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Brain Child
David Chance, the unknowing offspring of a long-forgotten experiment that produced genetically engineered child geniuses, learns terrible secrets about his own conception and discovers the horrifying course that human history is taking.
298 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 1991
7 people are currently reading
209 people want to read
About the author
George Turner
214 books34 followersGeorge Turner was born and educated in Melbourne. He served in the Australian Imperial Forces during the Second World War.
Prior to writing science fiction, he had a well established reputation as mainstream literary fiction writer, his most productive period being from 1959 to 1967, during which he published five novels. Over a decade after his previous publication of a full length work of fiction, he published his first science fiction novel, 'Beloved Son' (1978).
George Turner was named as a Guest of Honor for Aussiecon Three, the 1999 World Science Fiction Convention held in Melbourne, but died before the event.
Prior to writing science fiction, he had a well established reputation as mainstream literary fiction writer, his most productive period being from 1959 to 1967, during which he published five novels. Over a decade after his previous publication of a full length work of fiction, he published his first science fiction novel, 'Beloved Son' (1978).
George Turner was named as a Guest of Honor for Aussiecon Three, the 1999 World Science Fiction Convention held in Melbourne, but died before the event.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 20, 2014
Hard to say how many times I"ve read this book - I would guess this was my 7th or 8th reread of the novel, but possibly more, though first after the 4 year intensive sff reading/reviewing so I was curious how it will stand versus more modern sff - and the book still stands tall so to speak deserving a place on my all time favorite lists (that also covers the rest of the near-future Australia sequence of George Turner comprising Destiny Makers, Drowning Towers, Genetic Soldier and the posthumous Down There in Darkness); the book is a sort of retro-future Australia of the 2040's with climate change, overpopulation and no Internet, but the power of the narrative, the extraordinarily compelling style of the author, the superbly drawn characters and the twists and turns of the story spiced with a few nuggets of eternal wisdom (power corrupts, who do you trust to watch the watchers etc) make this a top-top sfnal novel.
The story seems straightforward - in 2002 the government created super-babies of which 3 (quadruplet and related in-between like sort of cousins) groups of two girls, two boys A, B, C survived; group A turned to be good at science and group B at art but outside a few social dysfunctions they were within normal human parameters and were released at 18, while now in the 2040's they are reclusive and working for the government in group A case and just reclusive in group B case.
David Chance, young upcoming journalist raised into an upscale orphanage (under the population laws extra children born without permits become charge of the state and are raised in orphanages and of course the rich people "indiscretions" get better orphanages...) gets summoned by Arthur Hazard (of group A, not to speak of the pun of the surnames plus the letter D) who declares that he is his father (not by intention as he was experimenting with sex when 18, a girl wanted to keep hold of him etc... and David did not get aborted as the girl concealed her pregnancy etc...also David is only known child of the groups) and that David has to undertake the mission he was raised for and subtly influenced from young age when his existence became known to Arthur and the government (so he became journalist etc)....
After a bit of recriminations and feeling upset, David is hooked on the mission and so the adventure starts...
And the mission - well remember group C; they were true posthumans, super-powerful, unknowable and the humans in charge got scared and kept them isolated, but at age 18 one of them, Conrad escaped to unknown hereabouts; returning a few months later he conferred with his group - nobody knows what about since once Conrad returned his group which until them accepted the humans surveillance and later harsh interrogation up to torture, now isolated itself and accepted only one nurse as point of contact - and then they committed suicide (they just stopped living), but Conrad tantalizingly mentioned a "legacy' to the nurse and only a few like Armstrong, the scummy politician that kept that nurse on his private payroll and the Hazards knew about that...
Said legacy may have to do with human immortality or at least control of DNA and genetics, while David is also nudged to find out what happened to Conrad in his months away and why group C committed suicide on return...
Just awesome and with so many twists and turns and a "jaw breaking" denouement that is still powerful on the 8th reading or so
All George Turner's books mentioned above in this sequence are superb, still relevant and highly readable though Brain Child is still the one that stayed with me the most
The story seems straightforward - in 2002 the government created super-babies of which 3 (quadruplet and related in-between like sort of cousins) groups of two girls, two boys A, B, C survived; group A turned to be good at science and group B at art but outside a few social dysfunctions they were within normal human parameters and were released at 18, while now in the 2040's they are reclusive and working for the government in group A case and just reclusive in group B case.
David Chance, young upcoming journalist raised into an upscale orphanage (under the population laws extra children born without permits become charge of the state and are raised in orphanages and of course the rich people "indiscretions" get better orphanages...) gets summoned by Arthur Hazard (of group A, not to speak of the pun of the surnames plus the letter D) who declares that he is his father (not by intention as he was experimenting with sex when 18, a girl wanted to keep hold of him etc... and David did not get aborted as the girl concealed her pregnancy etc...also David is only known child of the groups) and that David has to undertake the mission he was raised for and subtly influenced from young age when his existence became known to Arthur and the government (so he became journalist etc)....
After a bit of recriminations and feeling upset, David is hooked on the mission and so the adventure starts...
And the mission - well remember group C; they were true posthumans, super-powerful, unknowable and the humans in charge got scared and kept them isolated, but at age 18 one of them, Conrad escaped to unknown hereabouts; returning a few months later he conferred with his group - nobody knows what about since once Conrad returned his group which until them accepted the humans surveillance and later harsh interrogation up to torture, now isolated itself and accepted only one nurse as point of contact - and then they committed suicide (they just stopped living), but Conrad tantalizingly mentioned a "legacy' to the nurse and only a few like Armstrong, the scummy politician that kept that nurse on his private payroll and the Hazards knew about that...
Said legacy may have to do with human immortality or at least control of DNA and genetics, while David is also nudged to find out what happened to Conrad in his months away and why group C committed suicide on return...
Just awesome and with so many twists and turns and a "jaw breaking" denouement that is still powerful on the 8th reading or so
All George Turner's books mentioned above in this sequence are superb, still relevant and highly readable though Brain Child is still the one that stayed with me the most
March 2, 2022
Another science fiction stunner from Turner, whose works seemed to be noticed a bit in the USA in the early 1990s (a decade after their original Australian publications) but have become forgotten again. It's surprising, given his compelling plotting and his ability to inject serious intellectual ideas into novels that read like thrillers you just cannot put down. Astonishing imagination, too. This particular opus could easily have fallen into sentimentality but doesn't even come close; a lesser author would have handled this material very differently, I imagine. And like (most of) his other science fiction novels, the plot is labyrinthine and completely unpredictable, yet never convoluted or unbelievable. This is one of George Turner's strongest works.
November 2, 2015
This is a somewhat underrated and overlooked science fiction novel, which is told in something of the mystery novel style.
The basic plot concerns a secretive program for breeding geneticly modified and mentally superior children, which after some initially promising successes failed under mysterious circumstances. The children from this program where divided into three groups: the 'A' group with advanced analytical skills, the 'B' group with advanced artistic skills, and the mysterious 'C' group. The protagonist of the story is the illegitimate child of one of the members of the 'A', who is charged by his hitherto unknown father with uncovering certain secrets which very quickly come to seem like they might best remain hidden.
As with any mystery novel, there are a number of interesting twists along the way that keeps the story gripping and the issues underlying the story are thoought provoking.
The basic plot concerns a secretive program for breeding geneticly modified and mentally superior children, which after some initially promising successes failed under mysterious circumstances. The children from this program where divided into three groups: the 'A' group with advanced analytical skills, the 'B' group with advanced artistic skills, and the mysterious 'C' group. The protagonist of the story is the illegitimate child of one of the members of the 'A', who is charged by his hitherto unknown father with uncovering certain secrets which very quickly come to seem like they might best remain hidden.
As with any mystery novel, there are a number of interesting twists along the way that keeps the story gripping and the issues underlying the story are thoought provoking.
March 3, 2019
George Turner's "Brain Child" is near-future techno-thriller set in Australia. There, because of the "Greenhouse Effect" (a 1990s term for global climate change), the Australian government has imposed its version of the Chinese one-child restriction. The state determines who can or cannot have babies. Those babies born outside of state approval are sent to state-run orphanages. The novel's protagonist-narrator, David Chance, is one such child. He seems on track for a normal life as an orphan who, at 25 years old, has a budding career as a journalist. Then, his father makes contact, and David's life becomes a nightmare. David's father is one of twelve people created decades before as the product of a secret government plan in bio-engineering geniuses. The children were divided into three groups - A, B, and C - where A group were geniuses in science and engineering, B group were geniuses in the arts, and C group were geniuses in general intelligence. The whole experiment went horribly wrong because C group became super intellects, so far beyond human intelligence that even as children they consider all humans as mere animals. David's A-group father, Arthur Hazard, persuades David to investigate the mystery of why, at 20 years old, all of C group committed suicide, and, more particularly, the whereabouts of the secret legacy of C-group child Conrad, otherwise known as Young Feller, who supposedly left behind the secret of bioengineering so grand that, in Conrad's words, it could turn dogs into gods. Thus, David plunges into the dark world of rich, retired politicians, state secrets, secret police, and the aloof indifference of his manipulative biological "family" of manufactured geniuses.
It's a reasonably well written story told by David 25 years after the events, with two interludes narrated by his mentor and stand-in psychological father, the secret agent Jonesey. There are also occasional bits, mostly early in the novel, when the people David interviews tell their stories from recordings David had made. These are not differentiated enough in style to distinguish their voices from David's or each other's. The narrative has some ham-fisted foreshadowing, of the "I was to learn otherwise" variety. The mystery David pursues is interesting enough in itself to warrant reading the book once. Turner's is a cautionary tale about recklessly experimenting on the human genome, and, fortunately, Turner never takes the "it's against nature" approach.
It's a reasonably well written story told by David 25 years after the events, with two interludes narrated by his mentor and stand-in psychological father, the secret agent Jonesey. There are also occasional bits, mostly early in the novel, when the people David interviews tell their stories from recordings David had made. These are not differentiated enough in style to distinguish their voices from David's or each other's. The narrative has some ham-fisted foreshadowing, of the "I was to learn otherwise" variety. The mystery David pursues is interesting enough in itself to warrant reading the book once. Turner's is a cautionary tale about recklessly experimenting on the human genome, and, fortunately, Turner never takes the "it's against nature" approach.
August 1, 2025
Brain Child by George Turner
A 1991 science fiction novel that explores the ethical and psychological consequences of genetic engineering and intelligence enhancement.
PROJECT IQ consisted of 3 groups of genetically engineered children. Each group with 2 boys and 2 females.
The genetic manipulation randomly created 3 distinct groups with enhanced intelligence:
Group A -technological geniuses,
Group B-Gifted artists
Group C- Hyper-intelligent
These groups all lacked a sense of inherent humanity and empathy
The novel introduces David Chance, an orphan groomed by the government to be a journalist, who discovers his own connection to Project IQ.
Manipulated by multiple characters, my favorite was Jonesy, David is thrust into a world of secrets and tasked with uncovering the "legacy" of Conrad, the leader of the hyper-intelligent Group C.
This “legacy” supposedly holds the key to immortality.
As David falls deeper into the mysteries of Project IQ, the novel delves into exploitation, abuses of power, and raises profound questions about the nature of humanity, the pursuit of knowledge, and the potential consequences of genetic manipulation.
The author's Australian background explains some of the unusual word choices and sentence structures. I particularly enjoyed the first and last thirds of the book, especially the unexpected twist at the end. However, the middle section was slow-paced, plodding, and challenging to get through, making the overall reading experience somewhat uneven. Despite this, it was still a decent read.
May 17, 2023
The first half of the book is nicely written. It convincingly captures the feel of a slightly seedy near future and manages to evoke a feeling of strangeness and mystery as David starts his investigation. If it had managed to keep this up it would have been a four or five star book.
However as the action starts to ramp up in the second half I felt that it became a fairly routine thriller, and it ends with the sort of cliched whodunnit reveal so beloved of Poirot. The big reveal of the legacy is, maybe not completely anticlimactic, but certainly less astonishing than the first half of the book promised.
It's not a terrible book, and I did enjoy reading it, but it's not a great book either. If you like the thriller/whodunnit end of the SF spectrum then I'd say give it a go.
However as the action starts to ramp up in the second half I felt that it became a fairly routine thriller, and it ends with the sort of cliched whodunnit reveal so beloved of Poirot. The big reveal of the legacy is, maybe not completely anticlimactic, but certainly less astonishing than the first half of the book promised.
It's not a terrible book, and I did enjoy reading it, but it's not a great book either. If you like the thriller/whodunnit end of the SF spectrum then I'd say give it a go.
March 10, 2018
This is probably my favorite science fiction novel. It has a page-turning plot, the fearsome intelligence of the 'C' group, a mysterious legacy that could change the world, and a number of manipulative people, all seen through the eyes of a young reporter.
We don't keep paper books any longer so I was glad to find a pdf version of this book at:
https://archive.org/details/BrainChil...
No Kindle or Torrent versions but the pdf looks pretty good.
We don't keep paper books any longer so I was glad to find a pdf version of this book at:
https://archive.org/details/BrainChil...
No Kindle or Torrent versions but the pdf looks pretty good.
June 15, 2018
There's probably a good 200-page book submerged in these 407 pages. This book suffers from tedious exposition, often in the form of transcripts of interviews by the protagonist and much of which does not advance the plot. (I am surprised at other readers' comments that the plot moved briskly.) The protagonist is bland and the other characters all unpleasant to varying degrees, which makes it doubly difficult to slog through to the end.
December 17, 2021
The writing, plot, and science are all terrible. It is also very bigoted. I thought this had to have been written at latest in the 70s I was stunned to see someone had agreed to publish this drivel in 1991.
May 18, 2020
Rereading Brain Child after many, many years, it still stands up. Turner may have taken some inspiration from Stapledon's Odd John.
November 2, 2011
review of
George Turner's Brain Child
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - November 2, 2011
I'm always looking for SF writers that I'm not familiar w/ who might be producing work outside of the series-w/-hero formula that many SF writers resort to, presumably for financial reasons. This one seemed promising - esp given that I'm also usually interested in titles that reference brains. &, indeed, I quite liked it - even though I only gave it a 3 star rating.
It took me awhile to realize that Turner's an Australian writer but his use of the words "gaol" & "ratbag" (a personal favorite) were dead giveaways - as was mention of previous parts of the bk having appeared in the Strange Attractors anthology edited by Australian Damien Broderick (you can see an interview w/ him conducted by myself & Ghanesh here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhiGt9...).
Brain Child's a coming-of-age story of sorts - one that's potentially lurid enuf to appeal to 'reality' tv talk show couch potatoes but rendered far, FAR more interesting by its basic premise:
The protagonist grows up in an orphanage & as he 'comes of age' is informed that he's the secret child of one of a group of genetically engineered people. Once this is revealed to him he becomes ensnared in a plethora of manipulative schemes all geared around uncovering a hidden history & potential fruits thereof.
Turner's telling of the story is fairly straightforward as far as writing goes. I've read that he was a "late-bloomer" as an SF writer - having not started writing SF until he was in his 60s. As such, Brain Child is the work of a 'mature' writer - he wd've been around 75 when it was published. In this case, I don't think the 'maturity' contributed any particular writing skill - instead there's a sortof 'world-weariness' that seems to be a main subtext here. The bk explores various types of corruption & naivité that I think are reasonably accurately presented here.
All in all, Brain Child is of the ilk of SF that I often seek out: critical observations of the present tense amplified thru an interesting possible future.
George Turner's Brain Child
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - November 2, 2011
I'm always looking for SF writers that I'm not familiar w/ who might be producing work outside of the series-w/-hero formula that many SF writers resort to, presumably for financial reasons. This one seemed promising - esp given that I'm also usually interested in titles that reference brains. &, indeed, I quite liked it - even though I only gave it a 3 star rating.
It took me awhile to realize that Turner's an Australian writer but his use of the words "gaol" & "ratbag" (a personal favorite) were dead giveaways - as was mention of previous parts of the bk having appeared in the Strange Attractors anthology edited by Australian Damien Broderick (you can see an interview w/ him conducted by myself & Ghanesh here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhiGt9...).
Brain Child's a coming-of-age story of sorts - one that's potentially lurid enuf to appeal to 'reality' tv talk show couch potatoes but rendered far, FAR more interesting by its basic premise:
The protagonist grows up in an orphanage & as he 'comes of age' is informed that he's the secret child of one of a group of genetically engineered people. Once this is revealed to him he becomes ensnared in a plethora of manipulative schemes all geared around uncovering a hidden history & potential fruits thereof.
Turner's telling of the story is fairly straightforward as far as writing goes. I've read that he was a "late-bloomer" as an SF writer - having not started writing SF until he was in his 60s. As such, Brain Child is the work of a 'mature' writer - he wd've been around 75 when it was published. In this case, I don't think the 'maturity' contributed any particular writing skill - instead there's a sortof 'world-weariness' that seems to be a main subtext here. The bk explores various types of corruption & naivité that I think are reasonably accurately presented here.
All in all, Brain Child is of the ilk of SF that I often seek out: critical observations of the present tense amplified thru an interesting possible future.
December 15, 2009
wow, this was a great story, but with a lukewarm ending. well worth the ride and the narrarator's pseudo-edwardian voice.
pretty much everybody in the story is a self-serving jerk, but the glimpse into the future and the horrors of genetic tampering are compelling. it also has the hottest sex scene i've read in a long time... and there was no physical contact!
pretty much everybody in the story is a self-serving jerk, but the glimpse into the future and the horrors of genetic tampering are compelling. it also has the hottest sex scene i've read in a long time... and there was no physical contact!
November 26, 2007
Really should be three and a half stars. Good stuff, in a slightly hokey near future setting, with an interesting cast of characters and a very interesting mystery. The portrayal of the enhanced children (and the adults they grow into) is done perfectly.
November 16, 2014
A beautiful story, well told, and very captivating. Delicious.
I wish that George Turner had gotten more foreign recognition for his outstanding work while he lived.
These days, I read Brain Child about once a year. I've read it over a dozen times by now, I guess.
May 8, 2008
Poor science fiction. Dull plotting, uninteresting and unlikable characters, a near-future world sketchily imagined.
May 12, 2010
I agree with the reviews that say this is a pretty good sci fi book with a mediocre ending. Kind of reminded me of the end of The Jungle - talk talk talk.
December 1, 2014
Great premise, but marred by some boring stretches in the middle. Good ending. Okay to skip this one...
October 18, 2015
As entertaining the second time as it was 10+ years ago!
January 27, 2015
Well done.
March 4, 2015
Interesting and prescient, but in the end - dreary.
October 11, 2016
Chilling future of genius sociopaths, destroyed. Turner is inventive and persuasive, turning corners and creating suspense.
November 24, 2020
First book I ever read by George Turner, whose Drowning Towers I read quite recently, and still worth reading again.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews