Review: hooked from the start
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 13, 2011
Genesis Earth is just a flat out good sci-fi story. While I didn't realize it before hand, it was clear throughout the story that it is geared towards young adults. The beautiful cover mirrors the great ideas and fantastic imagery found within. With only two significant characters and straight forward plot line, the book was a breeze to get through.The story begins at a pretty unique point in time. The main character was born and grew up on a space station far from earth while the adults on the station worked to create the first man made worm hole. We join the story just as the opportunity of a lifetime is presented, but the main character is reluctant to go. Tasked with exploring an alien earth-like world with the chance of a first contact event, the premise was so compelling that I was hooked from the start.One thing that caught my attention right away was the lack of any gender words or names in the first chapter. All we know is that the main character excelled in his/her field. The book contains 11 full pages of story before we learn the narrator is a teen named Michael. I was really excited that the story might actually feature a female lead for a change, but unfortunately that didn't turn out to be the case.The story did feature a female protagonist to complement him though. And complement Terra sure did. She is quite opposite from Michael and this creates some interesting tension between the two. Michael is extremely focused on playing things by the book and doing his best to live up to his parents' legacy and expectations. Terra on the other hand is thrilled to get away from everyone and sees her journey as an opportunity to finally live her life free from the pressures of others.Combined with warnings about each other in their briefings, their differences play out to cause paranoia between the two. This paranoia went on for a few chapters. With the build up, I actually thought we might see a psychotic rampage from one of them. Stick any two people together alone with no other contact and they are bound to go crazy. Sadly, nothing that dramatic every unfolded. While amused by the moments of tention between the two, I think the conflict could actually have been explored a little deeper. This desire for a little more depth manifested a few times throughout the read.The story had quite a few really interesting plot lines. Many of them felt underdeveloped and short lived, however. The story was decently short and I think it would have been worth it to explore some of the different sub-plots a little more thoroughly. At one point Michael and Terra come in contact with an awesome, fully-automated, unmanned space ship. For me, a technology enthusiast, this was one of the more interesting plot points and I really wish more time would have been spent exploring and interacting with the ship and its technology.It was really quite a shame that the book wasn't longer or more in depth, because man, Vasicek can really write. I really enjoyed his unique descriptions of going through a wormhole as well as the cryo thaw process. They were compelling and immersive. I've read about and seen these things many times before in movies and books, but his take on them was unique, interesting, and alluring. His wonderful descriptions of this future world really made the story what it was.It is clear that Joe Vasicek has some great ideas and has the ability to make them interesting to read. I encourage him, if he chooses to write more, to go a little more in depth with his plot lines because this story was very enjoyable and it was so close to being amazing. Although it did feel like it was just missing a little something, I still highly recommend this book.Review by: Kevin of Sift Book ReviewsSift Book Reviews received a free copy for review from the author. This has, in no way, affected the reviewer's opinion.