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Human Rites #2
Terminator Gene
A disturbingly realistic thriller from bestselling Australian author
and environmental scientist Ian Irvine
Will the rising seas bring civilisation down?
In a world ruined by global warming, paranoid governments will do anything to crush dissent. Irith Hardey, a young gene researcher, is thrown onto the streets and, with nothing but the clothes on her back, fights to survive in a predatory world.
Caught up a battle between Security and a cabal of rebels, Irith has no choice but to help the rebels’ assault on a secret data centre deep below London. They steal files containing the code for a deadly terminator virus, but no one can decipher it.
The group is hunted all the way to New Orleans, slowly drowning under the rising sea, to destroy the laboratory where the virus is being made. As the hurricane of the century bears down on the sinking city, Irith struggles to crack the secret of the virus before it wipes out all humanity.
Catastrophic climate change and environmental terrorism collide in Terminator Gene – Book Two in the grimly prophetic Human Rites trilogy.
and environmental scientist Ian Irvine
Will the rising seas bring civilisation down?
In a world ruined by global warming, paranoid governments will do anything to crush dissent. Irith Hardey, a young gene researcher, is thrown onto the streets and, with nothing but the clothes on her back, fights to survive in a predatory world.
Caught up a battle between Security and a cabal of rebels, Irith has no choice but to help the rebels’ assault on a secret data centre deep below London. They steal files containing the code for a deadly terminator virus, but no one can decipher it.
The group is hunted all the way to New Orleans, slowly drowning under the rising sea, to destroy the laboratory where the virus is being made. As the hurricane of the century bears down on the sinking city, Irith struggles to crack the secret of the virus before it wipes out all humanity.
Catastrophic climate change and environmental terrorism collide in Terminator Gene – Book Two in the grimly prophetic Human Rites trilogy.
475 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2003
About the author
Ian Irvine
74 books669 followersI'm an Australian author of 34 novels, mainly fantasy. They include the bestselling Three Worlds epic fantasy sequence, which has sold over a million print copies. It comprises The View from the Mirror quartet, The Well of Echoes quartet and The Song of the Tears trilogy. I’ve just finished The Gates of Good and Evil quartet, the long-awaited sequel to The View from the Mirror. Book 3, The Perilous Tower, was published recently and the final book, The Sapphire Portal, will be published on November 1, 2020.
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/ianirvine.au...
Signup to my email newsletter for free books and special offers, preview chapters, news and other great stuff. https://www.ian-irvine.com/join-my-ne...
LATEST BOOK
WHY I WRITE
Funny thing is, I never wanted to be a writer. From an early age my ambition was to be a scientist. I’m an expert in pollution and I’ve spent my professional life studying it in far-flung places like Mauritius, Sumatra, Mongolia, South Korea, the Philippines, Papua-New Guinea and Western Samoa, as well as all over Australia. Often scuba diving to the bottom of foul, smelly harbours and hammering tubes deep into the polluted mud to collect samples for chemical analysis. Now that’s living!
I was a small, quiet kid who devoured books from the moment I learned to read. When I was naughty, Mum wouldn’t let me read anything for a week – talk about a cruel and unusual punishment.
I discovered fantasy in the early 70’s, with The Lord of the Rings and the Earthsea trilogy, and was immediately hooked. But there wasn’t much fantasy in those days; within a couple of years I’d read everything available. I wanted more and bigger tales, on vaster canvases, but they didn’t exist. That’s why I had to become a writer – to write the kind of stories I wanted to read.
WHAT I WRITE
I’ve never wanted to write about superheroes or huge, reckless warriors who know no fear. I write epic fantasy about underdogs and ordinary people who, in pursuit of their goals, are put to the limit of human endurance. My characters aren’t fantasy stereotypes, they’re real people with believable motivations and unfortunate flaws. I’m well known for strong female characters who have as many adventures as the men, and frequently get them out of trouble (I have five sisters). My characters are often small or clumsy or inexperienced or handicapped in some way, yet they make up for it with cleverness, ingenuity or sheer, low cunning. My antagonists are real, complex people who do bad things for strong and deeply-held reasons – never ‘just because they’re evil’.
Though my characters suffer every kind of torment imaginable, at their lowest point they discover the truest form of courage – they keep fighting because the fate of the people they care for, and the world they love, depends on them never giving up.
SOME RECENT REVIEWS
"Irvine is a veteran storyteller who excels in sustaining complex plots with well-rounded characters. Here, he delivers a compelling tale of vengeance, loyalty, and the search for a place in the world." Starred review, Library Journal (US)
"That Grand Master of the vast epic is with us again! The first gripping volume of what promises to be a vintage Irvine treat. More please!" Crisetta MacLeod, Aurealis Express
"Incredibly exciting. The end will have you eagerly anticipating the next book." Good Reading (Aus)
"He knows how to spin an epic yarn and tell it with real gusto ... ambitious in scope and tirelessly action-stuffed." SFX
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/ianirvine.au...
Signup to my email newsletter for free books and special offers, preview chapters, news and other great stuff. https://www.ian-irvine.com/join-my-ne...
LATEST BOOK
WHY I WRITE
Funny thing is, I never wanted to be a writer. From an early age my ambition was to be a scientist. I’m an expert in pollution and I’ve spent my professional life studying it in far-flung places like Mauritius, Sumatra, Mongolia, South Korea, the Philippines, Papua-New Guinea and Western Samoa, as well as all over Australia. Often scuba diving to the bottom of foul, smelly harbours and hammering tubes deep into the polluted mud to collect samples for chemical analysis. Now that’s living!
I was a small, quiet kid who devoured books from the moment I learned to read. When I was naughty, Mum wouldn’t let me read anything for a week – talk about a cruel and unusual punishment.
I discovered fantasy in the early 70’s, with The Lord of the Rings and the Earthsea trilogy, and was immediately hooked. But there wasn’t much fantasy in those days; within a couple of years I’d read everything available. I wanted more and bigger tales, on vaster canvases, but they didn’t exist. That’s why I had to become a writer – to write the kind of stories I wanted to read.
WHAT I WRITE
I’ve never wanted to write about superheroes or huge, reckless warriors who know no fear. I write epic fantasy about underdogs and ordinary people who, in pursuit of their goals, are put to the limit of human endurance. My characters aren’t fantasy stereotypes, they’re real people with believable motivations and unfortunate flaws. I’m well known for strong female characters who have as many adventures as the men, and frequently get them out of trouble (I have five sisters). My characters are often small or clumsy or inexperienced or handicapped in some way, yet they make up for it with cleverness, ingenuity or sheer, low cunning. My antagonists are real, complex people who do bad things for strong and deeply-held reasons – never ‘just because they’re evil’.
Though my characters suffer every kind of torment imaginable, at their lowest point they discover the truest form of courage – they keep fighting because the fate of the people they care for, and the world they love, depends on them never giving up.
SOME RECENT REVIEWS
"Irvine is a veteran storyteller who excels in sustaining complex plots with well-rounded characters. Here, he delivers a compelling tale of vengeance, loyalty, and the search for a place in the world." Starred review, Library Journal (US)
"That Grand Master of the vast epic is with us again! The first gripping volume of what promises to be a vintage Irvine treat. More please!" Crisetta MacLeod, Aurealis Express
"Incredibly exciting. The end will have you eagerly anticipating the next book." Good Reading (Aus)
"He knows how to spin an epic yarn and tell it with real gusto ... ambitious in scope and tirelessly action-stuffed." SFX
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 9, 2010
What can I say? Deeply disappointing. The emphasis on sex scenes seemed out of place and inappropriate considering the book read like a YA science fiction... I would have guessed he was aiming at 15-20 year olds.
There was at least one giant logical hole... a society such as that of the Global Congress might hate the idea of reproduction - but for reasons of maintaining a riot-free society, it would not insist on abstinence! That kind of society would heavily promote non-reproductive sex, not oppose it... But I suppose that gave a rationale for an attractive teenage virgin to be threatened with sex-slavery and to be rescued by the all-American hero. Speaking of which - the brave American hero standing up against the evils of Europe/Britain is getting pretty old, and I would have expected better (more independent thinking) from an Aussie...
Very disappointing overall...
There was at least one giant logical hole... a society such as that of the Global Congress might hate the idea of reproduction - but for reasons of maintaining a riot-free society, it would not insist on abstinence! That kind of society would heavily promote non-reproductive sex, not oppose it... But I suppose that gave a rationale for an attractive teenage virgin to be threatened with sex-slavery and to be rescued by the all-American hero. Speaking of which - the brave American hero standing up against the evils of Europe/Britain is getting pretty old, and I would have expected better (more independent thinking) from an Aussie...
Very disappointing overall...
December 29, 2012
Reading this purely bc I want to read everything this man has written bc I enjoy his mind space. The book didnt let me down and had a bit more continuous action than the first book in this series. Awkward that he's actually writing about a hurricane scenario in New Orleans when the writing be comes reality years later...spooky but also highlights how well he researches his info and how believable it all is.His geographer/marine biology background is used expertly in this book.
Enjoyed reading it and looking forward to the last in this series.
Enjoyed reading it and looking forward to the last in this series.
August 10, 2023
I hated this so much. The characters are tedious and unlikeable, the setting is a weird mishmash of far-right conspiracies, the plot is a mess, and the whole thing reeks of male gaze.
It would be one thing if II was starting with a tabula rasa character and then showing how she develops morally and politically to reach some conclusion - but she doesn't, she just kind of blunders from one plot checkpoint to another. At one point she joins an undercover spec ops team, demands they treat her as a full member of their team, then has to ask which side they're on and what the fight is about anyway. At another point she's personally been targeted and persecuted by the head of the world government, and is shocked to find that some people think he's bad. But it goes beyond her! The spec ops group turns out to be part of an organisation that's got word that something bad's going to happen, and they don't really know what. They know it's *particularly* bad for undisclosed reasons, so they set out to stop whatever it is. You can probably guess what it's going to be if you've read the title, but they only find out two thirds of the way through. And then they're like "that doesn't seem bad enough, maybe it's something worse". No one in this book seems to know what they're fighting against or why, it's like reading about a computer game where you just blunder around until you find something that looks like a quest marker.
The conspiracy theories: The story centres around an eco-fascist conspiracy that exploits climate change to create a world-government that forces people to recycle. Then something something something they decide to wipe out humanity. The UK is preserving liberty because it rebelled and pulled out of the international organisations, and the US is a theocracy populated by doomsday cults, but these seem to be treated as the better options? There's also a suspicious bit about a vaccine programme which weirdly never links up with the gene-editing extinction plan and never actually goes anywhere, but I'm sure was on II's mind. I genuinely can't tell if this is some kind of satire or dark humour, but I've read bizarre evangelical apocalypse fiction before and this is eerily similar.
And the male gaze stuff - Irith does a lot of breasting boobily, but there's also a lot of sexual violence which I'm pretty sure is meant to be titillating? But the peak of it is when one (female) character *who has body armour* takes it off during a firefight and then gets shot in the boob - this has no effect on the plot or the characters, and seems like it's purely there to draw attention to her body.
One other thing: The climax centres around assaulting a biotech lab in New Orleans, the gang initially thing about deliberately demolishing a levee to flood it, but then a category 5 hurricane just rocks up and does it for them. On the day the apocalypse virus was due to be released. And the evil world leader is in the building personally overseeing the virus release. The gang haven't actually achieved anything other than locating the lab until that point, so it's not like they've thwarted him until then. It's just that the climate-change-obsessed genocidal dictator built his most important research lab in New Orleans right across from a levee, and the biggest storm in history destroyed the city on release day.
And the bit about maths and encryption *glares*. And the twins.
(Obviously I'll have to read the third one and complain about it even more.)
It would be one thing if II was starting with a tabula rasa character and then showing how she develops morally and politically to reach some conclusion - but she doesn't, she just kind of blunders from one plot checkpoint to another. At one point she joins an undercover spec ops team, demands they treat her as a full member of their team, then has to ask which side they're on and what the fight is about anyway. At another point she's personally been targeted and persecuted by the head of the world government, and is shocked to find that some people think he's bad. But it goes beyond her! The spec ops group turns out to be part of an organisation that's got word that something bad's going to happen, and they don't really know what. They know it's *particularly* bad for undisclosed reasons, so they set out to stop whatever it is. You can probably guess what it's going to be if you've read the title, but they only find out two thirds of the way through. And then they're like "that doesn't seem bad enough, maybe it's something worse". No one in this book seems to know what they're fighting against or why, it's like reading about a computer game where you just blunder around until you find something that looks like a quest marker.
The conspiracy theories: The story centres around an eco-fascist conspiracy that exploits climate change to create a world-government that forces people to recycle. Then something something something they decide to wipe out humanity. The UK is preserving liberty because it rebelled and pulled out of the international organisations, and the US is a theocracy populated by doomsday cults, but these seem to be treated as the better options? There's also a suspicious bit about a vaccine programme which weirdly never links up with the gene-editing extinction plan and never actually goes anywhere, but I'm sure was on II's mind. I genuinely can't tell if this is some kind of satire or dark humour, but I've read bizarre evangelical apocalypse fiction before and this is eerily similar.
And the male gaze stuff - Irith does a lot of breasting boobily, but there's also a lot of sexual violence which I'm pretty sure is meant to be titillating? But the peak of it is when one (female) character *who has body armour* takes it off during a firefight and then gets shot in the boob - this has no effect on the plot or the characters, and seems like it's purely there to draw attention to her body.
One other thing: The climax centres around assaulting a biotech lab in New Orleans, the gang initially thing about deliberately demolishing a levee to flood it, but then a category 5 hurricane just rocks up and does it for them. On the day the apocalypse virus was due to be released. And the evil world leader is in the building personally overseeing the virus release. The gang haven't actually achieved anything other than locating the lab until that point, so it's not like they've thwarted him until then. It's just that the climate-change-obsessed genocidal dictator built his most important research lab in New Orleans right across from a levee, and the biggest storm in history destroyed the city on release day.
And the bit about maths and encryption *glares*. And the twins.
(Obviously I'll have to read the third one and complain about it even more.)
January 6, 2021
The balance of what could be the right choices , repeatedly arises in large and small scenarios. It may present that there can be no overall good choice but only those that benefit individual perspectives. A compelling read that takes a lot to get to the end, with entrancing extra details.
December 13, 2017
Started out with quite a clever plot but it became a rather unbelievable story line based around some very unlikely heroes. I read it to the end but didn't come away satisfied.
September 29, 2015
I thought I was going to like this book more than I did. I enjoyed the writing style and the world he created in this grim eco-thriller, and there was plenty of action to keep things going! There were a few steamy sex scenes, but they didn't actually seem to contribute much to the plot in the end and were almost more superfluous. They would have made more sense to me if those relationships had been further developed (especially the one left open-ended...). I also just found that most of the characters were not particularly endearing, including the protagonist, which is always a bit of a let down. Overall, it was very absorbing and I couldn't put it down, but was a bit disappointed in the end. Perhaps you need to read the whole series to feel more satisfied?
November 8, 2012
As good as the first if not better. Once again something a bit different with lost of action/adventure in a global warmed Earth.
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January 1, 2013I'm not a fan of this genre but because I like Ian's style of writing I have quite enjoyed this book & am looking forward to reading The Life Lottery.
March 15, 2013
Ian Irvine writes page turners that grab you no matter what he writes about. I don't even remember the plot of this one but I know I couldn't put it down till I'd finished it.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews