Order TRANSHUMAN here
(also reviewed)
Order MARS here
The very last time I went on a binge with my friend Mikey, it didn't go so well. His life was a mess, his girlriend was getting fed up with his insecure ass and he picked a fight with everybody and everything, even the lampposts. It didn't matter how many times I politely asked him to shut the fuck up, the only ways out of this fateful night for him were death, the backseat of a cop car or if I mercifully punched him out. I won't tell you how this ends, but let's just say Mikey and I didn't go out drinking afterwards. I'm sure it happened to you too.
I remembered that night out with Mikey when I read TRANSHUMAN, by Ben Bova, because it felt like something embarrassing I couldn't stop even if I wanted to. Don't get me wrong, I think several of Bova's books are science fiction classics and I'm aware he's a tremendously skilled writer, but TRANSHUMAN is just not a successful novel. Even worse, I feel like it's not even trying to be successful, like my friend Mikey was not really hitting on some girls during our last binge together.
TRANSHUMAN is the story of Luke Abramson, a cellular biologist geezer trying to beat the rare form of brain cancer that's threatening his granddaughter Angela's life. Everybody has pretty much thrown the towel on the little girl, who is entering the terminal stage of her disease. Everybody, except Luke, who wants to try a revolutionary form of treatment on her, which he successfully attempted on mice before. Because he is insane. Nobody in their right mind is going to let Ol' Luke experiment on an eight year old (dying or not), so what is the next logical thing for grandpa to do? Of course, kidnapping his granddaughter without any idea of which facility is going to let him to his work without asking questions.
If this synopsis gave you the impression that TRANSHUMAN is some kind of Cronenberg-ian body horror novel, you couldn't be any more wrong. My apologies for misleading you. It's not a science fiction novel like most of Ben Bova's work either. It's not the medical thriller promised on the back cover. What I believe TRANSHUMAN to be is a case of the dreaded drawer novel, one of these books that should never see the light of that, but that authors sometimes hurl at their publishing companies out of spite in order close out a contract. It might seem mean of me to say that, but I can't think of any other reason why this book exists.
TRANSHUMAN is not a science fiction novel because it's set in the exact same world we live in right now. The threat of progress is there, kind of, but it's not discussed on the page until page 280 I believe. TRANSHUMAN is not a medical thriller either, since it doesn't focus on medical issues either. All there is to it is the cast yapping the word "telomerase" over and over again, like it has the magic of an ancient rune. "Are you going to block her telomerase production? You're crazy!'' or ''Are you boosting your own telomerase? You're crazy, you're going to give yourself cancer.'' Basic stuff like that. There is no medical problematic per se until a government representative character coming straight from the left field start questioning the backlash of Luke Abramson's cancer study. That guy popped in the novel a little like this:
TRANSHUMAN is not a science fiction novel because it's set in the exact same world we live in right now. The threat of progress is there, kind of, but it's not discussed on the page until page 280 I believe. TRANSHUMAN is not a medical thriller either, since it doesn't focus on medical issues either. All there is to it is the cast yapping the word "telomerase" over and over again, like it has the magic of an ancient rune. "Are you going to block her telomerase production? You're crazy!'' or ''Are you boosting your own telomerase? You're crazy, you're going to give yourself cancer.'' Basic stuff like that. There is no medical problematic per se until a government representative character coming straight from the left field start questioning the backlash of Luke Abramson's cancer study. That guy popped in the novel a little like this:
Metaphor level = master. Thank you!
If the point of your novel is brought about 80% in, you have to seriously consider rewriting that novel. That's what I would say to a first time novelist anyway. It's too bad because TRANSHUMAN is a couple thing away from being a good, Bova-esque novel. It needs a freakin' medical problematic and more of that paranoid government angle. What there is instead is a hollow airport thriller with no real science fiction or scientific aspect to it. Only a grandfather armed with the superpower of cellular biology, looking to play Spiderman for his granddaughter. It's a frustrating book to read if you're a Ben Bova fan.
There you go, I said it: TRANSHUMAN is not very good, but I've read it anyway so you don't have to. It still has the trademark pleasant, easy-reading style of Ben Bova, but it's all style and no substance, this time. It wouldn't feel so frustrating if the author didn't get us used to such engaging content in the past. I don't see anyone who would enjoy this book outside of grandfathers who want to feel empowered. Don't judge Ben Bova by this book, he's written a lot better. In fact, you should skip this one and go right for the science fiction stuff. It's what I'm going back to anyway. This blog's not done with Ben Bova, yet. This is just an insignificant mishap in an otherwise great career.