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Genesis
In a world ravaged by climate change, social inequality and dwindling natural resources there's only one solution: abandon ship and terraform a new home.
Operation Genesis is beset by problems from the start - sabotage, covert infiltration, planning by committee - but Dylan Lomax, an emotionally disconnected empath, soon discovers there are worse things than organisational incompetence. The mission to bring life to a new planet has a terrible secret, one which threatens to take humanity to the brink of extinction.
Genesis is the debut novel by C.A. Voss
Operation Genesis is beset by problems from the start - sabotage, covert infiltration, planning by committee - but Dylan Lomax, an emotionally disconnected empath, soon discovers there are worse things than organisational incompetence. The mission to bring life to a new planet has a terrible secret, one which threatens to take humanity to the brink of extinction.
Genesis is the debut novel by C.A. Voss
288 pages, Paperback
Published August 12, 2018
2 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
C.A. Voss
1 book1 followerI was raised in Sunny Walsall, a small industrial town in the UK famous for its close proximity to the M6, Jerome K. Jerome and a concrete hippo (https://tinyurl.com/fzp27tfj). I moved to Leicester to study Law at De Montfort University and had so much fun I decided to stick around and do another degree, this time in English Literature, and have been a Leicester resident ever since.
I live with my soulmate and constant muse, Jen. If it wasn't for her I'd still be talking about writing 'one day' instead of being an author.
I love writing because your imagination has no budget. You can go as big as you can dream and tell the stories you want to hear. Genesis is an all-out epic sci-fi with a multitude of characters, plot points, themes and action sequences. While my next novel, Dead Zeppelin, will be a leaner narrative about a murder investigator who believes they are a work of fiction because they always solve the most outrageous cases.
I live with my soulmate and constant muse, Jen. If it wasn't for her I'd still be talking about writing 'one day' instead of being an author.
I love writing because your imagination has no budget. You can go as big as you can dream and tell the stories you want to hear. Genesis is an all-out epic sci-fi with a multitude of characters, plot points, themes and action sequences. While my next novel, Dead Zeppelin, will be a leaner narrative about a murder investigator who believes they are a work of fiction because they always solve the most outrageous cases.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 26, 2018
Genesis is a fantastic sci-fi romp packed with enough back-stabbing and espionage to put your average political thriller to shame; only with and psychic powers and space ships. The characters are flawed and believable with just the right amount of over-the-top bravado to make it feel like a classic space opera and once it gets going it never slows down.
Genesis takes existing sci-fi tropes and shuffles them around to come up with something new and I particularly loved the psychic abilities. Different from anything I've seen elsewhere the author pitched them just right giving the characters power but not make them invincible.
Genesis is a brilliantly fast-paced debut from an author full of promise and I for one can't wait to see what he has in store for us in book 2.
Genesis takes existing sci-fi tropes and shuffles them around to come up with something new and I particularly loved the psychic abilities. Different from anything I've seen elsewhere the author pitched them just right giving the characters power but not make them invincible.
Genesis is a brilliantly fast-paced debut from an author full of promise and I for one can't wait to see what he has in store for us in book 2.
November 25, 2018
I don't always accept author ARC requests due to limited free time, but I accepted to read this novel with no strings attached. While Sci-Fi isn't my main reading genre, Genesis does include a lot of things that I enjoy in a novel: behind the curtains political scheming and backstabbing, military politics (I'm a huge sucker for that), prison scenes, fantasy elements even if the book isn't a fantasy novel per se, medical scenes, and likeable characters that may or not have dubious morals.
The book begins with a high note. Our hero of sorts, Dylan Lomax was born with a nascent gift of telepathy. He has never met someone like himself, and therefore, has never obtained proper training to achieve his maximum potential. Not that he'd want that. During his entire life, Dylan has attempted to keep a low profile by only gnawing at the repressed darkest memories of the people he has encountered during a strong bout of emotions whenever he needs to in order to survive. His mother filled him with stories about how military grunts would love nothing more than to lock him up in a lab and use him as a guinea pig.
The thing is, Dylan's luck of successfully avoiding being discovered has just come to an end. After taking advantage of his ability to win a Poker Championship, he has just been kidnapped by two dour special agents, ironically named Mr. Long and Mr. Short. Resigned about his uncertain fate, instead of being trapped in a desert bunker to be tested on, he has instead been recruited as a sort of health inspector/spy of the world's long awaited interplanetary exploration ship: The Genesis.
Earth's population is destroying the planet, and the powerful UN (a new country that replaced the US) is at a constant war with "The Empire", a conglomeration of asian nations in a new international Cold War. Among the issues of espionage and climate change, some of the crew aboard the Genesis are not who they seem at first.
Dylan might not be the most honest guy in town, but he still has his set of morals, and must come to terms while interacting with other telepaths, super intelligent teenage girls, sentinent pigs, and perhaps even avoid pissing off military grunt Captain Brice whose jealousy regarding Dylan's friendship with his wife Elizabeth helps propell the story forward.
I would prefer not to say much about where the Genesis plans to go, and for what purpose to avoid major spoilers. But the story is indeed quite surprising, and the fantasy elements will be appealling to fantasy junkies such as myself.
There is still a lot of story left for a potential sequel, but it can also be enjoyed fully well as a standalone novel. I noticed there were some commas missing, but the lack of typos and easygoing writing proves that the author worked hard to polish the manuscript. I thought the story was very fun to read!
The book begins with a high note. Our hero of sorts, Dylan Lomax was born with a nascent gift of telepathy. He has never met someone like himself, and therefore, has never obtained proper training to achieve his maximum potential. Not that he'd want that. During his entire life, Dylan has attempted to keep a low profile by only gnawing at the repressed darkest memories of the people he has encountered during a strong bout of emotions whenever he needs to in order to survive. His mother filled him with stories about how military grunts would love nothing more than to lock him up in a lab and use him as a guinea pig.
The thing is, Dylan's luck of successfully avoiding being discovered has just come to an end. After taking advantage of his ability to win a Poker Championship, he has just been kidnapped by two dour special agents, ironically named Mr. Long and Mr. Short. Resigned about his uncertain fate, instead of being trapped in a desert bunker to be tested on, he has instead been recruited as a sort of health inspector/spy of the world's long awaited interplanetary exploration ship: The Genesis.
Earth's population is destroying the planet, and the powerful UN (a new country that replaced the US) is at a constant war with "The Empire", a conglomeration of asian nations in a new international Cold War. Among the issues of espionage and climate change, some of the crew aboard the Genesis are not who they seem at first.
Dylan might not be the most honest guy in town, but he still has his set of morals, and must come to terms while interacting with other telepaths, super intelligent teenage girls, sentinent pigs, and perhaps even avoid pissing off military grunt Captain Brice whose jealousy regarding Dylan's friendship with his wife Elizabeth helps propell the story forward.
I would prefer not to say much about where the Genesis plans to go, and for what purpose to avoid major spoilers. But the story is indeed quite surprising, and the fantasy elements will be appealling to fantasy junkies such as myself.
There is still a lot of story left for a potential sequel, but it can also be enjoyed fully well as a standalone novel. I noticed there were some commas missing, but the lack of typos and easygoing writing proves that the author worked hard to polish the manuscript. I thought the story was very fun to read!
November 25, 2021
Genesis began strongly and has some great sci-fi bones. Voss introduces the reader to a familiar futuristic Earth and the plot takes off for exploration and new worlds. The prose has a solid sci-fi feel, balancing advanced tech and aliens with emerging psychic powers. The twist on arriving off-world didn't quite flow for me, though. Keeping hold of all the character threads was challenging and I found the emotional arcs for some a bit unrealistic. There was good interplay with politics, power and conspiracy, but I would like to have seen more subtle arguments from either side on the whole first contact and genocide.
July 3, 2023
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Content Warning for novel: Gore, adult language.
In a futuristic world divided by political conflict and devastated by man-made climate change, there are a few rare humans with special abilities. One of the governments gets their hands on such a man: Dylan Lomax. Once he triggers strong emotions in his target, he gets a glimpse into their most secret memories. And the government wants to exploit this "gift". Dylan is taken captive and set on a spaceship bound for Venus, supposedly to create a whole new world on the planet. However, there seems to be a bit too much military and weapons upon the ship to be a simple terraforming mission...
Voss creates a world that is far into the future, and yet does not feel that distant. Climate change--changes which we are fast approaching in our own world--has created a whole new world order. The United States, and other countries are no more. And genetically enhanced humans? Doesn't seem too far off for our own society. The world-building is eerily similar to our own world, and one which the reader can feel immediately familiar once they are dropped in.
The plot is a basic soft sci-fi, including interactions and fighting with an alien species that may be more advanced than humans. But does that stop the government from attempting to take their technology? Of course not. The plot is simplistic, if a bit convoluted. The first half of the novel is a completely different story than the second half. Be prepared for a change.
Unfortunately, I could not care about any of the characters. They are inconsistent and simply annoying. This is what hit the book hardest for me, as I crave character-driven stories. The simplistic, if wacky, plot was fine, but the dislike of all characters was what really did it (or didn't do it) for me.
Overall, if you're looking for relatable and likeable characters, or a story with profundity, this is likely not the novel for you. However, if you want an easy sci-fi with telepathic powers and lots of shooting and action (in the second half), then this could be a fun ride!
Content Warning for novel: Gore, adult language.
In a futuristic world divided by political conflict and devastated by man-made climate change, there are a few rare humans with special abilities. One of the governments gets their hands on such a man: Dylan Lomax. Once he triggers strong emotions in his target, he gets a glimpse into their most secret memories. And the government wants to exploit this "gift". Dylan is taken captive and set on a spaceship bound for Venus, supposedly to create a whole new world on the planet. However, there seems to be a bit too much military and weapons upon the ship to be a simple terraforming mission...
Voss creates a world that is far into the future, and yet does not feel that distant. Climate change--changes which we are fast approaching in our own world--has created a whole new world order. The United States, and other countries are no more. And genetically enhanced humans? Doesn't seem too far off for our own society. The world-building is eerily similar to our own world, and one which the reader can feel immediately familiar once they are dropped in.
The plot is a basic soft sci-fi, including interactions and fighting with an alien species that may be more advanced than humans. But does that stop the government from attempting to take their technology? Of course not. The plot is simplistic, if a bit convoluted. The first half of the novel is a completely different story than the second half. Be prepared for a change.
Unfortunately, I could not care about any of the characters. They are inconsistent and simply annoying. This is what hit the book hardest for me, as I crave character-driven stories. The simplistic, if wacky, plot was fine, but the dislike of all characters was what really did it (or didn't do it) for me.
Overall, if you're looking for relatable and likeable characters, or a story with profundity, this is likely not the novel for you. However, if you want an easy sci-fi with telepathic powers and lots of shooting and action (in the second half), then this could be a fun ride!
April 26, 2020
Review coming soon on Sci Fi and Scary
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews