Kevin Ikenberry

Kevin Ikenberry was once a manager at Nasa’s Space Camp, but recently he has devoted himself to military science fiction. Runs in the Family (2016) is one of his more popular efforts, largely, I imagine, on the strength of its heroine. We first meet Mairin as a mousy, mediocre student at an academy on the planet Eden. Her life changes when she is recruited as a subject in a genetic memory implant experiment. She emerges from it as an athletically fit soldier with the implanted memories of a great-great-grandfather, a cavalry officer who died in 21st-century Afghanistan. It is fun to watch Mairin learn when to trust her new martial instincts and when to tell Gramps to shut up. World-building could be more believable.… (more)

What a really good book! The premise was straight-up sci-fi, full of futuristic flying machines and neural implants, space wars and human cloning. But in the best (to me) science fiction there emerges the human story: a recently awakened clone who must discover his identity, with no help on this quest but his own emerging memories.

Also added in is the human race whose interstellar colonies have been devastated by aliens, but who themselves no longer believe in active warfare. And throw in a chain-smoking politician headquartered in Paris named Neige diplomizing with a wizened general who understands the need to continue raising re-awakening soldiers, and you have the makings of a great read. I also was intrigued by the professor of cybernetics who chose to meet the re-awakened soldier, though her ability to trace and re-program code was a bit too "pat." I did admire the ambiguity of the key players and also of the world-building. Seems that humans still don't have all the answers even 300 years in the future.… (more)

*Book source ~ A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Waking in a wheelchair in Australia he has no idea who he is, what’s going on or even what year it is. He’s told he’s part of an experiment; he needs to remember who he is and he now has 323 days to do that or the government will euthanize him. Everyone in this time has a neural interface, but to the people around him he will be a null, a sleeper. Even though he also has an interface, his is different. No one will be able to tell who he is. The clock is ticking. Unknown to him, there are people working behind the scenes, some to help and some to hinder. In which camp is scientist Berkeley Bennett who shows up out of nowhere and takes an interest in him? With help from his protocol he named Mally, Sleepy sets out to find himself.

This is a different and unique look at the future, alien contact, medical science and political maneuvering. I have to say, the United States in this tale sure is bleak. Yikes! And politicians are just as bad then as now. Kieran Roark, AKA Sleepy, is an excellent character. I love how he works through everything and follows his gut. His protocol, that he named Mally, is weird and ambiguous as to which side it’s (she’s) on. She’s essentially a program, but starts to develop a personality. Hence the weird factor. I didn’t fully understand the concept of the sleepers. Seemed like a shitload of money and resources for such a long shot, but maybe that was the point. The future generations are pretty pathetic and I sure hope this story isn’t prophetic or we are totally screwed.

I did not like Bennett, not even a little bit. And I totally did not buy their insta-love. It felt shoe-horned in for added drama and made me cranky. Maybe if they’d actually spent more time talking and building a foundation for their relationship instead of humping every chance they got I might have believed it more. Probably not. It’s hard to believe anything about Bennett when she’s a lying manipulative skank. Frankly, I was hoping she’d die and Kieran could find a woman worthy of him. I liked the General though. I hope he can keep up the work he’s doing. That end bit with Mally gave me the heebie jeebies. Wtf?

While Kieran’s story has a resolution, I’m left with the feeling there may be more coming in this futuristic world. Other sleepers, Mally, and the Grays gunning for Earth…yep. I’d say those storylines should be seeing the light of day.… (more)