Review of Project Tau
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[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Project Tau" by Jude Austin.]
Almost two thousand years into the future, humans were forced to leave their original home planet and settle on five planets far, far away. There were wars, deep distrust of anything connected to artificial intelligence, and a rising interest in genetic science. The company GenTech was the leader in cloning human DNA. They started with creating organs, and now, literal human clones—so-called “Projects” with altered strengths and new capabilities to be sold as laborers, to the military, or to private owners. Basically, Projects had no rights and were treated even worse than pets.
The seventeen-year-old Kalin Taylor was born on Trandellia, one of the five planets, and lived there right up until he was accepted into the prestigious Sanderson College of Arts and Sciences (SACAS) on planet Basarr. This was the perfect opportunity for Kalin to start fresh. At home, his high IQ and chubby body, apparently, were reasons enough for others to bully and treat him as an outcast. Because of that, he came to SACAS with two goals in mind: to major in Medical Science and make friends. For the latter, Kalin thought his best bet would be to join the fraternity at SACAS. Right before classes started, Kalin mustered up the courage to do the one task the head of the frat dared him to do in order to join them. He had to break into the secretive GenTech lab and take a photo of the even more kept-in-secret Project Tau. Kalin knew that this task was beyond reckless, but joining the frat and not feeling so lonely anymore was far more important to him.
What Kalin did not know, unfortunately, was what would happen to him once he entered the GenTech lab. He did not know that his life and future would be threatened. That he would agree to stay at the lab for two weeks and be their test subject. That he would share a room with Project Tau and see how inhumanely he was treated. Kalin did not know that the lab’s administrator had no intentions of letting him go—that he wanted to genetically alter him, train him, and then sell him. Was this Kalin’s terrifying future? How could he escape?
Project Tau was one of the best sci-fi books I have read in a very long time. Science fiction is not one of the genres I usually prefer to read, but Kalin’s story and the world-building captured my interest and kept me hooked until the very last page. It was very easy to immerse myself in this futuristic world, where humans had to settle on new planets. Where things like space travel and genetic cloning became somewhat normal. But before diving headfirst into the first chapter, I highly recommend reading the information about the five planets in the appendix. These few pages gave me a good overview of the world in which Kalin’s story took place.
It was also easy to relate to Kalin, to the loneliness he felt in the beginning, and the hate and hopelessness he felt in the lab. Jude Austin’s descriptive, colorful writing style allowed me to sympathize with Kalin’s harsh yet caring character, to understand his thoughts and feelings. I particularly appreciated that Jude Austin wrote the story from a third-person perspective, allowing readers to know about everything that was happening outside of Kalin’s experiences, like Dr. Renfield’s investigations or the scheming between Mason and Dr. Dennison. I especially liked the parts written from Dr. Renfield’s perspective and even more so the ones written from Tau’s point of view. His perspective certainly made me think about the ethical aspects of human cloning and genetic experimentation, and I hope that such actions never become a reality.
Overall, I have nothing negative to say about this book. I found two small punctuation errors, but apart from those, Jude Austin created a well-written and thought-out story that was captivating and easy to follow. Because of these reasons, I rate Project Tau5 out of 5 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story, and although this book can be read as a standalone, the ending left me wanting to start the sequel immediately.
Project Tau is best suited for older teenagers and young adult readers, as characters often use strong language, and the story contains mentions of physical and mental torture.
******
Project Tau
View: on Bookshelves |
Almost two thousand years into the future, humans were forced to leave their original home planet and settle on five planets far, far away. There were wars, deep distrust of anything connected to artificial intelligence, and a rising interest in genetic science. The company GenTech was the leader in cloning human DNA. They started with creating organs, and now, literal human clones—so-called “Projects” with altered strengths and new capabilities to be sold as laborers, to the military, or to private owners. Basically, Projects had no rights and were treated even worse than pets.
The seventeen-year-old Kalin Taylor was born on Trandellia, one of the five planets, and lived there right up until he was accepted into the prestigious Sanderson College of Arts and Sciences (SACAS) on planet Basarr. This was the perfect opportunity for Kalin to start fresh. At home, his high IQ and chubby body, apparently, were reasons enough for others to bully and treat him as an outcast. Because of that, he came to SACAS with two goals in mind: to major in Medical Science and make friends. For the latter, Kalin thought his best bet would be to join the fraternity at SACAS. Right before classes started, Kalin mustered up the courage to do the one task the head of the frat dared him to do in order to join them. He had to break into the secretive GenTech lab and take a photo of the even more kept-in-secret Project Tau. Kalin knew that this task was beyond reckless, but joining the frat and not feeling so lonely anymore was far more important to him.
What Kalin did not know, unfortunately, was what would happen to him once he entered the GenTech lab. He did not know that his life and future would be threatened. That he would agree to stay at the lab for two weeks and be their test subject. That he would share a room with Project Tau and see how inhumanely he was treated. Kalin did not know that the lab’s administrator had no intentions of letting him go—that he wanted to genetically alter him, train him, and then sell him. Was this Kalin’s terrifying future? How could he escape?
Project Tau was one of the best sci-fi books I have read in a very long time. Science fiction is not one of the genres I usually prefer to read, but Kalin’s story and the world-building captured my interest and kept me hooked until the very last page. It was very easy to immerse myself in this futuristic world, where humans had to settle on new planets. Where things like space travel and genetic cloning became somewhat normal. But before diving headfirst into the first chapter, I highly recommend reading the information about the five planets in the appendix. These few pages gave me a good overview of the world in which Kalin’s story took place.
It was also easy to relate to Kalin, to the loneliness he felt in the beginning, and the hate and hopelessness he felt in the lab. Jude Austin’s descriptive, colorful writing style allowed me to sympathize with Kalin’s harsh yet caring character, to understand his thoughts and feelings. I particularly appreciated that Jude Austin wrote the story from a third-person perspective, allowing readers to know about everything that was happening outside of Kalin’s experiences, like Dr. Renfield’s investigations or the scheming between Mason and Dr. Dennison. I especially liked the parts written from Dr. Renfield’s perspective and even more so the ones written from Tau’s point of view. His perspective certainly made me think about the ethical aspects of human cloning and genetic experimentation, and I hope that such actions never become a reality.
Overall, I have nothing negative to say about this book. I found two small punctuation errors, but apart from those, Jude Austin created a well-written and thought-out story that was captivating and easy to follow. Because of these reasons, I rate Project Tau5 out of 5 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story, and although this book can be read as a standalone, the ending left me wanting to start the sequel immediately.
Project Tau is best suited for older teenagers and young adult readers, as characters often use strong language, and the story contains mentions of physical and mental torture.
******
Project Tau
View: on Bookshelves |
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