Keeper's Child

Keeper's Child, Leslie Davis, Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, 2007

Set in the near future, this takes place on a continent whose population and climate have been ravaged by disease and genetic mutation.

It all began innocently enough. Many years before, a cargo ship full of genetic material sank off the coast. Over 600 migrants were hired to clean up the mess. It took years for their offspring to develop what became known as Bruster's Syndrome, but once they did, the government panicked. The diseased and
their relatives were kept in quarantined camps. Those frightened citizens who could leave the continent have certainly done so. Houses for the diseased, who are called desgastas, are set up. In a way, Bruster's is like AIDS, in that a person can live a normal life with the disease. But, once it takes hold, the end is slow, painful, disgusting and assured.

Jesse is a celebrity in Carpenteria, one of the last safe cities on the continent, but the scientific mistakes in his past have caught up with him. His latest experiment has failed, dashing any hope of a future for his people. Beckoned by Harold, his brother and the last Keeper of the sick, Jesse travels to the shore, and sees the ruined climate for himself.

Harold's last ward is a young girl named Robin, who may be the savior of humanity. She is born desgastas,
and has spent her whole life in exile. Jesse takes her to the city, to give her something of a normal life.
Robin volunteers in a makeshift hospital, helping those dying of Bruster's. Eventually, she contracts
full-blown Bruster's (for lack of a better term), and, amazingly, she survives. She has long since run away
from the city, and returned to the house at the shore, where Jesse takes several samples of her blood, and returns to the city to turn them into a serum. Meantime, the desgastas squatting outside the city have entered the city and taken over. Now, they are dying faster than anyone can keep up with them.

This is a rather "slow" novel, but a really good novel. Stick with it, for the story is very much worth reading.

The Monster At Our Door

The Monster at Our Door: The Global Threat of Avian Flu, Mike Davis, The New Press, 2005

This book is a comprehensive look at just what bird (or avian) flu is all about, and what the world is, or is not, doing about it.

Influenzas are divided into three major categories. Types B & C are relatively mild, leading to the common cold, or, at worst, the winter flu. But Type A is the unpredictable, and lethal, strain that is fully entrenched among the bird population of East Asia. It is very easy for the disease to jump from migratory birds, to ducks, to chickens, to swans and egrets, and back again, mutating along the way. Until now, the human deaths have come from direct contact with infected birds. But the time is coming when that last mutation will click into place, causing it to jump from person to person. A worldwide flu pandemic, with a death toll in the hundreds of millions, is, as one researcher put it, "late."

What is America doing to prepare for the coming pandemic? Not much. Industrial chicken farms, with millions of chickens crowded into one building, are a wonderful breeding ground for diseases of all sorts, not just bird flu. Remember SARS from a couple of years ago? Among the reasons why it was contained is that the cities where it happened, Toronto and Hong Kong, are modern cities with modern health care systems. Imagine if SARS had shown up somewhere in Africa, with a much less modern health care system.

The major drug companies have opposed moves to allow other countries to make cheap copies of flu vaccines, even though there are nowhere near enough doses of vaccines even for first responders, out of concern for their corporate bottom line. The Bush Administration is more interested in spending money preparing for a smallpox or anthrax outbreak, something which has much less chance of ever happening, than in spending it on bird flu, which is coming in the near future.

This is a very spooky book, which I guess is the idea. It is written for the layman, and does a fine job at showing how unprepared America is for the next flu pandemic. It is very highly recommended.

Pax

Pax, Meg Davis, Booklocker.com, 2004

These are dark times for the people of the Golden Circle Alliance. The elves, dwarves and humans have been defeated by a nameless enemy from the north, shattering the alliance. Just before the end, King Thine, leader of the alliance, hid his daughter (and heir) so well that many thorough searches have failed to find her.

This might not be so significant, except for the fact that the end of the Golden Circle Alliance had long been prophesied. Also prophesied was the emergence of a human heir, King Thine's daughter, that would re-forge the bonds between the races. After many years of fear and distrust between former allies, few are willing to consider this alleged savior as anything more than a folk legend. Does Pax really exist, or is this just a tale to raise people's spirits?

This story may seem a little basic, but keep in mind that at the time of publication, the author was only 16 years old. If this is the work of a teenager, then keep an eye on this author, for in the future she will be a force to be reckoned with. This is a good story to introduce people to fantasy fiction, and fantasy veterans will enjoy it.

The Muse and the Mechanism

The Muse and the Mechanism, Josh Davis, Pretend Genius Press, 2004

This is the story of Charlie Fell, a twentysomething writer living in the small town of Alton. It's a rather grubby sort of life, watching his friends smoke, drink and use various other illicit substances. James, one of Charlie's housemates, is a fall-down drunk who imprints the outline of his body in Charlie's ceiling because of one of his falls. Charlie finds himself less and less interested in Lola, another housemate, and wonders how to make a reasonably painless break with her.

Charlie's mother and stepfather go on a week-long vacation and ask Charlie to housesit. Naturally, the house becomes the site of a week-long party, populated by an ever-changing group of friends and friends of friends. Throughout much of the story, Charlie is engaged in the pursuit of Grace, a lovely, and to Charlie, extremely compatible woman.

This is a beautifully written novel. It will also take some work on the part of the reader. There will be periods where the reader will wonder what happened to the story. The plot is laid out in broad chunks with little or no advance information. By all means, stick with this book. It is very much worth reading.