Amor Towles proves he is the master of words, yet again. In this science fiction novella, he explores nature vs. nurture. By using foundational information, biographical histories, predictive behavior patterns, and patterned growth development, Vitek promotes a new type of genetic engineering that the main character, Sam, is confronted with. But, given the choice to alleviate one of the more unsubstantial characteristics, what would be sacrificed and how would that effect the child’s future?
“We’re all born with certain strengths which, ideally, are fostered by our parents and positively reinforced through education and peer interaction. But our strengths don’t serve us well in every circumstance at every phase of our lives. As we grow and enter new contexts, our longer-term strengths can suddenly hamper our worldly progress, which in turn can create dissonance at home.”
I sat at the edge of my seat totally enthralled. The audio book narrated by David Harbour (of the show Stranger Things) was completely immersive, and I highly recommend it. Not sure if I liked the ending, but the story in it’s entirety was still amazing.
This is one of one of six novellas in the series Forward that is set in the future. The collection of short stories for Forward was curated by Blake Crouch, and includes stories by authors such as Andy Weir, Veronica Roth, and Paul Trembley.
