Transference by Ian Patterson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After reading this, I'm very much sitting on the fence between admiring this story for all the old SFnal ideas it pulls forward to today's evils and being a tiny bit annoyed with the same.

The core SFnal detail reminds me a lot of old classics, be it Niven's body harvesting ghoulishness or Harrison's Make Room, Make Room (Soylent Green), or even a bit of B5 or Voyager, where illnesses can be transacted. You know, where the rich stay rich and the poor go ploop, only it's sickness transference.

In this respect, I guess I simply don't mind. The ideas are fun -- but they DO feel a bit heavy handed. Those who are wealthy in this world get away with everything. It's literally the call of Eat the Rich -- because they're absolutely doing it to all the rest.

Never mind the final point made in this book. Population pressures, et al., are old hat, even as they're ever more prevalent for us now than they've ever been before.

So, I'll just say that this is fun for what it is. I'd love to see readers appreciating these old ideas with fresh eyes again.

As for the real end of this -- I'm looking forward to seeing just how big this can really get.

Worth the read.



Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to DM requests. I think it's about time I get some eyes on them.

Arctunn.com

View all my reviews