Tuesday, August 21, 2007

The Possibility of an Island --kookiejar's review


It is the distant future and humans have more or less (through war, famine and apathy) died out. The only hope for mankind is the 150 clones who have been charged with keeping the story of our lives alive.

Daniel1 is a comedy writer in our present day who feels doomed by his fast approaching golden years. He has a much younger girlfriend who hasn't told anyone (including her sister) of their relationship. Daniel1 asks her why...

"She replied after a few minutes reflection, in a pensive voice: 'I think she is going to find you too old...' Yes, that was it, the moment she said it I knew it was true, and the revelation caused me no surprise, it was like the echo of a dull, not unexpected shock. The age difference was the last taboo... In the modern world you could be a swinger, bi, trans, zoo, into S & M, but it was forbidden to be old."

Daniel1, feeling more and more despondant takes up with a cult called the Elohim who promise everlasting life. They are correct to a point. They have figured out how to clone humans. These clones are then charged to study the lives of the clones who preceeded them.

The novel is told from the point of view of Daniel25 as he looks at not only his own life, but the life of the original Daniel.

As I was reading, questions kept popping up, the hows and why kept me guessing. I was sure there would be no concrete answers but to my delight there were. Every question was answered to my satisfaction and the final two chapters made me glad I finished this challenging, and at times frustrating novel.

You don't need to enjoy science fiction to like this, but I must warn you that there is lots of (at times) graphic and gratuitous sex that will turn off certain readers.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That actually sounds like an intriguing premise. I'll have to pick it up. And you realize that it's all these reviews that's killing my TBR challenge, don't you? I've read something like 3 books all year that I own.

raidergirl3 said...

This does sound interesting. Thanks for the review

kookie said...

Carrie, I'm falling behind too. I'd be very interested to hear what you think of this, should you read it.

Raidergirl, thank you.

Dewey said...

This is on my list for this challenge, too, and I'm looking forward to it more after your review. And no, NOT because of the sex!