Originator

Claire Carmichael (author)

Random House, Australia: 1998; 266pp

ISBN: 0091829534

Genres: science fiction

Issues: class, differences, ethics, family, friendship, genetic manipulation, values

The twins, Adam and Callie, live in a world that is recovering from horrendous plagues that have wiped out a large percentage of the world's population. Children are now created in test tubes, where parental genes are blended, disabilities and bodily malformations removed, and protections against disease are added.

 They are then born from extremely hygienic artificial wombs. Society is divided into strictly defined classes based upon wealth and intelligence. Born into High Leet, the most exclusive class, Adam and Callie take their privileges for granted and are oblivious to the problems that beset the lives of those they regard as their inferiors. They are being groomed to take their place amongst the leaders of their world where they will stand beside such greats as Professor Richard Stillman, their father and a leading genetic scientist.

Less arrogant in her outlook than her brother, Callie is good friends with a Mid class girl whose father is outspoken in his opposition to a social structure that denies equal opportunities for all. Adam finds his perspective challenged when one of his best friends at school is actually a Counterfeit - a person from a much lower class who has been passing themselves off as a higher one in order to gain access to otherwise inaccessible privileges such as education. An excursion to the Growing Zone further challenges the views of both twins when they witness they way the local authorities treat the people they are visiting.

Troubled by what they have seen, Adam and Callie come to realise that their world is not as harmonious and well-ordered as they would like to believe. Especially when a scandal breaks that implicates their famous father in one of the few things that is still forbidden - the deliberate genetic manipulation that results in the fabrication of human beings. Then their younger brother shows them some troubling files he has recovered from the computer used by David, their long-dead brother. Was he a victim of the Mardi virus, as their parents told them, or is it possible that he was a failed experiment in their father's quest for genetic perfection? Which leads to the question - are they themselves fabricants?

This is a carefully planned narrative that challenges the reader to think about the direction our own society is taking with social divisions and genetic manipulation. Just as Callie and Adam are gradually forced to examine more closely the reality of their society, so readers are encouraged to question many of the things they may have previously taken for granted. The characters provide realistic voices for the issues that Carmichael is raising. While the futuristic colloquialisms that are scattered through the dialogue are irritating at times, they are no doubt intended to remind the reader of the futuristic context, as well as the fact that some things never change - teenagers will always have a language of their own.

Although somewhat stilted and contrived at times, this is still a thought-provoking novel and worth reading.