The Ego Cluster
Robert Cole
Ethan has discovered genes that seem to create the basis of the human Ego, and so could help change the world for the better. Unfortunately, being able to edit the Ego isn’t likely to make the company he works for money, so the project is abandoned. Ethan is determined that his research is worth something more, and he is willing to give up everything to do it.
Bad guys never give up do they? This novel offers a satisfying plot with twists that I certainly didn’t see coming. Bam! Nothing like having sociopaths on the loose. Even if some successful scientists are likely also sociopaths. The ultimate question is whether removing those genes will be sustainable and what might happen next.
Some people have tagged this as science fiction, but it’s really not the case. It’s more future fiction or an apocalyptical future. The things that are happening in this novel? It’s happening now, albeit not in such a structured or successful way. But gene editing will get there, and it’s not unlikely that we will discover genes that are responsible for how humans interact with each other (although it will probably be more than 6).
I had a definite advantage having a science background. There’s a lot of jargon here for you to absorb, but it is absolutely worthwhile. If you enjoyed Sapient for the science, you will love this novel. If you enjoyed Ken Kroes novels for their environmental awareness, this novel is going to be for you as well.
Let me say that I was divided between giving this novel 4 or 5 stars. Some of the text didn’t flow smoothly for me in the beginning, and some of the interactions were messy. This problem was probably heightened for me by the fact that I was reading an ebook, never my first choice. Let me say now that I would buy a paperback version of this novel, so I’m thinking I’d better go with 5 stars.
This sounds like a really different (in a very good way) kind of read. I don’t know if I would have picked it up on my own, but you did make it sound like one that really pays off for trying. I like the sciency-apocalyptical-future fiction/philisophical slant on whether just because we can do something if we really should do it slant it seems to have. On the list it goes.
Yes, I think it would take non-science types a bit to get into, but the concepts behind it make it worth it. The author is a super nice guy too!