Review: Halfskin [Kindle Edition]
When do you lose your humanity?
Disclaimer: I got this novel as part of a packaged set called "A Taste of Tomorrow" that included 11 dystopian novels and/or short stories.
Halfskin is a very well written out novel showing a possible future. I wouldn't consider this a dystopian novel even though most of the books in the set are dystopian, but it does have a touch of Orwell's "1984". Imagine a future when diseases, infections, genetic disorders, and injuries could be cured by the placement of nanotechnology that cures/fixes you. However, the biomites, as they are called, self-replicate and slowly start to fix the rest of you. This makes sense, since the human body is always injured in some day, even if it's just damage by the sun.
And what happens when the government is able to trace these biomites to know where you are and if you are healthy?
And what happens the the same government decides to pass a law stating that if your body consists of 50% of biomites, you are no longer considered "human" since you are 50% machine? And this law also takes you away from your family and friends when you reach 40%, so they can easier kill you when you are no longer human?
And what happens when not everyone is happy with this?
Halfskin starts with the story of a young boy who is seeded with biomites due to a fatal car injury that killed his parents. As the biomites continue to replicate, this novel shows the lengths that family will go to protect the ones that they love, and also the single-minded bigotry of a federal agent who would prefer to kill off everyone with biomites.
I wasn't bored at any time reading this... I actually started it a few hours ago and just finished it because I didn't want to put the story down! The pacing of this story was very well done, the characterizations realistic... and the ending explains a lot more than it leaves unanswered.
The kindle edition of this book can be purchased for $2.99 at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AG6NF8C/?tag=shasworofboo-20
