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More Than Human
The year is 2190, and the first starship of Earth, the Gilgamesh, is plying between the homeworlds and the new world of Eidolon, a five-year flight at near-lightspeed. The "starshippers" have been idolized for many decades, since the first landing on Eidolon. They're "augmented" humans ... they've been modified for the work and for the new world. The public has envied them and emulated them -- and perhaps they have been emulated too much, too often.
Eventually, perhaps inevitably, a political movement has begun back on Earth. Calling itself The Pure Light, its campaign is to "Keep Humanity Human" ... to stem the tide of the genetic modification that was steadily remaking humans into more and more different forms.
Twenty years ago, The Pure Light rode into office on this ticket, and their policies have made the augmented humans illegal. They're now categorized as borgs, or cyborgs -- artificial life forms who do not have full human rights. The more augmented the individual, the less rights he or she has, and by the time one is a "fifty" -- one whose body is fifty percent modified -- one is registered, licensed, and control-chipped, in the possession of the government, and assigned to the military, industry or the lab.
It's been more than twenty years since the Gilgamesh cruised into Earth space. At home on Eidolon, the crew are free -- many of them were bred and born there, designed for the new world and thriving there. Now, they're entering space where they're perceived as unwelcome aliens...
And it's the job of Civil Representative Adrian Balfour to journey out to Titan Central, meet Captain Dirk Vanderhoven and his Executive Officer, Jason Erickson, and inform them that the crew of the Gilgamesh is to be taken into custody -- registered, licensed, control-chipped, and reassigned for the battlefield, the mines, the lab.
But Adrian is nursing a secret agenda of his own, and everything in his cosmos changes the moment he sets eyes on young Jason Erickson. Almost before he knows what he's doing, he's lying to the Titan Central commander and life is set to become a race against time.
Because Adrian is a "twenty," and unwelcome even at home, while among the fifties of the starshipper crew he's respected, cherished -- and desired by at least one of them. Romance explodes between Adrian and Jason, white-hot and filled with the piquancy of exploration, as Adrian discovers how the humans of Eidolon are different in every way from the Earthborns, most of all in their sensuality.
For Adrian, the next days are critical. He'll be "tested" by the big, beautiful fifty with whom he's fallen deeply in love, and he'll risk everything in the desperate attempt to get the Gilgamesh out of Earth space before warships can run her down, and The Pure Light will turn starshippers into control-chipped drones.
Eventually, perhaps inevitably, a political movement has begun back on Earth. Calling itself The Pure Light, its campaign is to "Keep Humanity Human" ... to stem the tide of the genetic modification that was steadily remaking humans into more and more different forms.
Twenty years ago, The Pure Light rode into office on this ticket, and their policies have made the augmented humans illegal. They're now categorized as borgs, or cyborgs -- artificial life forms who do not have full human rights. The more augmented the individual, the less rights he or she has, and by the time one is a "fifty" -- one whose body is fifty percent modified -- one is registered, licensed, and control-chipped, in the possession of the government, and assigned to the military, industry or the lab.
It's been more than twenty years since the Gilgamesh cruised into Earth space. At home on Eidolon, the crew are free -- many of them were bred and born there, designed for the new world and thriving there. Now, they're entering space where they're perceived as unwelcome aliens...
And it's the job of Civil Representative Adrian Balfour to journey out to Titan Central, meet Captain Dirk Vanderhoven and his Executive Officer, Jason Erickson, and inform them that the crew of the Gilgamesh is to be taken into custody -- registered, licensed, control-chipped, and reassigned for the battlefield, the mines, the lab.
But Adrian is nursing a secret agenda of his own, and everything in his cosmos changes the moment he sets eyes on young Jason Erickson. Almost before he knows what he's doing, he's lying to the Titan Central commander and life is set to become a race against time.
Because Adrian is a "twenty," and unwelcome even at home, while among the fifties of the starshipper crew he's respected, cherished -- and desired by at least one of them. Romance explodes between Adrian and Jason, white-hot and filled with the piquancy of exploration, as Adrian discovers how the humans of Eidolon are different in every way from the Earthborns, most of all in their sensuality.
For Adrian, the next days are critical. He'll be "tested" by the big, beautiful fifty with whom he's fallen deeply in love, and he'll risk everything in the desperate attempt to get the Gilgamesh out of Earth space before warships can run her down, and The Pure Light will turn starshippers into control-chipped drones.
253 pages, ebook
First published March 1, 2012
3 people are currently reading
111 people want to read
About the author
Mel Keegan
52 books71 followersA self-confessed science fiction and fantasy devotee, Keegan is known for novels across a wide range of subjects, from the historical to the future action-adventure. Mel lives in South Australia with an eccentric family and a variety of pets.
Every Mel Keegan book is strong on gay or bisexual heroes (also, often, on gay villains), and some of these heroes are the most delicious in fiction: Jarrat and Stone from the NARC series, Bill Ryan and Jim Hale from The Deceivers, Neil Travers and Curtis Marin from Hellgate, and many more unforgettable characters. Because Mel's books feature the same sex relationships, the partnership at the core of each book is integral: this is the relationship driving the story, and it can be very powerful indeed.
Every Mel Keegan book is strong on gay or bisexual heroes (also, often, on gay villains), and some of these heroes are the most delicious in fiction: Jarrat and Stone from the NARC series, Bill Ryan and Jim Hale from The Deceivers, Neil Travers and Curtis Marin from Hellgate, and many more unforgettable characters. Because Mel's books feature the same sex relationships, the partnership at the core of each book is integral: this is the relationship driving the story, and it can be very powerful indeed.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 16 reviews
April 9, 2012
From GLBT Boooshelf [...]
When the crew of the Gilgamesh enters the solar system they discover that they, every crewmember an augmented human, has been outlawed by the Pure light government. When they and their earlier generations left Earth for Idelon, they were admired for their superior abilities and great beauty. But since that time the perceived excesses by celebrity athletes, artists and others, have sparked a reaction by a political movement to purify humankind. The Gilgamesh crew faces nothing short of slavery.
Jason Erickson is an extraordinarily gifted AI interface specialist and a beautiful bit of man flesh. That's what government representative Adrian Balfour notices when he first meets with the lead officers of Gilgamesh to break the bad news to them. For Adrian it's lust at first sight, and he's not alone. Jason is fascinated with him as well. This is however only one part of the reason Adrian decides to help the Gilgamesh escape. He also hates who he has become, a government stooge, someone forced to do wrong to people he deeply admires. He also understands the oppressive nature of how augmented humans are treated, as after a childhood accident, he was fitted with augmented legs. As a result his own freedoms are severely restricted.
You can read this book as a sweet and thoughtful love story. You can also sit back and groove on the tech and the science that is part and parcel of the novel. It's an engrossing adventure story on top of that. In short, this novel is great entertainment. But it is much more, and if you look to this novel only for that, you will miss the real heart of the book.
This novel is about a great many serious issues that face us in our own time. In spite of the seeming progress we have made in human rights as of 2012 we still struggle with rights for anyone who is different, whether gender, affectional preference, race, religion. political beliefs, disability and more. Equal rights, even just a fair deal is always on the edge of being thrown away. Look at how the events of 9/11 resulted in loss of individual rights in the name of "security". Look at how quick the religious right is to overturn the successes in marriage equality. Look at the fact that in the U.S. it was against the law in many states for two people of different races to marry as late as 1988, all in the name of religion. That is what has happened on Earth in this novel. In the name of "purity" a whole population has no rights.
The idea is not handled simple-mindedly. The Pure Light is as hypocritical as any such movement tens to be. It pretends to seek a return to "pure" humanity, but only if that means no humans have to do the dirty, dangerous work of space exploration, off-world mining or military duty. Not only are augments allowed to continue to exist to perform these distasteful duties; the Pure Light is breeding them to keep the source of slaves alive.
There are so many chilling aspects of this sort of totalitarian repression revealed in More Than Human. The people of Earth who should see the Pure Light for what it is are instead complicit in the injustice. The next generation of augments is fed a line about their role being to protect humans, something that sounds dangerously like how women for centuries were, and are themselves effectively maintaining this notion, convinced their oppressed role was something called "nurturing motherhood". Most chilling is the realization as you read this book that fundamentalist religion is not the only cause of such oppression, that those we think of as progressive can be just as reactionary, as evidenced by moral overtones in the environmentalist and women's movements.
There are chilling side effects demonstrated in the novel. For example, what one learns of Adrian's life as contrasted with Jason's shows that when liberty is restricted in one sphere the restriction bleeds over into other aspects of life. Adrian has been reduced to furtive, risky sex on "the docks". Jason is free to love and lust where he wishes. Their own love story is as much about healing Adrian as it is about anything else. Further the reactionary limits on augmentation means that the benefits the Earth and its people will gain from advances in all the sciences, for instance, have been repressed as well. In fact that is part of why the Gilgamesh has come to the system, to share what wonders they have found and developed on Idelon. The Earth's response to this is to enslave the crew and throw the benefit in the garbage. Further the damping effect on human creativity and accomplishment that comes with the enforcement of a heterogeneous society has resulted in mediocrity of society. Even the "rebels' lack originality of thought.
Keegan and DeMarco have done a masterful job of saying all this within the confines of great storytelling. There is no lecture here, but only a great deal of heart and skillful characterization. What I think I valued most about this novel is all the subtlety about the effects of a society afraid of differences, how it affects everything from personal relationships to scientific advances. The scariest thing of all is how far people will go to fight change, as in the very enslavement of those formerly admired and respected.
When the crew of the Gilgamesh enters the solar system they discover that they, every crewmember an augmented human, has been outlawed by the Pure light government. When they and their earlier generations left Earth for Idelon, they were admired for their superior abilities and great beauty. But since that time the perceived excesses by celebrity athletes, artists and others, have sparked a reaction by a political movement to purify humankind. The Gilgamesh crew faces nothing short of slavery.
Jason Erickson is an extraordinarily gifted AI interface specialist and a beautiful bit of man flesh. That's what government representative Adrian Balfour notices when he first meets with the lead officers of Gilgamesh to break the bad news to them. For Adrian it's lust at first sight, and he's not alone. Jason is fascinated with him as well. This is however only one part of the reason Adrian decides to help the Gilgamesh escape. He also hates who he has become, a government stooge, someone forced to do wrong to people he deeply admires. He also understands the oppressive nature of how augmented humans are treated, as after a childhood accident, he was fitted with augmented legs. As a result his own freedoms are severely restricted.
You can read this book as a sweet and thoughtful love story. You can also sit back and groove on the tech and the science that is part and parcel of the novel. It's an engrossing adventure story on top of that. In short, this novel is great entertainment. But it is much more, and if you look to this novel only for that, you will miss the real heart of the book.
This novel is about a great many serious issues that face us in our own time. In spite of the seeming progress we have made in human rights as of 2012 we still struggle with rights for anyone who is different, whether gender, affectional preference, race, religion. political beliefs, disability and more. Equal rights, even just a fair deal is always on the edge of being thrown away. Look at how the events of 9/11 resulted in loss of individual rights in the name of "security". Look at how quick the religious right is to overturn the successes in marriage equality. Look at the fact that in the U.S. it was against the law in many states for two people of different races to marry as late as 1988, all in the name of religion. That is what has happened on Earth in this novel. In the name of "purity" a whole population has no rights.
The idea is not handled simple-mindedly. The Pure Light is as hypocritical as any such movement tens to be. It pretends to seek a return to "pure" humanity, but only if that means no humans have to do the dirty, dangerous work of space exploration, off-world mining or military duty. Not only are augments allowed to continue to exist to perform these distasteful duties; the Pure Light is breeding them to keep the source of slaves alive.
There are so many chilling aspects of this sort of totalitarian repression revealed in More Than Human. The people of Earth who should see the Pure Light for what it is are instead complicit in the injustice. The next generation of augments is fed a line about their role being to protect humans, something that sounds dangerously like how women for centuries were, and are themselves effectively maintaining this notion, convinced their oppressed role was something called "nurturing motherhood". Most chilling is the realization as you read this book that fundamentalist religion is not the only cause of such oppression, that those we think of as progressive can be just as reactionary, as evidenced by moral overtones in the environmentalist and women's movements.
There are chilling side effects demonstrated in the novel. For example, what one learns of Adrian's life as contrasted with Jason's shows that when liberty is restricted in one sphere the restriction bleeds over into other aspects of life. Adrian has been reduced to furtive, risky sex on "the docks". Jason is free to love and lust where he wishes. Their own love story is as much about healing Adrian as it is about anything else. Further the reactionary limits on augmentation means that the benefits the Earth and its people will gain from advances in all the sciences, for instance, have been repressed as well. In fact that is part of why the Gilgamesh has come to the system, to share what wonders they have found and developed on Idelon. The Earth's response to this is to enslave the crew and throw the benefit in the garbage. Further the damping effect on human creativity and accomplishment that comes with the enforcement of a heterogeneous society has resulted in mediocrity of society. Even the "rebels' lack originality of thought.
Keegan and DeMarco have done a masterful job of saying all this within the confines of great storytelling. There is no lecture here, but only a great deal of heart and skillful characterization. What I think I valued most about this novel is all the subtlety about the effects of a society afraid of differences, how it affects everything from personal relationships to scientific advances. The scariest thing of all is how far people will go to fight change, as in the very enslavement of those formerly admired and respected.
April 13, 2012
Wonderfully clever, "More Than Human" is an exciting science fiction adventure, vast in imagination, and rich in technical detail. It is also an endearing m/m romance - the characters and their story have evolved over years. There is much here to challenge the mind and engage the heart.
Accompanied by a guard of "chipped" fifties, Civil Representative Adrian Balfour is sent from Ganymede to meet Earth's first starship, Gilgamesh, which had just docked at Titan Central after a five year near-speed of light journey from the remote world of Eidolon. Only a handful of the seventy-person crew is awake, after an 1870-day hibernation. Jason Erickson is Executive Officer of the Gilgamesh, and an interface designer whose body was augmented to survive on his home world of Eidolon. Now, he suspects his starship's AI has been infiltrated and is under the control of the Titan Central AI.
The year is 2190, The Pure Light faction is in power on earth, and eliminating genetic augmentation of humans is their mission - and obsession.
As a "twenty," humans like Adrian Balfour face employment discrimination and social isolation. His legs had been replaced after a tragic accident as a child. Those augmented to "fifty percent" are hunted down and "chipped" for reassignment. Now individuals once considered heroes, like Jason and the crew of the starship Gilgamesh, are deemed a target.
Adrian is a representative of The Pure Light, as a "twenty," it was the only position he could acquire. Now, Adrian is charged with arresting individuals he has always admired. But when Adrian Balfour meets the Eidolonian "fifty," Jason Erickson, his priorities change.
Great Sci-Fi Adventure! Another fine collaboration by Mel Keegan and Jayne DeMarco.
I enjoyed reading "More Than Human," and I recommend this novel highly.
Accompanied by a guard of "chipped" fifties, Civil Representative Adrian Balfour is sent from Ganymede to meet Earth's first starship, Gilgamesh, which had just docked at Titan Central after a five year near-speed of light journey from the remote world of Eidolon. Only a handful of the seventy-person crew is awake, after an 1870-day hibernation. Jason Erickson is Executive Officer of the Gilgamesh, and an interface designer whose body was augmented to survive on his home world of Eidolon. Now, he suspects his starship's AI has been infiltrated and is under the control of the Titan Central AI.
The year is 2190, The Pure Light faction is in power on earth, and eliminating genetic augmentation of humans is their mission - and obsession.
As a "twenty," humans like Adrian Balfour face employment discrimination and social isolation. His legs had been replaced after a tragic accident as a child. Those augmented to "fifty percent" are hunted down and "chipped" for reassignment. Now individuals once considered heroes, like Jason and the crew of the starship Gilgamesh, are deemed a target.
Adrian is a representative of The Pure Light, as a "twenty," it was the only position he could acquire. Now, Adrian is charged with arresting individuals he has always admired. But when Adrian Balfour meets the Eidolonian "fifty," Jason Erickson, his priorities change.
Great Sci-Fi Adventure! Another fine collaboration by Mel Keegan and Jayne DeMarco.
I enjoyed reading "More Than Human," and I recommend this novel highly.
January 18, 2020
More Than Human
By Mel Keegan, with Jayne DeMarco
DreamCraft Multimedia, 2012
Five stars
“We misjudged the humans of earth.”
There is only one moment of weapon-based violence in this book, and the protagonist isn’t even looking. Nobody is killed.
Mostly the action takes place in a parked starship at a space dock far above Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. This wonder-filled story is all about humans and technology, and the superhuman AI that has made a colony in another star system possible. This is a remarkable, sweeping, moving sci-fi romance, centering on the burgeoning relationship between a super-human twenty-something born on the earth-colonized planet Eidolon, and a thirty-eight-year-old earthling whose only special attributes are his bionic legs, replaced when he lost his parents in a car accident as a child.
The title is a gentle irony, because the crew of the starship Gilgamesh (yes, that’s the word, evoking the Enterprise and Star Trek) are all more than human – having been augmented on Eidolon, some in utero, to withstand the different conditions on that distant planet, and to better fulfill their heroic role as interstellar travelers.
Humans on Earth, however, have become less than human, falling back into another historical cycle of fear and prejudice that has turned all of its biconically augmented population into slaves. Hundreds of thousands of special citizens, once seen as heroes and celebrities, have been imprisoned and enslaved by the government, sold off to the military and corporate interests. Adrian Balfour, because his augmentation was so relatively minor, has merely been dropped to the bottom of the social pyramid, eking out a decent-but-lonely living on a distant outpost within the Earth’s solar system, generally known as the homeworlds. Adrian is assigned as a government representative to break the bad news to earth-born Captain Dirk Vanderhoven and his Executive Officer Jason Erickson. He is only asked to do this because even the current government acknowledges what these no-longer-humans have given to the human race. Their courtesy is to be told what evil will befall them before it happens.
I was caught up in this narrative immediately. We, like Adrian, only learn bits and pieces about Eidolon through the other characters. We watch Adrian himself, downtrodden and sullen, given to petty power-plays with his co-workers and staff, become a better person once he meets the crew of the Gilgamesh, especially Jason, who represents the kind of hero Adrian himself wanted to be when he was a child, before the darkness and prejudice took over the government. In order to save these good people – who might be more than human, but who are innocent of any crime other than who they are – Adrian must himself become better than the humans who have negated centuries of scientific development in order to accommodate their worst prejudices and most irrational fears.
It is epic, and tender, and powerful. I see the parallels with Keegan’s two marvelous vampire novels – the all-too-predictable human fear and misunderstanding focused on people who are different, extraordinary. I loved every page of it, and was only disappointed that it had to end.
By Mel Keegan, with Jayne DeMarco
DreamCraft Multimedia, 2012
Five stars
“We misjudged the humans of earth.”
There is only one moment of weapon-based violence in this book, and the protagonist isn’t even looking. Nobody is killed.
Mostly the action takes place in a parked starship at a space dock far above Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. This wonder-filled story is all about humans and technology, and the superhuman AI that has made a colony in another star system possible. This is a remarkable, sweeping, moving sci-fi romance, centering on the burgeoning relationship between a super-human twenty-something born on the earth-colonized planet Eidolon, and a thirty-eight-year-old earthling whose only special attributes are his bionic legs, replaced when he lost his parents in a car accident as a child.
The title is a gentle irony, because the crew of the starship Gilgamesh (yes, that’s the word, evoking the Enterprise and Star Trek) are all more than human – having been augmented on Eidolon, some in utero, to withstand the different conditions on that distant planet, and to better fulfill their heroic role as interstellar travelers.
Humans on Earth, however, have become less than human, falling back into another historical cycle of fear and prejudice that has turned all of its biconically augmented population into slaves. Hundreds of thousands of special citizens, once seen as heroes and celebrities, have been imprisoned and enslaved by the government, sold off to the military and corporate interests. Adrian Balfour, because his augmentation was so relatively minor, has merely been dropped to the bottom of the social pyramid, eking out a decent-but-lonely living on a distant outpost within the Earth’s solar system, generally known as the homeworlds. Adrian is assigned as a government representative to break the bad news to earth-born Captain Dirk Vanderhoven and his Executive Officer Jason Erickson. He is only asked to do this because even the current government acknowledges what these no-longer-humans have given to the human race. Their courtesy is to be told what evil will befall them before it happens.
I was caught up in this narrative immediately. We, like Adrian, only learn bits and pieces about Eidolon through the other characters. We watch Adrian himself, downtrodden and sullen, given to petty power-plays with his co-workers and staff, become a better person once he meets the crew of the Gilgamesh, especially Jason, who represents the kind of hero Adrian himself wanted to be when he was a child, before the darkness and prejudice took over the government. In order to save these good people – who might be more than human, but who are innocent of any crime other than who they are – Adrian must himself become better than the humans who have negated centuries of scientific development in order to accommodate their worst prejudices and most irrational fears.
It is epic, and tender, and powerful. I see the parallels with Keegan’s two marvelous vampire novels – the all-too-predictable human fear and misunderstanding focused on people who are different, extraordinary. I loved every page of it, and was only disappointed that it had to end.
April 17, 2012
Если подсократить бессмысленный ангст и убрать бесконечное пережевывание одного и того же, то могло бы получится вполне прилично. А так - ну миленько, конечно, но читывала я и получше.
Отдельной строкой - очень удивило, что автор ни разу не употребил слово "постгуманизм", хотя оно прям напрашивалось.
Отдельной строкой - очень удивило, что автор ни разу не употребил слово "постгуманизм", хотя оно прям напрашивалось.
August 29, 2018
Occasionally a novel blows you away. This falls into the "blow away" category -- an idea, to begin with, that's absolutely fresh. A treatment that's six layers deep, fully developed, yet at the same time not the epic-length fiction one associates with Keegan. Don't get me wrong: I love long books. But one day my life turned into a combination tumble dryer and cement mixer. For years I didn't have time to read much ... even less to review. It's nice to be able to sit down with a story, enjoy the heck out of it, finish it in two or three sittings. (A pal read More Than Human on a plane trip: perfect size and shape, he said, to make the hours speed by.)
The tale is set in "the near future" -- perhaps the same time frame as Avatar, give or take a few years -- and concerns the crew of an Einsteinian starship, the Gilgamesh, and their altercation with the authorities at point of entry back into the Earth solar system. Coming "home," their first port of call is Titan, the moon of Saturn. In their absence, the law has changed. Genetically engineered humans are now categorized as sub-human; their human rights have been confiscated.
There are stories within stories in this book. Look deeper: the more you look, the more you see. The most obvious plot is a romance between Adrian -- ostensibly a government "suit" -- and Jason, the starship's drop-dead gorgeous AI engineer. Look again, you see the second layer of the story, about the gradual dissolution of human politics. Heaven knows, we're well on our way down the slippery slope in our own era. The future could be a scary place for folks who don't, can't, or won't conform. Johnny Depp once gave an interview, regarding why he dresses a bit oddly: with that shy, lethal smile he reported that it's about not conforming to the "lemming" model. The issues in More Than Human are the same ones Mr. Depp nailed. In the future of this book, anybody who doesn't fit the mold is wading knee-deep in trouble.
Luckily for the Gilgamesh, our government spook, Adrian, is a somewhat borderline case, accepted by society, law and government only so long as he toes the party line, takes a job nobody else wants, keeps the lip zipped and does as he's told. Adrian's been a good boy so far ... now, like Mal Reynolds, he aims to misbehave. Big time.
Look even deeper, and the next level you pick up on is the tale, told albeit at secondhand, of the colonization of a new world, Eidolon. The next layer down is about "social drift," how human beings change, morph, with the passage of generations spent in isolation. This is the process that takes one culture and turns it into another ... say, the way Australia redesigned itself on the fly, using the building bricks of many cultures from which our settlers came.
On the deepest, darkest level, More Than... is about the persecution of minority groups who can't help being what they are, having been born that way. Gay, colored, ethnic, whatever. At its roots, the issue is the same: one's right to be oneself, and be free -- at liberty to be oneself. Jason and Capt. Dirk Vanderhoven are the Eidolonians we get to know best. Jason was born on Eidolon, designed, engineered for a new world. He's different. Not just a big beauty (six foot six, blond bombshell), but also a "socketed AI engineer." His sensuality is different from anything Adrian knows. The exploration in their differences makes for steamy scenes.
More Than... was the second collaborative effort by Keegan and Jayne DeMarco. They worked well together. (Their first partnership was Umbriel, an urban fantasy I enjoyed hugely and intend to review. Of the two, More Than... is more developed, and even more satisfying.)
Highly recommended for readers looking for a steamy romance with some of the best hard SF since Avatar. Also readers wanting a story to get them thinking, maybe make them take another look at human culture today. (Something reached me via facebook awhile ago: "The Bible Belt is the place where they think being fat is genetic, and being gay is a lifestyle choice." Take that dumbness, project it 200 years into the future ... we could be due for problems. Big ones.)
AG's rating has to be five stars out of five.
The tale is set in "the near future" -- perhaps the same time frame as Avatar, give or take a few years -- and concerns the crew of an Einsteinian starship, the Gilgamesh, and their altercation with the authorities at point of entry back into the Earth solar system. Coming "home," their first port of call is Titan, the moon of Saturn. In their absence, the law has changed. Genetically engineered humans are now categorized as sub-human; their human rights have been confiscated.
There are stories within stories in this book. Look deeper: the more you look, the more you see. The most obvious plot is a romance between Adrian -- ostensibly a government "suit" -- and Jason, the starship's drop-dead gorgeous AI engineer. Look again, you see the second layer of the story, about the gradual dissolution of human politics. Heaven knows, we're well on our way down the slippery slope in our own era. The future could be a scary place for folks who don't, can't, or won't conform. Johnny Depp once gave an interview, regarding why he dresses a bit oddly: with that shy, lethal smile he reported that it's about not conforming to the "lemming" model. The issues in More Than Human are the same ones Mr. Depp nailed. In the future of this book, anybody who doesn't fit the mold is wading knee-deep in trouble.
Luckily for the Gilgamesh, our government spook, Adrian, is a somewhat borderline case, accepted by society, law and government only so long as he toes the party line, takes a job nobody else wants, keeps the lip zipped and does as he's told. Adrian's been a good boy so far ... now, like Mal Reynolds, he aims to misbehave. Big time.
Look even deeper, and the next level you pick up on is the tale, told albeit at secondhand, of the colonization of a new world, Eidolon. The next layer down is about "social drift," how human beings change, morph, with the passage of generations spent in isolation. This is the process that takes one culture and turns it into another ... say, the way Australia redesigned itself on the fly, using the building bricks of many cultures from which our settlers came.
On the deepest, darkest level, More Than... is about the persecution of minority groups who can't help being what they are, having been born that way. Gay, colored, ethnic, whatever. At its roots, the issue is the same: one's right to be oneself, and be free -- at liberty to be oneself. Jason and Capt. Dirk Vanderhoven are the Eidolonians we get to know best. Jason was born on Eidolon, designed, engineered for a new world. He's different. Not just a big beauty (six foot six, blond bombshell), but also a "socketed AI engineer." His sensuality is different from anything Adrian knows. The exploration in their differences makes for steamy scenes.
More Than... was the second collaborative effort by Keegan and Jayne DeMarco. They worked well together. (Their first partnership was Umbriel, an urban fantasy I enjoyed hugely and intend to review. Of the two, More Than... is more developed, and even more satisfying.)
Highly recommended for readers looking for a steamy romance with some of the best hard SF since Avatar. Also readers wanting a story to get them thinking, maybe make them take another look at human culture today. (Something reached me via facebook awhile ago: "The Bible Belt is the place where they think being fat is genetic, and being gay is a lifestyle choice." Take that dumbness, project it 200 years into the future ... we could be due for problems. Big ones.)
AG's rating has to be five stars out of five.
December 29, 2020
This one kept me on the edge of my seat and I give it 5-stars for sheer awesomeness.
I must admit I scoffed at the idea that Jason and Adrian declared their love after just a few days of knowing each other...nevertheless, I was willing to go along with it though because they made their feelings believable. Plus, the fact that things were pretty intense on board the starship as the crew worked together to escape for their freedom by the skin of their teeth.
I must admit I scoffed at the idea that Jason and Adrian declared their love after just a few days of knowing each other...nevertheless, I was willing to go along with it though because they made their feelings believable. Plus, the fact that things were pretty intense on board the starship as the crew worked together to escape for their freedom by the skin of their teeth.
November 24, 2021
Fascinating story, interesting characters, this book needs a sequel.
June 17, 2012
5 Hearts
First published at MM Good Book Reviews
http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.co...
Jason and Dirk are nearly at the end of their journey, but the ships AI is acting oddly, as they dig they find out that Earth has changed for the worst. The Pure Light have taken over and want only pure humans… and all the crew of the Gilgamesh aren’t… they’ve been modified for work on the starship and for the new world Eidolon. Adrian only has his legs augmented because of a crash when he was young, but he is looked down upon for it and now he is the government flunky who has been sent to tell the crew of their fate. They will all be chipped and forced to become like slaves to the government and unless the crew come up with a plan and fast, then it is a fate worse than death. Adrian, Jason and the crew have to pull off the escape of the century, because to be more than human is against the law.
Oh, boys and girls do I have a treat for you . For those of you who love science fiction and M/M then this is a fantastic combination that will give you a major fix of genuine sci-fi, with a wonderful dose of M/M romance. It also has a huge dose of realism in the way that The Pure Light and humans have turned on the ‘borgs’ (augmented humans), the way that humanity has to find someone different and persecute them, it is brought up in the story a couple of times as examples… witch hunts, segregation of races, women’s liberty’s, sexually repression, sexual orientation etc. Using the ‘borgs’ for their own purposes (after chipping them to behave of course) and imprisoning any who stand against them in a camp (shortest term 20years). So this is what our starshippers have walked into and it is a challenge for all of them to come up with a plan that doesn’t include being chipped.
Okay, let me start simple. Adrian and Jason do have a very fast relationship, but because of the overall timeframe it didn’t feel that quick… kinda like a life and death situation forces you to act quicker and trust your emotions more. Adrian and Jason complemented each other well and they were striking sparks off each other since they first met… and the sex woo hoo, was that hot or scorching, definitely scorching. The technical details were awe-inspiring and were vivid in both imagination and detail; they came to life as you read, incredible. The entire story is magnificent and I am hoping that there will be more to come from these characters in the future.
This is an excellent novel that is rich in technical detail (fan-bloody-tastic) with a thread of romance (Jason and Adrian *sigh*) with an exciting escape plan and a happy for now ending, there is no way that you should miss the opportunity to read this rich science fiction story, so I highly recommend this if you ever watched Star Trek etc.
First published at MM Good Book Reviews
http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.co...
Jason and Dirk are nearly at the end of their journey, but the ships AI is acting oddly, as they dig they find out that Earth has changed for the worst. The Pure Light have taken over and want only pure humans… and all the crew of the Gilgamesh aren’t… they’ve been modified for work on the starship and for the new world Eidolon. Adrian only has his legs augmented because of a crash when he was young, but he is looked down upon for it and now he is the government flunky who has been sent to tell the crew of their fate. They will all be chipped and forced to become like slaves to the government and unless the crew come up with a plan and fast, then it is a fate worse than death. Adrian, Jason and the crew have to pull off the escape of the century, because to be more than human is against the law.
Oh, boys and girls do I have a treat for you . For those of you who love science fiction and M/M then this is a fantastic combination that will give you a major fix of genuine sci-fi, with a wonderful dose of M/M romance. It also has a huge dose of realism in the way that The Pure Light and humans have turned on the ‘borgs’ (augmented humans), the way that humanity has to find someone different and persecute them, it is brought up in the story a couple of times as examples… witch hunts, segregation of races, women’s liberty’s, sexually repression, sexual orientation etc. Using the ‘borgs’ for their own purposes (after chipping them to behave of course) and imprisoning any who stand against them in a camp (shortest term 20years). So this is what our starshippers have walked into and it is a challenge for all of them to come up with a plan that doesn’t include being chipped.
Okay, let me start simple. Adrian and Jason do have a very fast relationship, but because of the overall timeframe it didn’t feel that quick… kinda like a life and death situation forces you to act quicker and trust your emotions more. Adrian and Jason complemented each other well and they were striking sparks off each other since they first met… and the sex woo hoo, was that hot or scorching, definitely scorching. The technical details were awe-inspiring and were vivid in both imagination and detail; they came to life as you read, incredible. The entire story is magnificent and I am hoping that there will be more to come from these characters in the future.
This is an excellent novel that is rich in technical detail (fan-bloody-tastic) with a thread of romance (Jason and Adrian *sigh*) with an exciting escape plan and a happy for now ending, there is no way that you should miss the opportunity to read this rich science fiction story, so I highly recommend this if you ever watched Star Trek etc.
November 25, 2012
I just grabbed this to satisfy my boys in space itch but I ended up really liking it, and as I got closer to the end I found myself hoping there was a sequel, (please please!) With modified humans as the solar system's new minority here are actually so many places this story could go, and surprising how satisfying it was despite how little time it spent in the bedroom.
February 20, 2022
I want more and I want more now! Really enjoyed the whole story: plot, characters, world, etc.
Reread today. Just as wonderful as the first time. Sooooo looking forward to book 2:THE SKIES OF EIDOLON
Reread today. Just as wonderful as the first time. Sooooo looking forward to book 2:THE SKIES OF EIDOLON
April 11, 2012
Good book, the ending was abrupt, and I hope there's a sequel that involves when they get to Jason's world
December 22, 2012
Very interesting story plot. Adrian and Jason are great couple.
April 19, 2018
Sorry
February 10, 2015
Brilliant!
I'm very much looking forward to reading the sequel, The Skies of Eidolon.
April 17, 2016
You can read my full review of “More Than Human” at my web site.
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