Genesis
-
-
3.7 • 3 Ratings
-
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
Winner of several awards including the 2010 Prix Sorcières for young adults.
In the year 2075 the island Republic has emerged from a ruined world. Its citizens are safe but not free. They live in complete isolation from the outside world. Approaching planes are gunned down, refugees shot on sight. Until a man named Adam Forde rescues a girl from the sea.
Anaximander, a young Academy student, is put through a gruelling exam. Her special subject: the life of Adam Forde, her long-dead hero. What secrets has she discovered and what is her own surprising link to Adam? She is forced to confront the horrifying truth about her totalitarian world.
Genesis is a thriller that asks the big questions. What is it to be human? What makes a soul?
'…sophisticated sci-fi that explores thorny issues in philosophy and science…Beckett presents a series of philosophical conundrums with lucid and penetrating intelligence, and weaves them into a bleak but compelling futuristic vision.' Age
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Anax, the dedicated student historian at the center of Beckett's brutal dystopian novel, lives far in the future the distant past events of the 21st century are taught in classrooms. The world of that era, we learn, was ravaged by plague and decay, the legacy of the Last War. Only the island Republic, situated near the bottom of the globe, remained stable and ordered, but at the cost of personal freedom. Anax, hoping her scholarly achievements will gain her entrance to the Academy, which rules her society, has extensively studied Adam Forde, a brilliant and rebellious citizen of the Republic who fought for human dignity in the midst of a regimented, sterile society. To join the Academy's ranks, Anax undergoes a test before three examiners, and as the examination progresses, it becomes clear that her interpretations of Adam's life defy conventional thought and there may be more to Adam and the Academy than she had imagined. Though the trappings of Beckett's dystopian society feel perhaps too Brave New World, the rigorous narrative and crushing final twist bring a welcome freshness to a familiar setup.
