Customer Reviews

Clade

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Mark Budz reminds me of Wilhemina Baird (Clipjoint) and Howard Hendrix (Lightpath) in presenting serious science fiction with comic touch. The adventure Rigo and Anthea find themselves caught up in is fast and funny, but there is a cautionary tale behind it that is direct and satisfying. I'd given up on science fiction for a while (except for the exceptional work of Liz Williams), but Budz has me looking forward to his next book because he seems to have something new to steer us toward.

Planet Earth is not a self-sustaining orb anymore ever since the ecocaust occurred causing the destruction of humongous land masses all over Terra; killing untold billions. Scientists work feverishly to save theplanet as the ice caps rise, causing the oceans to deepen, drowning islands and shorelines. The ozone layer has more holes than Swiss cheese so that many inland communities are domed.

Populations are confined to certain geographical regions known as ecotectural zones or Clades and bioengineered sensors prevent one community from interacting with another. Genetically engineered plants and trees pump badly needed oxygen in the air and people like Rigo is a sytech working for Neogenetic's and does his best to work within the system, until he understands that through bioengineering and the use of pherions, the powers that be control what one thinks and feels. Now Rigs works within the system to change it.

Thanks to mankind's greed, stupidity and blindness, Earth has destroyed itself. Now instead of starting over, the in crowd is rebuilding the world the way it used to be only now they are in charge. There are such strict class and caste structures that artificial wars exist between people. Everyone knows they are being drugged into docility but very few care and those that do are the true heroes of the CLADE.

Harriet Klausner