The Lab

 

A gateway drug to hard science fiction or a modernized version of old pulps? Read it and you decide.

In “The Lab“, it's an evil future, and 9 billion people live in a walled city, ruled over by an immoral corporation called ChaoSonic. There's no government and mad scientists are literally everywhere. You can't function in society without ID cards and other registrations, which allow ChaoSonic to track your movements. The main character, Six Of Hearts, is an agent of the Deck, a secret vigilante organization that fights an array of evildoers. (And every member of the Deck is a playing card. The Hearts are the agents, and the other suits perform other functions. But we pretty much only see the Hearts).

However, Six is special…because he's the product of a genetic experiment that spliced human and lizard DNA into a bird embryo. Crazy huh?

The book lacks in character development, although Six does struggle a bit with the question of whether he's human. But that's not why you want to read this book. You read it to watch Six get into and out of a ton of scrapes, and because the world-building is pretty interesting in parts. When it does slow down, the book fixates on the implications of various schemes to introduce armies of killer robots, or hordes of genetically enhanced super-soldiers. Six is always doing calculations in his head, including his rate of descent when he's dropped off the latest burning building. And he thinks a fair bit about Descartes and other classic philosophers. It's a book that makes being smart seem cool and awesome, because Six usually uses his brain to escape from his various mishaps…and it’s full of widescreen craziness.

The Epilogue and many unanswered questions that surround these and other characters suggest that a sequel, if not a series, is planned…a good sci-fi read for your spare time.

Peace, DAG!

PS...on a different note, I am going to The Lab in Provo tonight. Streetwalker!