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Body Tourists
In this version of London, there is a small, private clinic. Behind its layers of security, procedures are taking place on poor, robust teenagers from northern Estates in exchange for thousands of pounds - procedures that will bring the wealthy dead back to life in these young supple bodies for fourteen days.
It's an opportunity for wrongs to be righted, for fathers to meet grandsons, for scientists to see their work completed. Old wine in new bottles.
But at what cost?
It's an opportunity for wrongs to be righted, for fathers to meet grandsons, for scientists to see their work completed. Old wine in new bottles.
But at what cost?
240 pages, Hardcover
First published November 14, 2019
11 people are currently reading
803 people want to read
About the author
Jane Rogers
73 books68 followersJane Rogers is an award winning author of nine novels, including The Testament of Jessie Lamb, Man-Booker longlisted and winner of the Arthur C Clarke Award 2012.
Other works include Mr Wroe's Virgins (which she dramatised for the BAFTA-nominated BBC drama series), Her Living Image (Somerset Maugham Award) and Promised Lands (Writers Guild Best Fiction Award). Her story collection Hitting Trees with Sticks was shortlisted for the 2013 Edgehill Award, and the title story was a BBC National Short story award winner.
Jane is Emerita Professor of Writing and also writes radio dramas and adaptations. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and lives in Banbury, UK.
www.janerogers.info
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 110 reviews
May 1, 2024
One reason I enjoy science fiction is that it can, if done well, fire my imagination more than any other genre. I don’t mean the wars with scary creatures from other planets stuff but thoughtful, perhaps more feasible (to me, anyway) science. Here the author gets into the realm of digital memory transference through cryogenics, that is to say preserving the mind of a person who has died by freezing it and subsequently transferring it to a living person. In this imaginative story, set in the year 2045, a scientist has cracked a way of achieving this and is trialling a series of two-week transfers so that the dead can live again, at least for a short period. The recipients of the memory transfer are volunteers who are to receive a cash payment for effectively being put to sleep for a fortnight whilst their body is borrowed.
There’s not a lot of science here. The reader just has to take it on trust that the means have been achieved by a bright but somewhat heedless scientist. OK, I can live with that as I’d rather not get bogged down in protracted chunks of meaningless technical claptrap. Ostensibly, the borrowed body will be protected for the period of the transfer by being under constant monitoring on an idyllic island. Well, that’s the theory, but of course, plans can go awry. And to some extent, they do.
What I particularly liked is the way the author focuses on a discrete group of people who are all impacted in different ways. It’s clear how the motivations of all parties drive their particular actions and though I cared little for the scientist and his ‘team’, I did find myself worrying for the wellbeing of others tied up in this tale. I also admired the way that a picture of a dystopian England twenty-five or so years from now is developed. This, though, also provides the first jarring element as there seemed to be just too much change – would it really be possible to have the country so reliant on bots undertaking virtually any job from teaching to caring for our medical needs and just about anything else you could think of, in such a short space of time? But the idea of a largely unemployed population spending their days living in a virtual reality world of exploration and game playing does strike a more tenable chord!
For me, the most impactful feature of this book lies in the many and somewhat spooky thoughts that sprang into my head as I was reading:
- How would I feel if I’d died of old age and found myself alive again in a different and much younger body?
- And what if that body were a different gender?
- If I found out that I’d only two weeks to live out this new life, how would that impact my ability to enjoy this miracle?
- How would I want to spend this time: meeting old or surviving acquaintances, doing things I’d missed out in during my ‘first’ life, or something else?
It’s a really thought provoking read and though I’m not a major fan of how the story is wrapped up, my overriding emotion is that it’s been a long time since a book has played with my mind quite so much as this one has.
My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
There’s not a lot of science here. The reader just has to take it on trust that the means have been achieved by a bright but somewhat heedless scientist. OK, I can live with that as I’d rather not get bogged down in protracted chunks of meaningless technical claptrap. Ostensibly, the borrowed body will be protected for the period of the transfer by being under constant monitoring on an idyllic island. Well, that’s the theory, but of course, plans can go awry. And to some extent, they do.
What I particularly liked is the way the author focuses on a discrete group of people who are all impacted in different ways. It’s clear how the motivations of all parties drive their particular actions and though I cared little for the scientist and his ‘team’, I did find myself worrying for the wellbeing of others tied up in this tale. I also admired the way that a picture of a dystopian England twenty-five or so years from now is developed. This, though, also provides the first jarring element as there seemed to be just too much change – would it really be possible to have the country so reliant on bots undertaking virtually any job from teaching to caring for our medical needs and just about anything else you could think of, in such a short space of time? But the idea of a largely unemployed population spending their days living in a virtual reality world of exploration and game playing does strike a more tenable chord!
For me, the most impactful feature of this book lies in the many and somewhat spooky thoughts that sprang into my head as I was reading:
- How would I feel if I’d died of old age and found myself alive again in a different and much younger body?
- And what if that body were a different gender?
- If I found out that I’d only two weeks to live out this new life, how would that impact my ability to enjoy this miracle?
- How would I want to spend this time: meeting old or surviving acquaintances, doing things I’d missed out in during my ‘first’ life, or something else?
It’s a really thought provoking read and though I’m not a major fan of how the story is wrapped up, my overriding emotion is that it’s been a long time since a book has played with my mind quite so much as this one has.
My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
January 3, 2020
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Body Tourists by Jane Rogers. (2019).
When the rich die, their minds are stored digitally. In a private clinic in London, a scientist, Luke, has worked out how to transfer these digital identities into the sleeping bodies of young volunteers. There are opportunities abound: wrongs to be righted, fathers to meet grandsons, scientists to see their work competed; for the old to enjoy all the delicious sensations of life again. But Luke will soon find out he can't control their behavior - especially when they discover they only get 14 days in the host body...
Youth can finally be bought, but at what cost?
I really liked the concept of this book; it was both interesting and believable. You can definitely see something like this happening in the future. There were quite a lot of characters involved with different chapters devoted to various characters - not a technique I'd usually be into but for this book it was perfect because it gave the reader a bigger picture of the numerous effects of the 'Body Tourists'. It's not a huge book and is well written so you could work your way through it quite quickly. There were many thought-provoking questions and issues to consider throughout. This is one I don't think I'd forget in a hurry! I also think a media adaption of this story would be great.
If you like science fiction, or are considering giving it a go, I'd highly recommend this intriguing novel.
*www.facebook.com/onewomansbbr
Body Tourists by Jane Rogers. (2019).
When the rich die, their minds are stored digitally. In a private clinic in London, a scientist, Luke, has worked out how to transfer these digital identities into the sleeping bodies of young volunteers. There are opportunities abound: wrongs to be righted, fathers to meet grandsons, scientists to see their work competed; for the old to enjoy all the delicious sensations of life again. But Luke will soon find out he can't control their behavior - especially when they discover they only get 14 days in the host body...
Youth can finally be bought, but at what cost?
I really liked the concept of this book; it was both interesting and believable. You can definitely see something like this happening in the future. There were quite a lot of characters involved with different chapters devoted to various characters - not a technique I'd usually be into but for this book it was perfect because it gave the reader a bigger picture of the numerous effects of the 'Body Tourists'. It's not a huge book and is well written so you could work your way through it quite quickly. There were many thought-provoking questions and issues to consider throughout. This is one I don't think I'd forget in a hurry! I also think a media adaption of this story would be great.
If you like science fiction, or are considering giving it a go, I'd highly recommend this intriguing novel.
October 8, 2019
Body Tourists by Jane Rogers
A memorable, freaky and intriguing concept
It's London, the year 2045, an online advert is asking for help in medical research, applicants must have a fitness certificate, aged between 18-22 and be available for fifteen days in exchange for ten thousand pounds, it sounds too good to be true. It’s experimental and illegal and these volunteers go in half blind wanting the money so desperately.
A small private clinic is experimenting with digital memory transfer so the cryogenically frozen wealthy can come back from the dead for just fourteen days in younger bodies.
The world has changed, many jobs have been taken over by bots. The many people that are poor and no longer working are housed in fenced ‘estates’, packed in like sardines in drab towers with boxy rooms. There’s no fresh food here just frozen, the youngsters in these estates have never seen real animals, hardly anyone walks anywhere or exercises and people are quietly stashed in their rooms plugged into VR with their glasses, drink packs and nappies, their future is dim.
As the drama unfolds we follow the experiences of the volunteer bodies and their new inhabitants.
The plot is really intriguing and well written, it makes you think hard about being human and the direction the world is heading, it doesn’t seem that impossible that some of this story could become real.
I enjoyed this sci-fi read, recommended.
Thanks to Netgalley and Hachette Australia for the ARC in exchange for an honest review
A memorable, freaky and intriguing concept
It's London, the year 2045, an online advert is asking for help in medical research, applicants must have a fitness certificate, aged between 18-22 and be available for fifteen days in exchange for ten thousand pounds, it sounds too good to be true. It’s experimental and illegal and these volunteers go in half blind wanting the money so desperately.
A small private clinic is experimenting with digital memory transfer so the cryogenically frozen wealthy can come back from the dead for just fourteen days in younger bodies.
The world has changed, many jobs have been taken over by bots. The many people that are poor and no longer working are housed in fenced ‘estates’, packed in like sardines in drab towers with boxy rooms. There’s no fresh food here just frozen, the youngsters in these estates have never seen real animals, hardly anyone walks anywhere or exercises and people are quietly stashed in their rooms plugged into VR with their glasses, drink packs and nappies, their future is dim.
As the drama unfolds we follow the experiences of the volunteer bodies and their new inhabitants.
The plot is really intriguing and well written, it makes you think hard about being human and the direction the world is heading, it doesn’t seem that impossible that some of this story could become real.
I enjoyed this sci-fi read, recommended.
Thanks to Netgalley and Hachette Australia for the ARC in exchange for an honest review
June 1, 2020
DNF-25%
This is another one where it looked fantastic on paper but in reality, I just couldn't get into it despite reading until 25%.
This one is set in a future where cutting-edge and secret technology allows a digitally stored dead consciousness to be uploading into a living person hence the term body tourist.
While I found the idea extremely intriguing the actual execution here was less so.
This was in itself well written I just found it monotonous and slightly tedious.
I threw in the towel a quarter way through as I had no inclination to proceed further with this which was unfortunate as I was initially excited to embark with this one.
Unfortunately, this one just wasn't for me.
I voluntary reviewed a copy of Body Tourists.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com
This is another one where it looked fantastic on paper but in reality, I just couldn't get into it despite reading until 25%.
This one is set in a future where cutting-edge and secret technology allows a digitally stored dead consciousness to be uploading into a living person hence the term body tourist.
While I found the idea extremely intriguing the actual execution here was less so.
This was in itself well written I just found it monotonous and slightly tedious.
I threw in the towel a quarter way through as I had no inclination to proceed further with this which was unfortunate as I was initially excited to embark with this one.
Unfortunately, this one just wasn't for me.
I voluntary reviewed a copy of Body Tourists.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com
November 15, 2019
Body Tourists is a thrilling dystopian tale set in 2045 and is a compelling and thought-provoking page-turner. I read this at the same time as watching Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror and this book is somewhat similar in that it focuses on how technology and its advancement impacts society and both the positive and negative connotations this can have. The premise is a fascinating one; eminent Wunderkind scientist Luke Butler has found a way to take the preserved mind of a dead person and transfer it to someone who is still alive. When the digital memories are transplanted into the host body, they inhabit the space for a mere 14 days and this begs the question: what would you do if you could live again for a fortnight? For taking part in the experiment the host bodies are paid £10,000 for their silence but one of the first people to be involved is not able to return to his normal self and dies with his death being covered up by those in charge of the experiment.
This is a beautifully written science fiction novel which falls into the literary genre; I was absolutely riveted and thoroughly enjoyed my time reading it. But this is so much more than just a gripping plot as it explores philosophical questions about life and death and has a lot to say on the huge wealth divide between the upper and lower classes in society. It is very much reflective of real-life with those on the breadline making money through being part of the trial as a host but unable to afford to actually have their memories cryogenically frozen and transplanted whereas the affluent can easily afford to take part and effectively come back to life for a fortnight. It is compulsively readable and an intensely thought-provoking slow-burning story which at its heart is plot-driven but a lot of attention has been paid to the cast of characters too. An unsettling and completely absorbing concept and a potent, heady mix of excellent characterisation, complex plotting and social commentary make this a must-read for speculative fiction fans. Many thanks to Sceptre for an ARC.
This is a beautifully written science fiction novel which falls into the literary genre; I was absolutely riveted and thoroughly enjoyed my time reading it. But this is so much more than just a gripping plot as it explores philosophical questions about life and death and has a lot to say on the huge wealth divide between the upper and lower classes in society. It is very much reflective of real-life with those on the breadline making money through being part of the trial as a host but unable to afford to actually have their memories cryogenically frozen and transplanted whereas the affluent can easily afford to take part and effectively come back to life for a fortnight. It is compulsively readable and an intensely thought-provoking slow-burning story which at its heart is plot-driven but a lot of attention has been paid to the cast of characters too. An unsettling and completely absorbing concept and a potent, heady mix of excellent characterisation, complex plotting and social commentary make this a must-read for speculative fiction fans. Many thanks to Sceptre for an ARC.
February 22, 2020
This is actually another follow-up on Frankissstein, as it also pokes into what we might do with all these cryogenically frozen heads. Not my typical book, but I caught up in the take - downloading deceased brains into hired young healthy bodies (set up so everything can go wrong). Imagine what it would be like in the new, healthy, borrowed body, not to mention how you might feel about someone else borrowing your body. The concept is interesting, and she looks at it from several angles. And, it has left me thinking about it.
As it's a plot driven book, this was well out of my comfort zone. The prose is plot practical, sleekly efficient at defining characters in just a few lines. It's not unique to this book, but it's something I don't read much, so I spent some time thinking about, and, honestly, fighting with it. Part of me feels this style is very modern-life like, in way a painted metal sign is–informative, clear, but without anything else to see. But, that is just me dwelling on was is a clean effort at what I think is a normal writing style.
-----------------------------------------------
10. Body Tourists by Jane Rogers
published: 2019
format: 229-page hardcover
acquired: January
read: Feb 7-13
time reading: 6 hr 33 min, 1.7 min/page
rating: 2½
locations: England, Scotland and some tropical island
about the author born in London, July 21, 1952
As it's a plot driven book, this was well out of my comfort zone. The prose is plot practical, sleekly efficient at defining characters in just a few lines. It's not unique to this book, but it's something I don't read much, so I spent some time thinking about, and, honestly, fighting with it. Part of me feels this style is very modern-life like, in way a painted metal sign is–informative, clear, but without anything else to see. But, that is just me dwelling on was is a clean effort at what I think is a normal writing style.
-----------------------------------------------
10. Body Tourists by Jane Rogers
published: 2019
format: 229-page hardcover
acquired: January
read: Feb 7-13
time reading: 6 hr 33 min, 1.7 min/page
rating: 2½
locations: England, Scotland and some tropical island
about the author born in London, July 21, 1952
March 4, 2024
loved the concept and the exploration of how it affects various characters; i just wish there'd been a little more depth and substance to it. i feel like there were some interesting challenges touched on (like ethical/moral questions) that weren't fully developed. 3 stars.
October 9, 2019
Body Tourists had a lot of very good things about it, but for me it didn’t quite live up to its initial promise.
The book begins excellently. It is 2045 and a lone scientist with a super-wealthy backer has found a way of downloading the minds of dead, cryogenically frozen people into the bodies of young, healthy (and well paid) volunteers for 14 days. Jane Rogers uses this to explore the consequences and ethics of such a procedure, as well as to make some strong political points about the direction our society seems to be taking. This includes the increasing use of robots and the consequent loss of jobs, income and self-respect and people’s use of Virtual Reality effectively as a drug to deal with the effects of this as the unemployed are shipped out to bleak “Northern Estates” and left there with almost no facilities. The wealthy, meanwhile have a fabulous time – which begins to include the wealthy dead taking over the bodies of the poor so that they can return to life.
It’s an intriguing concept and Rogers does pretty well with the ideas and examines both how things can go terribly wrong but also how it may be an opportunity to resolve injustice and bring resolution. We get several points of view, some in the first person, some in the third. For me, there were rather too many to keep the narrative sufficiently tight, some were more effective than others. There is also a long story which for much of its length isn’t directly relevant to the Tourism concept; it’s well done and I can see why Rogers wanted to give such a fully drawn background, but it doesn’t sit well with the book as a whole. The issues weren’t always considered in the depth I’d expected and I also found much of the ending rather rushed and over-neatly resolved – but there is also a brief but brilliant and quietly chilling final section in the voice of the rich backer.
Jane Rogers is a very good writer, so there is much to like about this book. Flaws notwithstanding, I can recommend this as an exciting and thought-provoking read.
(My thanks to Sceptre for an ARC via NetGalley.)
The book begins excellently. It is 2045 and a lone scientist with a super-wealthy backer has found a way of downloading the minds of dead, cryogenically frozen people into the bodies of young, healthy (and well paid) volunteers for 14 days. Jane Rogers uses this to explore the consequences and ethics of such a procedure, as well as to make some strong political points about the direction our society seems to be taking. This includes the increasing use of robots and the consequent loss of jobs, income and self-respect and people’s use of Virtual Reality effectively as a drug to deal with the effects of this as the unemployed are shipped out to bleak “Northern Estates” and left there with almost no facilities. The wealthy, meanwhile have a fabulous time – which begins to include the wealthy dead taking over the bodies of the poor so that they can return to life.
It’s an intriguing concept and Rogers does pretty well with the ideas and examines both how things can go terribly wrong but also how it may be an opportunity to resolve injustice and bring resolution. We get several points of view, some in the first person, some in the third. For me, there were rather too many to keep the narrative sufficiently tight, some were more effective than others. There is also a long story which for much of its length isn’t directly relevant to the Tourism concept; it’s well done and I can see why Rogers wanted to give such a fully drawn background, but it doesn’t sit well with the book as a whole. The issues weren’t always considered in the depth I’d expected and I also found much of the ending rather rushed and over-neatly resolved – but there is also a brief but brilliant and quietly chilling final section in the voice of the rich backer.
Jane Rogers is a very good writer, so there is much to like about this book. Flaws notwithstanding, I can recommend this as an exciting and thought-provoking read.
(My thanks to Sceptre for an ARC via NetGalley.)
October 27, 2019
Body Tourists is a page turning tale that deals with the ethics of extending life at the cost of the young. I loved this book. The moral questions it asks are relevent to today's world as well as to the world of the novel. I found it easy to suspend reality to allow the multiple voices of the book to explain their perspective yet I found myself grappling from being able to understand the point of view of each of them. I found the questions that were left unanswered to be the most prominent element. Bravo, Jane Rogers. Off I go to read your other work.
October 21, 2019
Jane Rogers’ novel, Body Tourists, speculates on technological advances within the medical field in offering a second crack at life to those who are able to afford it. The yawning gulf between the rich and poor ensures a plethora of ‘host’ bodies willing to submit their lives in exchange for financial incentive. There is only one hitch - there is no guarantee that you will survive. A real page turner!
November 19, 2019
I really enjoyed the premise of this and I found it a fast read and very difficult to put down. But I would have liked much more substance to it. There were some wonderful characters and situations (I was moved greatly by a couple of these) but there were other characters who were too light, mostly the people involved in running the clinic. And then there's the unsatisfactory idea of the paradise island... and why some body tourists are allowed to have contact with loved ones and others aren't. In other words I loved a lot about the ideas behind this novel but I would have liked them explored with more depth and consistency. But a fun read. Review to follow very shortly on For Winter Nights.
November 2, 2019
I've never forgotten Jane Rogers' deeply disturbing The Testament of Jessie Lamb, so it's not surprising to see her returning to questions of bodily autonomy in her latest novel, Body Tourists, which sees the wealthy dead hitch a temporary ride in the bodies of the desperate young. And given the extensive poverty and inequality on the British housing estates in this not-so-distant future, there are no shortage of volunteers hoping to earn ten grand for taking this gamble.
Body Tourists unfolds through the stories of several people connected with the technology; some only narrate for a chapter or so, while others form a continuing thread throughout the novel. Octavia, one of the first to benefit from the technology, is overjoyed by the experience of being in a young body, and Rogers captures the visceral reality of this very well. Paula and Ryan see no alternative other than to volunteer for the experiment. Elsa’s partner Lindy is swept up in a witch-hunt and killed before they can reconcile; what wouldn’t Elsa give for more time with her? Finally, ageing rock star Richard K is tempted to bring back his dead father, but soon begins to regret it.
These human stories are all compelling, but spending her time on so many threads holds Rogers back from exploring the implications of this technology as thoroughly as I’d hoped she would. I can see the advantage of these multiple voices – as in Helen Sedgwick’s wonderful The Growing Season, these different narrators stop body tourism from being pigeonholed as either good or bad. However, the simplistic villainy behind the scheme lets the novel down; the character who drives the misuse of the technology is unbelievable and simplistic, and this stops Rogers asking the more interesting kind of moral questions that she raised in The Testament of Jessie Lamb. This is an addictive read, and more thoughtful than much recent high-concept speculative fiction, but I still wanted a little more depth.
I received a free proof copy of this novel from the publisher for review.
Body Tourists unfolds through the stories of several people connected with the technology; some only narrate for a chapter or so, while others form a continuing thread throughout the novel. Octavia, one of the first to benefit from the technology, is overjoyed by the experience of being in a young body, and Rogers captures the visceral reality of this very well. Paula and Ryan see no alternative other than to volunteer for the experiment. Elsa’s partner Lindy is swept up in a witch-hunt and killed before they can reconcile; what wouldn’t Elsa give for more time with her? Finally, ageing rock star Richard K is tempted to bring back his dead father, but soon begins to regret it.
These human stories are all compelling, but spending her time on so many threads holds Rogers back from exploring the implications of this technology as thoroughly as I’d hoped she would. I can see the advantage of these multiple voices – as in Helen Sedgwick’s wonderful The Growing Season, these different narrators stop body tourism from being pigeonholed as either good or bad. However, the simplistic villainy behind the scheme lets the novel down; the character who drives the misuse of the technology is unbelievable and simplistic, and this stops Rogers asking the more interesting kind of moral questions that she raised in The Testament of Jessie Lamb. This is an addictive read, and more thoughtful than much recent high-concept speculative fiction, but I still wanted a little more depth.
I received a free proof copy of this novel from the publisher for review.
October 10, 2019
A really interesting premise, which raised so many moral and ethical questions. Great to hear so many viewpoints to really explore the ideas and impact.
December 1, 2020
❄️🎄
I got this from The Big Green Bookshop, after signing up for the 3 month book subscription where you answer some questions on an email and get sent personally picked out books to read and enjoy. This was my first one that came last month and I was really pleased to get it as it’s one that I’ve been eyeing up a while.
This premise alone is just so brilliant and made me excited to read it straight away. If this was a film I’d be watching it 100%, it’s so interesting and just really makes your mind wonder. So if you like books that give you food for thought this might be for you!
I mean it’s heavy with the science side of things at times, which I guess is to be expected, some will love that and some might find it a bit hard going. I was in the middle about it. For me what appealed and what I enjoyed from the story was the emotional side to it and the personal life’s of the characters, and seeing how things played out given their choices.
This covers a few different characters and very different points of view, they have varied reasons for wanting to use this technology and I found that interesting too. I thought for a short book (229 pages) it does pack a lot in, but just at times for me I found it a bit hard to get my head round. But the questions that it poses and how thought provoking it is I really liked that about it.
I’ve given it a 3 ⭐️, for the premise and for the story in general. And certain scenes which I really liked. But I think some it maybe went over my head.
I got this from The Big Green Bookshop, after signing up for the 3 month book subscription where you answer some questions on an email and get sent personally picked out books to read and enjoy. This was my first one that came last month and I was really pleased to get it as it’s one that I’ve been eyeing up a while.
This premise alone is just so brilliant and made me excited to read it straight away. If this was a film I’d be watching it 100%, it’s so interesting and just really makes your mind wonder. So if you like books that give you food for thought this might be for you!
I mean it’s heavy with the science side of things at times, which I guess is to be expected, some will love that and some might find it a bit hard going. I was in the middle about it. For me what appealed and what I enjoyed from the story was the emotional side to it and the personal life’s of the characters, and seeing how things played out given their choices.
This covers a few different characters and very different points of view, they have varied reasons for wanting to use this technology and I found that interesting too. I thought for a short book (229 pages) it does pack a lot in, but just at times for me I found it a bit hard to get my head round. But the questions that it poses and how thought provoking it is I really liked that about it.
I’ve given it a 3 ⭐️, for the premise and for the story in general. And certain scenes which I really liked. But I think some it maybe went over my head.
February 24, 2020
This book has such a fascinating concept, which is what drew me to it in the first place, but I did find it a bit of a slog to get through. I didn’t really enjoy the writing style and I wasn’t particularly compelled by any of the characters’ stories. I think I would have liked a bit more substance and more exploration of some of the themes. I was really interested by the idea that Body Tourism exploits young, poor people by taking advantage of the one thing they have over the old and wealthy, which is their youth and health, but I think the novel didn’t explore this in ways that it maybe could have.
It’s a high concept novel that, for me, falls into the trap that many high concept stories do — amazing ideas but not enough substance.
It’s a high concept novel that, for me, falls into the trap that many high concept stories do — amazing ideas but not enough substance.
July 6, 2020
The idea is not brand new, but it was developed in an interesting way. In a society where it is possible to somehow hibernate the "self" of the deceased, it becomes possible to implant this "self" in a host body, even if for a limited period of time. But who are these host bodies? For safety reasons they must be young and robust. And what better source of young and robust bodies can there be than the lower strata of society, people who are willing to give up a certain period of their lives in exchange for a substantial sum of money, so that they can live out their dreams?
All right, then? Of course not.
As I said, the plot has been developed in an interesting way, but some contradiction and some naivety in the development of the characters' personalities make it impossible to give the work full marks.
All right, then? Of course not.
As I said, the plot has been developed in an interesting way, but some contradiction and some naivety in the development of the characters' personalities make it impossible to give the work full marks.
November 23, 2021
Actual rating 3,5 stars.
February 21, 2020
2.5 stars. Video review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIP9K...
October 23, 2019
Fascinating novel that only misses out on four stars because of how much more detail I wanted to read. Body tourists take the idea of a life after death to a whole new level. With entire human minds downloaded into electronic memory, it becomes possible to bring people back from the dead. Not permanently of course and not in their own body. But it becomes possible to shut down someone's brain and download this dead personality and memories into the space that's left behind. This gives the dead a new lease of life... for two weeks at least, then the body is returned to its original owner.
It's all very experimental and very, very secret. It's likely not all that legal but that's what confidentiality agreements and £10,000 for volunteers is for. And what's the harm. In a country where most jobs have been taken over by bots and the poor are blindingly impoverished with no hope of a better life, is it a surprise young, healthy individuals from sink estates will jump at the chance? After all, it's meant to be perfectly safe. There are all kinds of safeguards in place. The problems begin though when one of the first volunteers doesn't come back. His relatives and family are told one thing, but Paula knows differently.
I found the premise fascinating and the execution of the novel largely stands up to scrutiny. You get a lot of third view perspectives, from the volunteers, family, the resurrected dead and the scientific mind behind the project as well as his financial support... this makes the novel very busy and somewhat choppy at points, but it works. Many of the characters are highly empathisable and the ethical dilemma's they are placed in are striking. My main issue here is that it feels to me that there could be so much more to this; with relative ease this could become a book to really sink your teeth into and wrestle with, but instead it's a light and easy read that glosses over many aspects I'd be really keen to hear more about.
Much of the focus is on the individual stories of the many characters in the book and whilst this does serve to drive the narrative, it doesn't work so well at bringing real depth to the novel. There is a huge wealth of things that could have been delved into; scientific aspects, ethical and morality questions, long flung consequences and varying reactions. You get a small sampling of this but it's all rather glossed over and it's that level of detail that would have moved this from good to bleeding fantastic. There are some decisions made from the scientific trial front that frankly made little sense to me and so if they made sense to the author, further explanation was needed.
For example, why let select 'tourists' go back to a family home but then not allow others to even see their family for more than an hour. You've brought them back from the dead. Surely the point of this - in addition to scientific research - is to make it worth it for them. I got the safe environment aspects, but it would have made more sense logically to bring all interested parties to that safe environment to be with the 'tourist'. Why is this considered an exception? And yet at least two of our other tourists are actively unleashed on the real world.
This is just one of many aspects I would love to see explored in more detail. Others would be the rationale behind choices; volunteers and tourists picked, body swaps chosen. Or the actual process, the explanations given to volunteer and tourist, the experience of the 'typical' tourist rather than the exceptions. The ethical issues and the safety concerns in more detail than just 'lock 'em on an island'; a thorough exploration of how the tourists might impact on direct friends and family or even society as a whole is difficult when you isolate them from any of those experiences. The way this research could be used in the future.
I admit, I enjoyed this, I really did. But i didn't find as much depth or bite as I might have expected or hoped for. Instead of giving me something to really chew on, I whistled through it. So yes. It's good. But it had the potential to be excellent and it didn't hit that mark.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC copy of this novel.
It's all very experimental and very, very secret. It's likely not all that legal but that's what confidentiality agreements and £10,000 for volunteers is for. And what's the harm. In a country where most jobs have been taken over by bots and the poor are blindingly impoverished with no hope of a better life, is it a surprise young, healthy individuals from sink estates will jump at the chance? After all, it's meant to be perfectly safe. There are all kinds of safeguards in place. The problems begin though when one of the first volunteers doesn't come back. His relatives and family are told one thing, but Paula knows differently.
I found the premise fascinating and the execution of the novel largely stands up to scrutiny. You get a lot of third view perspectives, from the volunteers, family, the resurrected dead and the scientific mind behind the project as well as his financial support... this makes the novel very busy and somewhat choppy at points, but it works. Many of the characters are highly empathisable and the ethical dilemma's they are placed in are striking. My main issue here is that it feels to me that there could be so much more to this; with relative ease this could become a book to really sink your teeth into and wrestle with, but instead it's a light and easy read that glosses over many aspects I'd be really keen to hear more about.
Much of the focus is on the individual stories of the many characters in the book and whilst this does serve to drive the narrative, it doesn't work so well at bringing real depth to the novel. There is a huge wealth of things that could have been delved into; scientific aspects, ethical and morality questions, long flung consequences and varying reactions. You get a small sampling of this but it's all rather glossed over and it's that level of detail that would have moved this from good to bleeding fantastic. There are some decisions made from the scientific trial front that frankly made little sense to me and so if they made sense to the author, further explanation was needed.
For example, why let select 'tourists' go back to a family home but then not allow others to even see their family for more than an hour. You've brought them back from the dead. Surely the point of this - in addition to scientific research - is to make it worth it for them. I got the safe environment aspects, but it would have made more sense logically to bring all interested parties to that safe environment to be with the 'tourist'. Why is this considered an exception? And yet at least two of our other tourists are actively unleashed on the real world.
This is just one of many aspects I would love to see explored in more detail. Others would be the rationale behind choices; volunteers and tourists picked, body swaps chosen. Or the actual process, the explanations given to volunteer and tourist, the experience of the 'typical' tourist rather than the exceptions. The ethical issues and the safety concerns in more detail than just 'lock 'em on an island'; a thorough exploration of how the tourists might impact on direct friends and family or even society as a whole is difficult when you isolate them from any of those experiences. The way this research could be used in the future.
I admit, I enjoyed this, I really did. But i didn't find as much depth or bite as I might have expected or hoped for. Instead of giving me something to really chew on, I whistled through it. So yes. It's good. But it had the potential to be excellent and it didn't hit that mark.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC copy of this novel.
November 16, 2019
My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton/Sceptre for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Body Tourists’ by Jane Rogers in exchange for an honest review.
London, 2045. In this near future robots are everywhere. There has been great strides including a recent breakthrough that allows a full digital memory transfer into a synth though there are concerns that they are no longer human.
Now a brilliant young researcher has taken this concept further and in his small, private clinic has perfected a procedure that implants the consciousness of the wealthy dead into the bodies of healthy teens from poor estates in exchange for thousands of pounds. This ‘body tourism’ only lasts for fourteen days. What could possibly go wrong?
What a fascinating premise! As it was published on 14 November and I knew within a few pages that it was my kind of novel, I elected to purchase its audiobook edition with six narrators giving voice to its characters to listen alongside reading the eARC.
It is very much an ensemble piece moving between various narrative viewpoints.
Interestingly 2045 is the year predicted for the Singularity by futurist Ray Kurzweil. This is the point when he stated that humans will become “hybrid of biological and non-biological intelligence.” What Rogers suggests in this novel is that who benefits from these innovations is likely to be an entitled minority.
‘Body Tourists’ could have emerged as a very technological focused SF novel but I felt that it strikes a good balance between its innovative plot and strong characterisations. I certainly found that I cared about the fates of the various characters.
Rogers has created a dystopian scenario that is quite plausible including the increasing divide between the wealthy and poor in society and the willingness to push the boundaries of life extension for the privileged.
Rogers presents the ethical and social issues behind the new technology impartially encouraging the reader to consider these themselves including the existence of the soul and how that would factor into the equation. In this respect I found the voice of Mary, the devout mother of one of the hosts, was particularly powerful.
An intelligent, thought-provoking work of literary science fiction that is extremely readable and transcends genre.
I now plan to look into reading her back catalogue as I was deeply impressed.
London, 2045. In this near future robots are everywhere. There has been great strides including a recent breakthrough that allows a full digital memory transfer into a synth though there are concerns that they are no longer human.
Now a brilliant young researcher has taken this concept further and in his small, private clinic has perfected a procedure that implants the consciousness of the wealthy dead into the bodies of healthy teens from poor estates in exchange for thousands of pounds. This ‘body tourism’ only lasts for fourteen days. What could possibly go wrong?
What a fascinating premise! As it was published on 14 November and I knew within a few pages that it was my kind of novel, I elected to purchase its audiobook edition with six narrators giving voice to its characters to listen alongside reading the eARC.
It is very much an ensemble piece moving between various narrative viewpoints.
Interestingly 2045 is the year predicted for the Singularity by futurist Ray Kurzweil. This is the point when he stated that humans will become “hybrid of biological and non-biological intelligence.” What Rogers suggests in this novel is that who benefits from these innovations is likely to be an entitled minority.
‘Body Tourists’ could have emerged as a very technological focused SF novel but I felt that it strikes a good balance between its innovative plot and strong characterisations. I certainly found that I cared about the fates of the various characters.
Rogers has created a dystopian scenario that is quite plausible including the increasing divide between the wealthy and poor in society and the willingness to push the boundaries of life extension for the privileged.
Rogers presents the ethical and social issues behind the new technology impartially encouraging the reader to consider these themselves including the existence of the soul and how that would factor into the equation. In this respect I found the voice of Mary, the devout mother of one of the hosts, was particularly powerful.
An intelligent, thought-provoking work of literary science fiction that is extremely readable and transcends genre.
I now plan to look into reading her back catalogue as I was deeply impressed.
October 1, 2019
‘Body Tourists’ may initially appear too preposterous a concept to enable the reader to ‘suspend disbelief’ but, because Jane Rogers always writes so thoughtfully and pertinently about human nature, it quickly becomes easy to accept the idea of a world in which the young and healthy poor are exploited by the wealthy who want just a little more time with their rich dead friends. They buy a youthful body for two weeks into which is planted their dead love-one’s frozen cells. Hey presto, the host’s brain is taken over by this impostor.
Rogers allows us to appreciate the vulnerabilities of both the exploiters and the exploited and she also shows us just how dangerous it is to play God – the great come-back in a newer, lovelier body sounds exciting but peak physical health can make an old man or woman behave as they never have before. It gives them confidence to overstep old boundaries and, in doing so, hurt those they’ve loved. Nonetheless, Rogers also suggests that being able to apologise face-to-face (albeit to a different face!) for mistakes made can have a healing, cathartic effect. But one positive example is not enough to make up for the chaos caused by most of the tourism. Don’t tamper with Nature; don’t play God; don’t abuse the weak and the needy are all lessons to be learnt in ‘Body Tourists’ but Rogers is not an overtly didactic writer. These important truths are often explored in amusing as well as chilling ways.
Perhaps the most powerful aspect of this story is the realisation that we are teetering on the brink of this dystopia. The neediest in society do live in ‘sink’ estates; gaming addicts do exist; people do live off processed food and we are told that, ‘Hardly any people walk, did you know that? I mean, there are joggers and cyclists, and at rush hour humans walk to and from the trans and the Tube, but that’s all. They keep their heads down looking at their phones with their earplugs in, they side-step you neatly without even looking up. No one sees you, no one hears you, so you walk the streets like a ghost. Invisible, watching, this mass of digitally connected creatures rushing about its business.’ Sounds familiar?
This is a wise and brilliantly observed novel, made all the more memorable for its combination of present problems and future horrors. Not normally a reader of science fiction, I recommend it to anyone who is interested in what it is to be human – and that mean pretty much everyone, right?
My thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.
Rogers allows us to appreciate the vulnerabilities of both the exploiters and the exploited and she also shows us just how dangerous it is to play God – the great come-back in a newer, lovelier body sounds exciting but peak physical health can make an old man or woman behave as they never have before. It gives them confidence to overstep old boundaries and, in doing so, hurt those they’ve loved. Nonetheless, Rogers also suggests that being able to apologise face-to-face (albeit to a different face!) for mistakes made can have a healing, cathartic effect. But one positive example is not enough to make up for the chaos caused by most of the tourism. Don’t tamper with Nature; don’t play God; don’t abuse the weak and the needy are all lessons to be learnt in ‘Body Tourists’ but Rogers is not an overtly didactic writer. These important truths are often explored in amusing as well as chilling ways.
Perhaps the most powerful aspect of this story is the realisation that we are teetering on the brink of this dystopia. The neediest in society do live in ‘sink’ estates; gaming addicts do exist; people do live off processed food and we are told that, ‘Hardly any people walk, did you know that? I mean, there are joggers and cyclists, and at rush hour humans walk to and from the trans and the Tube, but that’s all. They keep their heads down looking at their phones with their earplugs in, they side-step you neatly without even looking up. No one sees you, no one hears you, so you walk the streets like a ghost. Invisible, watching, this mass of digitally connected creatures rushing about its business.’ Sounds familiar?
This is a wise and brilliantly observed novel, made all the more memorable for its combination of present problems and future horrors. Not normally a reader of science fiction, I recommend it to anyone who is interested in what it is to be human – and that mean pretty much everyone, right?
My thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.
October 21, 2019
Wunderkind scientist Luke Butler has developed a process whereby the saved consciousness of a deceased person can be inserted into a living donor for a set time of two weeks, giving them a chance to live again. To reconnect with loved ones, to complete unfinished business. Obviously there are many takers for this technology but notsomany donors. So he reaches out to the poor of the parish. For a whack of money, all they have to do is relinquish control of their bodies for a fortnight. What could possibly go wrong? Even with the promise that their bodies will not be abused.
In this book we meet lots of people on both sides of what is happening. We hear from donors, recipients, family, scientists, money people, and those that broker the deals. We follow certain of the dead as they are reborn and what happens to them during their second lives. There's so much going on that, at times, the book does feel a little disjointed. Many individual stories linked by a tentative over narrative which just serve to add colour to the overall debate as to whether this is a good or bad thing.
There's a lot to debate morally about the shenanigans that go on in this story. There is also the rich/poor divide to consider in the mix. And the race between legislation and technology and the divide that exists between them. We also have the dilemma of how far to go when the worst happens.
Some of those enjoying their second life have positive experiences. The chance to say goodbye, the conversation they wished they had had before one died. But then there's the other side of the coin and what happens to those who stray off the path they are supposed to be on and the fallout from that. Given two weeks in a body that is not your own, knowing that at the end you will die again, and not be held accountable...?!
As a story on the whole it is a bit lacking as it is not quite a fluent as maybe I would have liked it to be. As food for thought for the future, taking some of the individual stories, it excels. It would definitely make for a very interesting book club book. What would I do if I was in their position...
All in all, a good solid read that had piqued my interest in what else the author has written to add to my TBR.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
In this book we meet lots of people on both sides of what is happening. We hear from donors, recipients, family, scientists, money people, and those that broker the deals. We follow certain of the dead as they are reborn and what happens to them during their second lives. There's so much going on that, at times, the book does feel a little disjointed. Many individual stories linked by a tentative over narrative which just serve to add colour to the overall debate as to whether this is a good or bad thing.
There's a lot to debate morally about the shenanigans that go on in this story. There is also the rich/poor divide to consider in the mix. And the race between legislation and technology and the divide that exists between them. We also have the dilemma of how far to go when the worst happens.
Some of those enjoying their second life have positive experiences. The chance to say goodbye, the conversation they wished they had had before one died. But then there's the other side of the coin and what happens to those who stray off the path they are supposed to be on and the fallout from that. Given two weeks in a body that is not your own, knowing that at the end you will die again, and not be held accountable...?!
As a story on the whole it is a bit lacking as it is not quite a fluent as maybe I would have liked it to be. As food for thought for the future, taking some of the individual stories, it excels. It would definitely make for a very interesting book club book. What would I do if I was in their position...
All in all, a good solid read that had piqued my interest in what else the author has written to add to my TBR.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
October 10, 2019
I first came across Jane Rogers when The Testament of Jessie Lamb was longlisted for the Booker Prize. It was an impressive work, chock full of ideas. So I was delighted to be able to read Body Tourists ahead of its general release (thanks Netgalley!).
Body Tourists is set in a near future world where medical science has just begun to find ways to reanimate cryogenically frozen brains into the bodies of living donors. The science is in its infancy, the subject of secret trials, and reanimated brains have only two weeks before they give their bodies back to the donors.
Which makes one think of all the ways this could possibly go wrong. And Jane Rogers takes us on a tour of all the moral, legal and scientific issues – one by one.
There is a plot of sorts, but mostly it is just a vehicle for exploring the issues. The characters have only a finite space in which to live, which makes the multiple point of view narrative feel more like a series of connected short stories than a novel per se. Of the continuing characters, Luke is a rather engaging medical scientist who is too enthusiastic (or too lazy) to think through the moral problems even when they blow up in front of him. He is the pivot around whom everything else revolves. But the real beauty comes in the short vignettes presented by the reanimated and their families – the rock star and his father; the teacher who died while under suspicion of child abuse; the mad scientist…
Body Tourists is a short and fast read, but it packs plenty of ideas between its covers.
Body Tourists is set in a near future world where medical science has just begun to find ways to reanimate cryogenically frozen brains into the bodies of living donors. The science is in its infancy, the subject of secret trials, and reanimated brains have only two weeks before they give their bodies back to the donors.
Which makes one think of all the ways this could possibly go wrong. And Jane Rogers takes us on a tour of all the moral, legal and scientific issues – one by one.
There is a plot of sorts, but mostly it is just a vehicle for exploring the issues. The characters have only a finite space in which to live, which makes the multiple point of view narrative feel more like a series of connected short stories than a novel per se. Of the continuing characters, Luke is a rather engaging medical scientist who is too enthusiastic (or too lazy) to think through the moral problems even when they blow up in front of him. He is the pivot around whom everything else revolves. But the real beauty comes in the short vignettes presented by the reanimated and their families – the rock star and his father; the teacher who died while under suspicion of child abuse; the mad scientist…
Body Tourists is a short and fast read, but it packs plenty of ideas between its covers.
October 28, 2019
Following on from Ian McEwan's foray into science fiction, we have another literary author delving in to the world of mind transference into younger bodies. This could almost be a prequel for Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon with the early clinical trials of rich, dead people having their minds electronically uploaded and stored to be later downloaded into younger subjects. All the ethical dilemmas are explored and various cases explore different scenarios: a revived woman is brought back in a man's body in order to satisfy the sexual proclivities of a male scientist; a dead racist father is brought back in the body of a young black man. Young people's vacated bodies are abused, sexually and physically, without their knowledge or consent.
As well as this futuristic exploration of possibles, the underlying message is political and current - the exploitation of the poor and young by the old and rich in our society, where their futures are denied for the financial gain of the elite and wealthy. The poor are relegated to Estates in tower blocks such as Thatcher and Heseltine and they seek an escape to their lives in the addictive world of virtual reality. The offer of easy money via the clinical trials is a tempting offer.
A gripping read with multiple narrators and different voices, that provides a wide canvas for the exploration of the books' themes.
As well as this futuristic exploration of possibles, the underlying message is political and current - the exploitation of the poor and young by the old and rich in our society, where their futures are denied for the financial gain of the elite and wealthy. The poor are relegated to Estates in tower blocks such as Thatcher and Heseltine and they seek an escape to their lives in the addictive world of virtual reality. The offer of easy money via the clinical trials is a tempting offer.
A gripping read with multiple narrators and different voices, that provides a wide canvas for the exploration of the books' themes.
October 21, 2019
“…that’s what I want to share with you dear reader; a ringside seat. At the spectacle of Luke’s first Body Tourists. Or should I call them guinea pigs? Let me call them beneficiaries.”
Do you have unresolved issues with a departed loved one? Body Tourists gives you a chance to right those wrongs, to gain closure. What an intriguing prospect this book offers.
I loved the plot. I'm usually not a fan of Sci-Fi/ Fantasy novels but this book was an exception. It tapped into modern worries- body concerns, politics, religion and it covered them sensitively. Easy to follow even though there are multiple character arcs. There was a good mix of characters. I wasn’t that bothered by Luke at the beginning of the novel but by the end I really hated him! That’s a skill for an author I believe- causing such transitional reactions.
I wasn’t keen on the Richard K storyline. It dragged slightly but I understand why it was part of the story though. This was a nicely paced and easy read overall. I can see why Hilary Mantel was a fan. The book is beautifully descriptive in parts and uses some wonderfully evocative language.
I recommend this book.
Thank you to Netgalley, Jane Rogers, Sceptre and Hodder & Stoughton for the advanced copy of this book.
Do you have unresolved issues with a departed loved one? Body Tourists gives you a chance to right those wrongs, to gain closure. What an intriguing prospect this book offers.
I loved the plot. I'm usually not a fan of Sci-Fi/ Fantasy novels but this book was an exception. It tapped into modern worries- body concerns, politics, religion and it covered them sensitively. Easy to follow even though there are multiple character arcs. There was a good mix of characters. I wasn’t that bothered by Luke at the beginning of the novel but by the end I really hated him! That’s a skill for an author I believe- causing such transitional reactions.
I wasn’t keen on the Richard K storyline. It dragged slightly but I understand why it was part of the story though. This was a nicely paced and easy read overall. I can see why Hilary Mantel was a fan. The book is beautifully descriptive in parts and uses some wonderfully evocative language.
I recommend this book.
Thank you to Netgalley, Jane Rogers, Sceptre and Hodder & Stoughton for the advanced copy of this book.
October 17, 2019
I really did enjoy this, I do like a dystopian read that doesn’t feel too distant.
Imagine a future where memory can be stored digitally after your death, and at some future point inserted into another body, effectively restoring you to life. The ‘body tourists’ are these people – brought back to life at the request of colleagues or relatives, with some kind of reasoning behind their decision: wanting to make amends, have a final conversation, get the chance to say goodbye.
Of course this opens up all kind of moral and ethical dilemmas – the bodies are generally young and vulnerable people who are paid a significant amount of money for the fortnight they lose while their body is used by the digital memory, and the procedure is not without risks.
The story was dramatized as an excellent radio production earlier in 2019 on Radio 4 – for the first half of the book I could not understand why I had deja-vu!
Highly recommended.
Imagine a future where memory can be stored digitally after your death, and at some future point inserted into another body, effectively restoring you to life. The ‘body tourists’ are these people – brought back to life at the request of colleagues or relatives, with some kind of reasoning behind their decision: wanting to make amends, have a final conversation, get the chance to say goodbye.
Of course this opens up all kind of moral and ethical dilemmas – the bodies are generally young and vulnerable people who are paid a significant amount of money for the fortnight they lose while their body is used by the digital memory, and the procedure is not without risks.
The story was dramatized as an excellent radio production earlier in 2019 on Radio 4 – for the first half of the book I could not understand why I had deja-vu!
Highly recommended.
October 7, 2019
I haven't read any Jane Rogers books before,
however on the strength of this one she definitely has a new fan.
The concept is really interesting and raises many fundamental questions about identity and being human ;
are we the same person if our mind returns to a different body?
Would we want to return to life after death for two weeks just because someone else summoned us?
Would I accept £10000 to allow someone else to use my body, and never know what they had done with it.
Would it be my fault if the guest committed a crime in my body?
Do we have souls?
And many others which I think I will continue to reflect on for a long time to come.
Well framed in a page turning narrative - a book to be recommended
Thank you to netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for an advance copy of this book.
however on the strength of this one she definitely has a new fan.
The concept is really interesting and raises many fundamental questions about identity and being human ;
are we the same person if our mind returns to a different body?
Would we want to return to life after death for two weeks just because someone else summoned us?
Would I accept £10000 to allow someone else to use my body, and never know what they had done with it.
Would it be my fault if the guest committed a crime in my body?
Do we have souls?
And many others which I think I will continue to reflect on for a long time to come.
Well framed in a page turning narrative - a book to be recommended
Thank you to netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for an advance copy of this book.
August 5, 2021
The fact that I finished this book in a day speaks for itself. I haven't read a book that quickly in a very long time. A very enjoyable read that provided just the right amount of world building to intrigue without getting worked up on all the details.
April 30, 2020
As much as I love a good sci-fi novel, I must admit I haven’t really been giving them very high starred reviews recently! It may just be an unfortunate run of books or perhaps given the current climate, stories of oppressive government regimes or dodgy science facilities aren’t quite the escapism I need as they hit a little close to home!
Body Tourists was a nice refreshing change to some of the sci-fi I have read recently but it isn’t without its faults. The story is intriguing and reminded me a little of the movie ‘Get Out’ – the wealthy dead are reanimated into the bodies of young, poor volunteers for two weeks to live out one final lifetime before being put to rest. It’s a great concept and makes for a pacey read that I finished in about 2 sittings. I would perhaps argue it’s a little too short – at only 270 pages there’s actually a lot more world building and character background that I was crying out for but also a lot of things I felt could actually be edited out. I wanted to know more about the wider world – the bots who are integrated into everyday life and the people in society that are against them. We learn a few things in context of the characters but it would have been great to get a wider look before jumping into the project. We also jump a lot from perspective to perspective and particularly early on it’s hard to tell which character is which and what their relevance to the story is. This is very apparent in the story of Elsa and Lindy, their earlier chapters would make a great short story but seemed randomly thrown in when mixed up with all of the other storylines. The ending explores some interesting questions as to the culpability of a guest’s actions but actually this bit which should have been the climax of the piece is almost skipped over sadly and we don’t really understand what happened or why. If we had perhaps got an insight into the Guest who had been transferred it would have made a little more sense and tied it all together nicely.
One of my biggest problems with the story was the realism. This is a scientific trial and as such must have gone though funding and testing and greenlighting for human experimentation. Luke is extremely unrealistic as a character and makes some very stupid decisions. He brings guests back in bodies that are a different sex and ethnicity which must be very jarring for the subjects. He also is fine to let people leave the facility or travel around unsupervised. He puts up initial reservations about it and then seems to go ‘yep that’s fine’ to anyone who asks despite the initial death of one of his hosts. For someone who would want his study to be greenlit, he doesn’t seem to have any motivation for allowing the guests to do this and as such it seemed like a very odd choice and made for a frustrating read at times.
Overall, I would say that Body Tourists is a great concept but one I think needs a bit of expanding, editing and reworking before it becomes a 5 star read. Thank you to NetGalley & Hodder & Stoughton – Sceptre for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
For more of my reviews check out www.kindig.co.uk
Body Tourists was a nice refreshing change to some of the sci-fi I have read recently but it isn’t without its faults. The story is intriguing and reminded me a little of the movie ‘Get Out’ – the wealthy dead are reanimated into the bodies of young, poor volunteers for two weeks to live out one final lifetime before being put to rest. It’s a great concept and makes for a pacey read that I finished in about 2 sittings. I would perhaps argue it’s a little too short – at only 270 pages there’s actually a lot more world building and character background that I was crying out for but also a lot of things I felt could actually be edited out. I wanted to know more about the wider world – the bots who are integrated into everyday life and the people in society that are against them. We learn a few things in context of the characters but it would have been great to get a wider look before jumping into the project. We also jump a lot from perspective to perspective and particularly early on it’s hard to tell which character is which and what their relevance to the story is. This is very apparent in the story of Elsa and Lindy, their earlier chapters would make a great short story but seemed randomly thrown in when mixed up with all of the other storylines. The ending explores some interesting questions as to the culpability of a guest’s actions but actually this bit which should have been the climax of the piece is almost skipped over sadly and we don’t really understand what happened or why. If we had perhaps got an insight into the Guest who had been transferred it would have made a little more sense and tied it all together nicely.
One of my biggest problems with the story was the realism. This is a scientific trial and as such must have gone though funding and testing and greenlighting for human experimentation. Luke is extremely unrealistic as a character and makes some very stupid decisions. He brings guests back in bodies that are a different sex and ethnicity which must be very jarring for the subjects. He also is fine to let people leave the facility or travel around unsupervised. He puts up initial reservations about it and then seems to go ‘yep that’s fine’ to anyone who asks despite the initial death of one of his hosts. For someone who would want his study to be greenlit, he doesn’t seem to have any motivation for allowing the guests to do this and as such it seemed like a very odd choice and made for a frustrating read at times.
Overall, I would say that Body Tourists is a great concept but one I think needs a bit of expanding, editing and reworking before it becomes a 5 star read. Thank you to NetGalley & Hodder & Stoughton – Sceptre for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
For more of my reviews check out www.kindig.co.uk
December 4, 2019
[I received a copy through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]
Interesting theme here: dead, wealthy people being brought to life for a couple of weeks in the bodies of fit, but poor youth for whom this is the only hope of making some kind of money.
There’s a lot to be said here in terms of morals and ethics, some on the religious front, and some not. In itself, this is ground for deeper discussion, from the value of money vs. one’s body to whether a human being suddenly “reanimated” in a younger body can be trusted with it or will just do whatever, and not care about their “host”, since they go back to being dead after that anyway. One could even argue that the rich are robbing (shall I say “once again”?) other people of something precious, in this case their time and their youth, and potentially more (this is a bit spoiler-ish, but it happens early enough in the novel anyway). Especially since, in the novel’s near future, the discrepancy between the haves and the have-nots has grown even bigger, with “estates” now being entire towns from which their inhabitants just never escape.
The story explores several of these “body tourists”, from different points of view. There’s Octavia, one of the tourists herself; Luke, the scientist in charge of the project; Paula, a host who then has to go back to her life and the aftermath of this experiment; Rick, who wants to bring back his father; and Elsa, a woman whose partner died after a particularly harrowing event in their lives, leaving so much unsaid. Each narrative highlights a different take on the matter when it comes to reflecting on the whole body swapping angle—whether it’s a valid option, or should be banned altogether, or could work but only within a specific framework.
That said, I had a hard time getting into the story itself, in that these narratives don’t seamlessly join each other. Most of the time, I got the feeling that I was reading a collection of short stories forcefully brought together, rather than a complete story. (And for what it’s worth, perhaps it’s actually how it started, before being turned into a novel.) It doesn’t detract from the philosophical aspect, the concept of body tourism itself, but in terms of storytelling, it was jarring in several places, and because of this, a few parts of the various characters’ stories were also glossed over, when they could’ve been interesting to explore as well.
Conclusion: 2.5 stars. I liked the theme, but the story itself fell flat for me.
Interesting theme here: dead, wealthy people being brought to life for a couple of weeks in the bodies of fit, but poor youth for whom this is the only hope of making some kind of money.
There’s a lot to be said here in terms of morals and ethics, some on the religious front, and some not. In itself, this is ground for deeper discussion, from the value of money vs. one’s body to whether a human being suddenly “reanimated” in a younger body can be trusted with it or will just do whatever, and not care about their “host”, since they go back to being dead after that anyway. One could even argue that the rich are robbing (shall I say “once again”?) other people of something precious, in this case their time and their youth, and potentially more (this is a bit spoiler-ish, but it happens early enough in the novel anyway). Especially since, in the novel’s near future, the discrepancy between the haves and the have-nots has grown even bigger, with “estates” now being entire towns from which their inhabitants just never escape.
The story explores several of these “body tourists”, from different points of view. There’s Octavia, one of the tourists herself; Luke, the scientist in charge of the project; Paula, a host who then has to go back to her life and the aftermath of this experiment; Rick, who wants to bring back his father; and Elsa, a woman whose partner died after a particularly harrowing event in their lives, leaving so much unsaid. Each narrative highlights a different take on the matter when it comes to reflecting on the whole body swapping angle—whether it’s a valid option, or should be banned altogether, or could work but only within a specific framework.
That said, I had a hard time getting into the story itself, in that these narratives don’t seamlessly join each other. Most of the time, I got the feeling that I was reading a collection of short stories forcefully brought together, rather than a complete story. (And for what it’s worth, perhaps it’s actually how it started, before being turned into a novel.) It doesn’t detract from the philosophical aspect, the concept of body tourism itself, but in terms of storytelling, it was jarring in several places, and because of this, a few parts of the various characters’ stories were also glossed over, when they could’ve been interesting to explore as well.
Conclusion: 2.5 stars. I liked the theme, but the story itself fell flat for me.
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