma is planning to go. 

When Gemma arrives in Barrel Key,  Haven is on fire and a huge demonstration is occurring. She manages to convince Pete to drop her off and Gemma finds a way down to the beach. It is here she meets Jake Witz who tells her he can get her much closer to Haven. He indicates the none of the staff at Haven will talk about what goes on there, except for Nurse M. After spending hours kayaking through the marsh, they hear voices and hide in the mangrove trees. Can Gemma figure out what's really going on at Haven and what her connection is to the facility?

LYRA

Lyra lives in the Haven Institute. Demonstrators on the shores of Barrel Key can often be heard chanting and calling them demons and monsters and Lyra believes they are probably right. She awakens one night to the power going off and the nurses coming to check their room to ensure they are all present. There is a Code Black which means that someone has escaped and Lyra learns later on that is is number 72. 

To Lyra there are two kinds of humans: "natural-born humans" and "human models, males and females made in the laboratory, transferred to the surrogate birthers who lived in the barracks." These latter humans are clones, but at Haven they are called replicas. Each replica is referred to by a model and a number.  Lyra and the other replicas believed the numbers were their names but Dr. O'Donnell  named the replicas after different constellations and she also taught Lyra how to read. One of the replicas named by Dr. O'Donnell is number six who is called Cassiopeia. Eventually, Dr. O'Donnell left Haven because Dr. Saperstein was unhappy with the way she helped the replicas.

Replicas often have serious medical problems such as organ failure. Lyra has been experiencing nausea and vomiting but when she's examined by Nurse Swineherd she doesn't tell her about this. Eventually Lyra's vomiting is discovered and she is taken to the hospital which she calls the Box. Later that night when Lyra feels nauseous she decides to go outside to vomit. When she returns she finds Cassiopeia in an altercation with Dr. Saperstein and the nurses who have discovered she has been hiding objects in her mattress. The next day Lyra decides to hide her special belongings on the north part of the island and it is there she discovers the missing male number 72. It is a this point that there is a huge explosion at Haven. Three bombs are detonated at the facility utterly destroying it. Fleeing, Lyra discovers a badly wounded Cassiopeia.  Dragging Cassiopeia, Lyra and 72 hide in the marsh while soldiers search for survivors. However, Cassiopeia dies and Lyra and 72 are forced to leave her as the guards continue to search for the missing replicas. As they hide in the reeds Lyra and 72 meet two people - another boy and girl and are confronted with an astonishing reality. How can this be and what is the connection of the girl who looks like Cassiopeia to Haven?

Discussion

Replica is marketed as a "flip book" with two separate stories titled Gemma and Lyra that can be read either in alternating chapters or completely separately. I recommend reading these two intertwined stories in alternating chapters, something the book design makes awkward. Replica would have been written in alternating narratives as readers would want to read both stories anyways.

Replica is an interesting story that deals with human cloning and a young girl's attempt to uncover the mystery that involves her father and her past. What she uncovers is a mystery that involves three girls: Gemma, Cassiopeia and Lyra and the revelation that things are not as they seem.

**spoilers**

Gemma and Jake determine that Haven has been experimenting with prions which are an infectious agent composed of protein. Some prions have the ability to replicate by causing properly folded proteins to change into misfolded proteins and therefore lose their functionality. When prions spread throughout the body, usually in the central nervous system, in this manner,  the result is prion disease.  Prion disease develops "when a person or animal ingests the infected tissue, such as a person eating meat from an infected animal" and develops "mad cow disease". Lyra tells Jake and Gemma that the replicas are filled prions and the doctors were always testing their bodies for prion penetration. Jake's internet searches indicate that Dr. Saperstein considers prions as a potential biological warfare agent. Prion disease which is untreatable and fatal could be used to disable terrorist cells. Jake tells Gemma "they've been using the replicas to make prions. They've been growing the disease inside them" This discovery makes Lyra feel anger because she did not ask to be made. Trying to understand and wanting to know the truth however, has given Lyra a purpose in her life. 

Both Gemma and Lyra uncover the shocking truth of their identities. Gemma believes she is a human with a mother and a father while Lyra believes she is a clone or to use the term in the novel, a replica. However, Gemma's efforts to uncover the truth behind Haven and her family's connection to the mysterious facility reveal a completely different reality. The truth is revealed when they meet up with Rick Harliss the man who attempted to grab Gemma near her home. He holds the missing pieces to the puzzle.

Harliss who at one time worked around the Ives's home, reveals to Gemma that her parents lost a baby girl named Emma before she was born. Around this time his wife Aimee had a baby girl named Brandy-Nicole and six months after Brandy's birth, Gemma showed up at the Ives home. Aimee noticed that the new baby looked identical  and that's when Harliss who was beginning to understand what was going on at Haven,  realized that Geoffrey Ives had his dead daughter cloned. Gemma is a replica of the Ives first child, Emma. Harliss also reveals that while he was in de-tox his ex-wife sold Brandy-Nicole but to whom he has no idea. With the information Harliss has given them Gemma realizes that Dr. Saperstein began taking kids whose parents would likely not miss them to use as experimental subjects at Haven when funding became scarce. "...if they couldn't afford to keep making them...Well, he took children he thought wouldn't be missed. He used them to test on. Just long enough to get the money he needed." Based on what Harliss tells her about his daughter, Gemma also realizes that Brandy-Nicole was one of those children and that Lyra is Harliss's missing daughter.  So in fact Gemma is a replica and Lyra is not. Gemma also realizes that her being a clone explains the source of all her health problems.

Learning their true identities is a shock for both Gemma and Lyra. Gemma is horrified. "She was a freak and a monster. There was no doubt about that now." However Pete makes her understand that how she was created does not matter to him as he feels she is "perfect". Knowing that she is replica does not change how he feels about her.  Lyra too is stunned to learn her true origin. She has a father and she's not sure she wants one. Neither Lyra nor 72 have any concept of what a family is nor what it means to love.  Lyra's concept of a mother is only what's she's experienced at Haven. "Her idea of mother looked much like the nurses and the Haven staff. Mother was someone to feed and clothe you and make sure you took your medicines." Her feelings about a father are equally confused. "She didn't want a Father. She had never even known what a father did, had never completely understood why fathers were necessary." Even the fact that she was naturally conceived leaves her confused. "...never had she truly thought about being a person, natural-born, exploded into being by chance." "She didn't want love, not from a stranger, not from a father. She was a replica." When Caelum turns away from Lyra because he is a clone and she is not, she like Pete did with Gemma, tells him that it doesn't matter because they each chose the other unconditionally.

In this way, Replica explores how modern biotechnology has influenced how we think about ourselves and what makes us human and how others might view those made with those technologies. It considers how modern technologies undertaken purely for the pursuit of knowledge without considering the ethical issues involved can be dehumanizing and immoral.  While Oliver considers on a personal level how clones and natural born humans might view one another she also touches on how doctors and researchers might view clones and human experimentation too. For example at Haven the scientists and nurses and doctors do not consider the replicas to be persons but research subjects with no rights. By creating entire batches that die, such as the yellow batch, they develop a cavalier attitude towards human life. Their attitudes are reflected in how Lyra views herself.

Lyra does not consider herself a human person because this is what she's been told. "But that's what they were: bodies. Human and yet not people. She hadn't so far been able to figure out why. She looked, she thought, like a normal person. So did the other female replicas. They'd been made from normal people, and even birthed from them." Likewise the staff at Haven also do not consider 72, Lyra or Cassiopeia to be persons either, often referring to them by the pronoun, "it".  Lyra believes there is something substantially different, "some invisible quality"  between herself and normal humans. Lyra hates "that she could look like a human, and yet she was not human, and they could tell."

When Gemma and Lyra meet neither can understand the other. Because Gemma looks like Cassiopeia, Lyra assumes (correctly as it turns out) someone "made" her and that she is a replica and that Gemma does not know she is a clone. Gemma and Jake's kindness towards Lyra confuse her especially when Gemma identifies Lyra and 72 as "people". "We're not people," Lyra said. "You said, 'These poor people have been through god knows what.' But we're replicas. God didn't make us. Dr. Saperstein did. He's our god."

Lyra's view of her body is not healthy either. She hasn't considered the beauty of the human body which she saw only as parts. "She'd never noticed how beautiful bodies could be. She'd thought of them only as parts, machine components that serviced a whole." 72 also has a distorted view of his body. He's only ever been called by a number and he admits that when he was a child he thought he might be an animal.

Oliver repeatedly references God as a theme in her novel. Lyra refers to Dr. Saperstein on more than one occasion as god even sometimes as a God with a sneer on his face. When Lyra had seen an alligator near the grounds at Haven, she thinks about how God made this beast but not her. "God made that creature, that monster with a taste for blood, and loved it. But he had not made her."  To Lyra, being made by a loving God matters. In her narrative, Gemma notes how beautiful one of her classmates Chloe is compared to herself and thinks, "Like she had been formed by a god with an eye for detail, whereas Gemma had been slapped together haphazardly by a drunk." The implication is that man playing god in creating human beings in a lab is messy and haphazard in contrast to when God creates, he does it with beauty and perfection.

There's also a hint in the novel that perhaps there was more than just cloning going on at Haven when Lyra remembers seeing the rats in their cages with their "strangely human fingers." 


Overall Replica is a well written novel that holds reader's interest with its numerous twists and action sequences. Replica is the first book in Lauren Oliver's newest series. The next book will be titled Simulation which the author has stated will be more complicated.

Book Details:

Replica by Lauren Oliver (Laura Schechter)
New York: HarperCollins Children's Books     2016
519 pp.