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Brother Jonathan
SCIENCE DISCOVERED IT.
Tiny implants in the brain that enhanced intelligence and established mind-to-mind links between species that had previously been isolated and mute. Dogs, monkeys and man could communicate. Animals, and even severely retarded humans, could be taught complex tasks. Jonathan was the first human subject.
INTERTEL SEIZED IT.
The giant consortium that had funded the research presented the discovery as a boon for mankind ... and secretly planned to use it to rule the world.
JONATHAN AND HIS FRIENDS USED IT. With the mind-enhancing power that made them think and act as one, they rebelled and looked upward—toward the stars!
Tiny implants in the brain that enhanced intelligence and established mind-to-mind links between species that had previously been isolated and mute. Dogs, monkeys and man could communicate. Animals, and even severely retarded humans, could be taught complex tasks. Jonathan was the first human subject.
INTERTEL SEIZED IT.
The giant consortium that had funded the research presented the discovery as a boon for mankind ... and secretly planned to use it to rule the world.
JONATHAN AND HIS FRIENDS USED IT. With the mind-enhancing power that made them think and act as one, they rebelled and looked upward—toward the stars!
- GenresScience Fiction
183 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1985
About the author
Crawford Kilian
28 books17 followersCrawford Kilian was born in New York in 1941. Raised in Los Angeles and Mexico City, he is a naturalized Canadian citizen living in Vancouver, British Columbia, with his wife, Alice, and daughters, Anna and Margaret. Formerly a technical writer-editor at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory in Berkeley, he has taught English at Capilano College in North Vancouver since 1968.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 4, 2012
A dog, two chimpanzees, and four crippled children have an Adventure in the middle of a cyberpunk universe. The combination of lovable characters and pessimistic, high tech future gives one the sensation of watching a Walt Disney movie whose script has been inexplicably shuffled with pages from Neuromancer. Nevertheless, a delightful book which manages to be warm and optimistic without being sappy. Recommended.
July 10, 2024
This book has been sitting on my shelf for many, many years, and now was its time. Back when I picked up a used copy from a book store that no longer exists, I was intrigued by the dog on the cover and the promise of a story that featured some measure of talking animals.
What I got was a fairly solid middle of the road sci-fi read. It was fun! There were some tense moments where I wasn’t sure what would happen, and the ending held a twist I didn’t see coming, so clocking in at under 200 pages I didn’t feel like any of my time was wasted. I know this was written as an adult read, but it very easily could have been a YA. It checks a lot of the same boxes as modern YA stories, though I don’t know the state of that category back in the 80s (chances are it was nothing like what we have today).
The fictional future of this book felt both a little familiar and also lot terrible. It is a dystopia no amount of money would make me want to visit, and that proved true even in the end, so it was pretty effective as a setting for the story being told. What I struggled with while reading this book was how plot driven it was. I don’t think I felt significantly attached to any of the characters. This is I know a product of the times but I do wish we’d had a few more movements to get to know any of our main or supporting characters. There were also a few things I found not terribly realistic (like the King of England being a significant member of the governing body that influences the entire world’s commerce because the Parliament was overthrown some time in the past? Nah, didn’t work for me.). But most of my quarrels with this book were really minor stuff like that.
Clearly Kilian knows how to spin a good yarn, and if this one sounds at all interesting to you, give it a go, you might find you enjoyed it like I did.
What I got was a fairly solid middle of the road sci-fi read. It was fun! There were some tense moments where I wasn’t sure what would happen, and the ending held a twist I didn’t see coming, so clocking in at under 200 pages I didn’t feel like any of my time was wasted. I know this was written as an adult read, but it very easily could have been a YA. It checks a lot of the same boxes as modern YA stories, though I don’t know the state of that category back in the 80s (chances are it was nothing like what we have today).
The fictional future of this book felt both a little familiar and also lot terrible. It is a dystopia no amount of money would make me want to visit, and that proved true even in the end, so it was pretty effective as a setting for the story being told. What I struggled with while reading this book was how plot driven it was. I don’t think I felt significantly attached to any of the characters. This is I know a product of the times but I do wish we’d had a few more movements to get to know any of our main or supporting characters. There were also a few things I found not terribly realistic (like the King of England being a significant member of the governing body that influences the entire world’s commerce because the Parliament was overthrown some time in the past? Nah, didn’t work for me.). But most of my quarrels with this book were really minor stuff like that.
Clearly Kilian knows how to spin a good yarn, and if this one sounds at all interesting to you, give it a go, you might find you enjoyed it like I did.
January 5, 2025
This is my first Kilian book; admittedly had one of his other novels on my to-read list but picked this one up on a whim because of paperback cover appeal. Conceptually, the ideas aren’t novel, but there’s an entertaining, well-crafted story here. Imagine Meta and Apple being so powerful that they usurp nation states and have dueling armies vying for supremacy - not too far fetched!
September 11, 2019
The book I read while growing up, now I can see all the advancement in science and technology. Interesting
December 3, 2014
1985 grade B-
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews