AncestorScott Sigler
After reading Infected and its sequel Contagious, I couldn't wait to read Sigler's next novel. Would Ancestor live up to my earlier experiences?
Ancestor moves away from the alien invasion that played a part in his first two novels, and instead focuses on a monster much closer to home. A biotech company is seeking to engineer a suitable animal host that can support organs for human transplantation. As cow embryo after embryo fails to do the job, they decide to go back a bit further, introducing genes from an ancestor. It seems to work, and the crew watches as their livestock brings these no-longer extinct animals back to live.
Of course, what seems like a good idea really isn't. These scientists have unwittingly given life to a super-predator, and it isn't long before the dozens of creatures they have bred get hungry. Very hungry. Oh, and they are quite smart. Ruh-roh, guys. Ruh-roh.
Ancestor is grounded in science and sounds eerily plausible, even if such an "ancestor" never existed. My only beef is the first 40% of the novel (thanks, kindle!) was a little too heavy on the science. Had that been condensed a bit, my enjoyment would have been complete.
Overall, I can't complain. Yet again, Sigler has written a fast-paced, thought-provoking novel that delivers. And, he came through with Mookie -- that meant a lot, man.
In a nutshell: Smart and unsettling, Ancestor prompts us to fear the monsters of tomorrow (and, ironically enough, of yesterday).
Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars
FTCBS: downloaded this one for my Kindle
RIPV: Those freaky ancestors and the spine-tingling suspense that marks the final third of the novel are more than enough to qualify Ancestor for this year's RIP challenge. That would be numero 3. Bam!
Ancestor moves away from the alien invasion that played a part in his first two novels, and instead focuses on a monster much closer to home. A biotech company is seeking to engineer a suitable animal host that can support organs for human transplantation. As cow embryo after embryo fails to do the job, they decide to go back a bit further, introducing genes from an ancestor. It seems to work, and the crew watches as their livestock brings these no-longer extinct animals back to live.
Of course, what seems like a good idea really isn't. These scientists have unwittingly given life to a super-predator, and it isn't long before the dozens of creatures they have bred get hungry. Very hungry. Oh, and they are quite smart. Ruh-roh, guys. Ruh-roh.
Ancestor is grounded in science and sounds eerily plausible, even if such an "ancestor" never existed. My only beef is the first 40% of the novel (thanks, kindle!) was a little too heavy on the science. Had that been condensed a bit, my enjoyment would have been complete.Overall, I can't complain. Yet again, Sigler has written a fast-paced, thought-provoking novel that delivers. And, he came through with Mookie -- that meant a lot, man.
In a nutshell: Smart and unsettling, Ancestor prompts us to fear the monsters of tomorrow (and, ironically enough, of yesterday).
Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars
FTCBS: downloaded this one for my Kindle
RIPV: Those freaky ancestors and the spine-tingling suspense that marks the final third of the novel are more than enough to qualify Ancestor for this year's RIP challenge. That would be numero 3. Bam!
5 comments:
I'm glad you enjoyed ANCESTOR, and Mookie says "thanks for thinking of me!" You can send her a doggie treat.
I'm a big Scott Sigler fan. I have listened to his podcasts since he began sending them down the tubes so I started with Earthcore.
Of the ones set on Earth my favourite is Infected.
But my all time favourite is The Rookie. How that man got me interested in a story about American Football I have no idea but I loved it.
I have never heard of this author before but he sounds right up my alley. I will have to see if the library carries anything by him. Great review!
Sounds very creepy!
I definitely like the over the top science bit as well.
So this is the third in the series then?
Post a Comment