The Ambassador

by Edwina Currie

In the Europe of 100 years from now, the European Union is the supreme leader of the free world. Ambassador Bill Strether is sent by the US President to the UK to represent his country, where fundamentalists have banned the medical advances in genetic cloning taken for granted in his new home. Although he harbors doubts about its ethics, he finds the official genetic program breathtaking and impossible to condemn.

Genres: Fiction, Politics

512 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1999

Reviews

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kept thinking a man had written this. What woman uses the word "hysterical"? Obviously the author of this does. The way women in this book are portrayed is pretty sad for something written as late as 1999. It also has covert racism in myriad ways (going into detail would mostly be spoilers). And the "european union" in this book is surprisingly UK centric (I think that's just how UK conservatives think though).

Apart from that the book was reasonably well written, most of the ideas were borrowed from places libe Brave new world, or Pretty woman but the writing was OKish. The book was way too long and could have easily dropped all the cringey love-scenes as well as Dr Pasteur thinking about how much she wants to get in touch with her ovaries instead of being a whole human and wanting to just waste herself on some man. I mean even if you wanted her to get with either of them, I can't see anyone wanting to read quite that much dribble about how "natural" it is to want to throw away everything and just be a wife-mother. I think the irony was intentional but didn't work the way the author intended. The best parts of the book reminded me of the least good Agatha Christie books (the ones about government conspiracies) but every time I started thinking I wasn't outright hating the book there's be another cringe chapter about how natural and inevitable heterosexuality is (written with zero subtlety or interest).

As a futuristic novel it is laughingly naive and narrow-visioned. "Climate change" means where you can grow crops changes and that's all it means. There are no problems with plastics or mass extinctions or for that matter air, soil or water quality. There's a fetishistic view of technology giving us really tired and wearying philosophical debates about right and wrong which were possibly slightly more fresh back in 1999 but aren't handled with particular flair or grace. Yes this was written long ago but there were better books and predictions in the 90s.

It's not the worst book I ever read. The action and twists while fairly predictable are not as bad as some (and mostly not too drawn out). I didn't enjoy it but it wasn't quite crap enough to get a one-star.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just about rated this 3 stars because to rate it below would not have done it justice. The plot is a good one, I just think the execution took what is basically a thriller and added some romance to it. Not to its benefit and it altered the pacing in the first 75% of the novel. Not enough tension to be a real page turner. A shame because this could have been really good.
The premise is a Eurozone of 2099 in which manipulation of DNA is almost universal and few children are created or born in the usual way. The population seems unusually content and lacking in ambition, except for the NT’s, which stands for Nuclear Transplant, who are in all the important roles. Something is smelling in this utopia.
Edwina Currie made some really interesting guesses into what might be the world situation 100 years on from her writing this. China was picked out as being I think banned from investing in Eurozone companies because of the risk of them taking control of systems or companies. She also mentions that one nation, not the UK, had left and then returned to the Eurozone. Quite an imagination!

[Angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ohhhh myyyyyy gooooooddnesssss!!!!!!! It took great willpower to finish this tedious book! The premise behind this work of fiction was believable and fascinating. Unfortunately, Edwina added far too much political blurb (yawn, yawn) and the attention grabbing parts were far too brief. I am proud of myself for finishing what could have been amazing, but turned out to be pitifully awful.

[The Cats’ Mother · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written by an infamous english tory MP, this is a slightly odd political thriller set in 2099. The hero, Bill, is the new American ambassador, who moves to London to take up his post. Europe has become the dominant super-power, and embraced science and in particular genetic modification of people to produce a society run by specially bred bureaucrats, who all look suspiciously similar, while the USA has rejected all this and remains much as it is now. Bill becomes increasingly disturbed by what he finds, and suspicious that there is in fact widespread cloning going on, which the administration deny. He meets and falls in love with a scientist who works for the genetic programme, and makes friends with a politician who is himself minor royalty, and together they find out more about the sinister goings-on.
I liked all the little in-jokes and digs about current english politicians and royalty, and the descriptions of a world changed by global-warming and modern technology. I didn't find the story as gripping as a good thriller should be, and the ending was a little inconclusive, hence the average score, but it's not a bad book.

[Anne]

No recollection.

[Ellie Revert · Rating 2 out of 5]

So not my kind of book---written about a situation 100 years in the future--written in 1999---but I did enjoy it.

[Debi Lodge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant story line, highly recommend this.