One bright morning in Washington, DC, the US president learns of a terrifying new threat to national security. Soon afterwards, American mercenary Jonathan Yeager is asked to lead a team into the Congo to eliminate a mysterious enemy - a job w hich will help him pay for treatment for his dying son.
But when they reach Africa, the threat turns out to be a three-year-old child named Akili : the next step in human evolution. T he soldiers are under olrders to kill the boy before his full potential can be realised. Yet Akili's advance knowledge might be the only hope Yeager has to save his son's life...
With time running out to choose a side, Yeager must decide whether to follow his orders or to save a creature who may not be as harmless or innocent as he appears. Because Akili is already the smatest being on the planet, with the power to either save humanity... or destroy it.
It's not the book's fault, it's mine : if I had informed myself better, I would have known that it wasn't for me. On the other hand, I didn't want to know too much before reading it. I think it's been gathering dust on my shelf for years for a reason...
When I first heard about this novel years ago, I saw delighted reviews everywhere (which are probably deserved). Because it was written by a Japanese author, and because of the subject of the book, I expected some kind of moral dilemma about the fact of killing a child, from a different species or not, of killing the only (the first ?) representative a new species, the moral weight, the right to alter evolution for the sake of keeping one's way of life, etc. I expected something more Japanese, in other words.
But I found myself with a written action film : soldiers/mercenaries, president of the US, a clueless scientist who does things he has been told not to do and been given a mission too big for his capacities. I read a hundred pages and was still waiting for something to happen that would be out of the ordinary, I didn't feel like reading this type of books at this time : it's not the kind of films I like to watch, so it makes sense that I wouldn't read this type of book either.
So, sorry, my bad. It wasn't for me, but you might probably like it.
LOL, I've made that mistake before when I wasn't paying attention to descriptions and reviews about a book. I vaguely remember this one being reviewed and it caught my interest because of the sci-fi element, but the way you describe it makes me think I'd get impatient and frustrated, too.
ReplyDeleteFor a hundred pages, I felt like watching a basic action movie with not much happening, I wanted the sci-fi !!
Deleteyour review made me curious. It does sound complicated, and quite long, so I think I will pass on that one as well.
ReplyDeleteApparently got famous with Thirteen Steps. I can't find an English translation, but it doe sexist in French, lucky us: Treize Marches: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30279058-treize-marches. ça parait nettement mieux si tu veux redonner une chance à cet auteur ;-)
Effectivement, ça a l'air d'un thriller rondement mené - parfait pour une adaptation cinématographique, là aussi ! Merci pour le lien ;)
DeleteI think I am like you in that the premise of the book sounds really good, but I don't go in for the soldiers, etc so will probably give this one a skip.
ReplyDeleteIt really felt like I was reading an elaborate scenartio for an action movie !
DeleteI have to say that I really like the sound and premise of the book but also that if I went into the book without knowing anything, I would have had the same expectation you did. But that said, I usually don't read books like these but I watch Star Trek episodes focused on issues as in this book, lol! I'm conflicted.
ReplyDeleteMaybe at another time, I would have appreciated it, probably - maybe if I'd watched an afaptation. But now, in my Japanese challenge, I expected something else. And well, Star Trek can't go wrong, lol ;)
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