Tankborn

This post first published September 25, 2011.

Author: Karen Sandler
Published: September 2011
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
384 pages (galley)
 
So, firstly, a big thank you to NetGalley and Lee & Low Books for a copy of this book. This book was ah-mazing to read, I enjoyed it so much. It was right up my alley, with the sci-fi and the genetic engineering and people who are sort of like part-computer in a way … loved the story world, loved the story.

Tankborn takes place in the distant future. Earth is ruined, and humans have been living on a different planet for possibly hundreds of years now (I didn’t quite catch how far in the future this is, my bad. But it’s far). When humans were leaving Earth, the rich who can afford passage became high-status people, the people with special skills (ex. building, programming, etc) became demi-status people and the ones who cannot afford to leave Earth gave themselves to the rich to become their servants in exchange for passage, becoming the lowborns. Thus, on this new planet, there grew a very strict and rigid caste system.

Kayla is not high status, demi status or lowborn. She is a GEN — Genetically Engineered Non-Human. She is at the bottom of the pyramid, so to speak, and all trueborns treat GENs like dirt. GENs are tankborn non-humans, who are mixed with a little bit of animal DNA to give them a special skill (superhuman strength, in Kayla’s case), and are created specifically to be slaves. At fifteen, GENs are given an Assignment, the place they will work for the rest of their life. Kayla is Assigned to be a caretaker for 102 year old high status trueborn Zul Mandel. However, Zul has chosen Kayla to be near him for a greater reason than simply being his caretaker. There is a revolution happening, a conspiracy to unfold, and Kayla will be caught right in the middle of it all.

The world building is very well done and definitely the highlight of this novel. It is a completely fictional, but believable, culture that is created in this book. It is interesting that even though it’s very far in the future, it isn’t the type of sci-fi where there’s robots and lasers and spaceships everywhere. In some ways, the culture felt a bit archaic, what with the strict social hierarchy and all. And I don’t know why, but I kind of imagined their clothes was kind of traditional Indian-style, but that just be because of the clear Indian inspiration for the caste system in this book. Anyway, I liked how the culture and the story world was sort of antiquated but mixed with, obviously, futuristic stuff, like shock guns, and how GENs are kind of like computers — using a Datapod, one can upload and download information from a GEN’s annexed brain (as opposed to their bare brain, which, I gather, is their normal brain, the kind you and I have). The world is quite unique due to this mixture of the old and the new.

I wasn’t too crazy about the characters, but I didn’t dislike them either. I guess I kind of wanted more from them, but they never did anything that really made me love or hate them. I did enjoy their growth and development, as they (meaning everyone except Zul, haha) went from knowing not much and blindly accepting their world as is, to questioning everything down to the meaning of their existence. But anyway, the lack of characters that interested me didn’t matter too much to me because I do not feel this book was meant to be a character-driven story anyway; it’s more about the world and the plot, which more than made up for it to me.

The story was really fascinating to read. It is neither a fast or slow paced book, but instead, chugs along at a pleasant speed. You aren’t overwhelmed with too much information at once, which is quite an easy trap for authors to fall into when they build huge complex worlds and feel the need to explain everything and cram the world’s history into the first chapter. Tankborn mercifully doesn’t do that. I also loved the mystery elements in the book, the unfolding of a conspiracy, and it kept me turning the pages. While some parts of the story I kind of saw coming, some parts genuinely surprised me; I love it when I can’t see the twists coming in a story.

All in all, a wonderfully written story, one that I definitely you try if this sounds interesting to you. I think most people will enjoy this, and it’s honestly a bit sad to me that this book doesn’t have more hype surrounding it. I cannot wait for it to be released, personally!

My Rating: 4/5