Germline: The Subterrene War 01 by T.C. McCarthy

From The Week of September 26, 2011

Though there remains some hope that technology will advance to a point where it is capable of easing our dependence on Earth's finite resources, it seems likely that the 21st century will be dominated by wars, declared and otherwise, over our dwindling supply of everything from fresh water to precious metals. For we are burning through the Earth's abundance at such a rapid rate that jittery countries, disinclined to be the last one to the feeding trough, will initiate conflict with resource-rich nations in hopes of securing for themselves a sufficient slice of the resource pie. This in turn will prompt other nations to weigh in, either in support of the aggressor, or in defense of the besieged, creating regional conflicts that will mirror the disastrous engagements of the late 20th century.

If such a gloomy scenario were to come to pass, what would that dark future look like? Will it be like other wars, fought, on foreign soil, by the young for the rich? Will it spark new technologies and new hope, or will it simply extent a cloud of misery over the nations that play host to its battlegrounds? Mr. McCarthy, in this stirring, futuristic, military thriller, makes these calculations and decides that it will be grimmer, and more exciting, than we could possibly imagine.

In the 22nd century, humanity has extended its mastery of science, creating new drugs, new weapons, new machines and new species which further complicate an already complicated world. But while technology has advanced to the point where genetic engineering is commonplace, many of these new wonders require rare earths to be manufactured. And given that many of these rare earths can only be found in a handful of pockets around the world, Earth's great powers find themselves drawn greedily to these remote nations, eager to secure their supply of extraordinarily precious ores. In such a scenario, war is inevitable. And so, when Kazakhstan becomes the battleground for hostilities between the zealous United States and protective Russia, only the naive are surprised.

Into this war of unmanned drones and plasma bombs, genetic soldiers and chameleon suits, drops Oscar Wendel, a 28-year-old war correspondent from the United States. Confident that his frontline stories from "Kaz" will earn him a Pulitzer, the arrogant, naive and drug-addicted Oscar is rudely awakened to the brutalities of war. Swiftly, his preconceived notions are shattered in an orgy of death and devastation with which his mind cannot cope. And so he retreats into a drug-fuelled lassitude, broken only when he comes face-to-face with the Gees, genetically engineered soldiers who are trained from birth to kill.

Clones, these female warriors -- males are too unstable and aggressive for their training -- are as lethal as they are obedient, operating on a strange blend of training and faith to carry them through their service time until, at 18, they are "retired" from service. Though his fellows find the bald and identical Gees repulsive, Oscar falls in love with their grace, but union with a genetic is not only verboten, it is impossible. Oscar came to Kazakhstan for war; instead, he has found love, but escape from Kaz seems about as hopeless as a relationship with a genetic.

Germline is a Sci-Fi thrillride that, when consumed, will not soon be forgotten. Mr. McCarthy is clearly a fan of the literature generated from the Vietnam War, for, here, he has wrapped a futuristic war story around a war correspondent seemingly lifted straight out of the hedonistic 1960s. From the cocky reporter shattered by combat's ugly realities to the beleaguered soldiers fighting for their old, white masters, this is, inescapably, a futuristic re-imagining of that most socially transformative of American conflicts. Yes, the science here is simple, explosive and entertaining, calling to mind Heinlein's Starship Troopers, but it is the extent to which Mr. McCarthy successfully welded this 1960s narrative onto the SF that makes the novel so enjoyable. Even the love story, which is inarguably the work's weakest component, performs well enough that it does not detract from the nihilism that seems an inevitable byproduct of total immersion into such an all-consuming and unjust war.

This is exciting and pleasing science fiction. No, it does not tax the mind in the same way other efforts of the genre do, but this is not Mr. McCarthy's objective. This is gonzo journalism transmitted from the 22nd century and it works wonderfully well. (5/5 Stars)