Germline by T.C. McCarthy

[Rob B]

Anybody read this one yet? Germline is T.C. McCarthy's debut novel, and the first in the military science fiction series The Subterrene War. A copy is on the way to me and I'm looking forward to reading it, the book has an interesting premise:

Germline (n.) the genetic material contained in a cellular lineage which can be passed to the next generation. Also: secret military program to develop genetically engineered super-soldiers (slang).

War is Oscar Wendell's ticket to greatness. A reporter for The Stars and Stripes, he has the only one way pass to the front lines of a brutal war over natural resources buried underneath the icy, mineral rich mountains of Kazakhstan.

But war is nothing like he expected. Heavily armored soldiers battle genetically engineered troops hundreds of meters below the surface. The genetics-the germline soldiers-are the key to winning this war, but some inventions can't be un-done. Some technologies can't be put back in the box.

Kaz will change everything, not least Oscar himself. Hooked on a dangerous cocktail of adrenaline and drugs, Oscar doesn't find the war, the war finds him.

Also, the book/author is featured on John Scalzi's Big Idea where McCarthy has compelled me to dive into the book as soon as I get it.

[JustaStaffer]

I've read it. I nominated it for the September book club read I think.

It's excellent. Let me find my review here and paste some things without anything remotely spoilery....

I finished Germline over the Fourth of July weekend. More accurately, I sat down with it Saturday morning and didn't even get up to eat until I finished it. It stunned me. The novel's blurb doesn't begin to encompass everything it has to offer. I don't think Orbit Books is trying to mislead anyone, but a few words can't capture everything T.C. McCarthy is trying to do. This is not, I repeat not, a military science fiction novel in the tradition of Honor Harrington (Weber) or even the more recent Old Man's War (Scalzi). Instead, over the course of 300 pages Germline is an incredibly dark coming of age story about a broken man who can only justify his existence by going to war.

Lots of stuff about the book...

Germline is a tremendous debut novel. To be honest, I'm a little nervous that I've butchered the author's true intent in trying to communicate how it made me feel. I'd love a chance to talk with McCarthy at some point because I don't know how a character like Oscar Wendell gets written without leaving an author hollowed out when it's all over. Hell, I felt hollowed out just reading it. This novel isn't for everybody and I wouldn't touch it as a so called "summer read". For me, it's immediately going into my personal pantheon of war novels next to Gates of Fire and All Quiet on the Western Front. Hell of a debut, T.C.

He's also done some REALLY good interviews/guest blogs including the one you already posted from Scalzi.

Justin

[Rob B]

Cool, glad to know the book connected with somebody here. I'm even more excited to get my grubby hands on it.

[JustaStaffer]

This is interesting too I thought from my interview with him..

Justin: We've got a lot of soldiers coming home these days suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Symptoms shown in the novel suggest PTSD among well – everyone. In your imaginings of Germline's war, how much thought did you give to what kind of impacts it was having back home? Will we see those impacts at some point in the trilogy?

McCarthy: Confession: I have PTSD -- but it was the result of a family tragedy, which occurred here in the States, so Oscar's thoughts and feelings (some of them -- and not the really crazy ones) came from those experiences. I have given thought to the impact PTSD will have here at home, but other than what's in Germline, its impact only makes a brief appearance in book three. Instead of trying to deal with such a complex issue in my writing, I decided to send freebies to veterans' groups who deal with returning soldiers. My thought was that young guys and girls coming home probably will resist discussing their personal problems despite having PTSD symptoms (funny thing: if you have PTSD, the last thing you want to do is talk about it), but they might be willing to discuss Oscar Wendell's problems; so I'd like to see Germline used as a tool to get people to open up. PTSD is really, really shitty. Really.

He doesn't hold much back about himself as the Scalzi blog post highlighted. Makes pretty hard not to want to read his stuff.

[Hobbit]

It's very much in that Vietnam/war reportage style of gritty, Rob. First person perspective, very dark and bleak.

Reminded me of the book about Vietnam, Dispatches, by an author I can't remember...

(Quick check: Michael Herr.)

Think The Foot Locker or Apocalypse Now but set in the fairly near future with genetically developed soldiers.

Very good debut novel, but I found the bleakness rather too intense.

Mark

[Rob B]

My copy just arrived, I may push it to the top of the pile.

[Shonsu]

arrggh I'm going to have to start reading faster again!! I just finished Old Man's War and want to read the rest in the series and I have a friend wanting me to read a series that she just finished... but this looks awesome.

[Rob B]

For completion's sake, here's a glimpse of my review:

Military Science Fiction is one of the most popular sub-genres of Science Fiction, often centering the story on (obviously) some sort of military conflict. The scope can range from the first person narrative of a singular protagonist to a wide-scale cast of characters relaying the story. When the story focuses on one character/protagonist, the story is often told in the first person. Such is the case with T.C. McCarthy’s debut novel, Germline which is the first novel in his Subterrene War trilogy. Where McCarthy’s novel differs slightly from much of the Military SF on the shelves is that his novel is not set in the stars, but rather inside the earth as the United States and the Russians are at war over the mineral rich Kazhakstan region in a future advanced enough to have genetically engineered super soldiers. The protagonist here is Oscar Wendell, a reporter looking for one last chance to salvage his journalistic career.

...

Adding to Wendell’s instability are the genetics – squads of genetically engineered female supersoldiers placed on the front lines as the elite fighting forces. For reasons that come to light as the novel progresses the only supersolders are females. Just when the novel seems to be about Wendell’s struggles for sanity, cleanliness and war, in comes the relationship angle and the question of “What is humanity?” The genetics are perfected humans, at least physically, but they unfortunately have a very short shelf life, very few living beyond 18-20 years. When Oscar first sees one from a distance, he’s fascinated, though his comrades in arms try to dissuade him from engaging with the genetics. When he does meet and talk with one in particular, Sophie, his fascination grows and becomes a physical attraction that one might say leads to obsession.

[Rob B]

McCarthy, as some may have seen, recently received The Compton Crook Award for Germline.

The second novel in The Subterrene War sequence is turning out to be just as good, though he's taken the story in a slightly different direction.

[JustaStaffer]

McCarthy, as some may have seen, recently received The Compton Crook Award for Germline.

The second novel in The Subterrene War sequence is turning out to be just as good, though he's taken the story in a slightly different direction.

I didn't find it quite as good, but still strong. Looking forward to the third.