The Genome: A Novel

Humans have spread across the galaxy, building an empire with ties to a dozen alien races. Genetic tinkering allows for certain humans — speshes — to specialize in different skills, and naturals and speshes compete for all sorts of jobs. When pilot-spesh Alex meets a young woman in the middle of her spesh transformation and accepts a mysterious piloting job to help her, he soon finds himself with a crew of misfits and an important cargo. But with secrets lurking behind every action, Alex’s first trip as captain may be his last.

There are two things Lukyanenko does exceedingly well — building an intricate, believable world and then forcing characters to make hard choices within that world — and he brings both strengths to the fore in The Genome, a multi-layered mystery with some impressive sci-fi ornamentation. Aliens, cloning, love, war, issues of identity… it’s hard to encapsulate in a few brief paragraphs how much ground this book covers so effectively. Although there’s a serious tonal shift halfway through as the main mystery takes over, Lukyanenko’s careful groundwork and solid characterization keeps the momentum moving, allowing readers to enjoy the whodunit even while challenging them with the same dilemmas faced by the characters.