Aurealis Award Best YA Novel 2017 short list
- Author: E. Suvada
- Title: This Mortal Coil (48 chapters; 425 pages)
- Published: 2017
- Trivia: Shortlisted for best YA novel in the 2017 Aurealis Awards
Quickscan plot:
- Cat’s father is Dr. Lachlan Agatta.
- He is a legendary geneticist who has been kidnapped
- by a shadowy organization called Cartaxus.
- Cat is left to survive the last two years on her own.
- She can no longer escape involvement with the Cartaxus.
- This is where it gets personal.
- Cole, a Cartaxus soldier, arrives with
- …news that her father has been killed.
- Cat’s instincts tell her it’s just another Cartaxus lie.
- But Cole also brings a message.
- Before Dr. Lachlan died…
- he managed to create a vaccine against the killing virus.
- Cole needs Cat’s genius-hacker skills to
- …crack Cartaxus’ encrypted code and save the human race.
Conclusion:
- Classic hook: the reader is in the middle of the action
- ….then chapter two begins with:
- “Two years earlier….”
- The characters are in a technological wonderland with
- a hellishly corporate backdrop (Cartaxus).
- “They want your brain, but don’t need your legs” (ch 2)
- Cat Agatta (hacker nickname: Bobcat)
- must use all her skills to decode her late father’s message.
- But is her father, Dr. Lalhan Agatta….really dead?
- There is a lot to digest in this book.
- The reader who loves…
- computers – files – servers – code – apps – databases
- …smash-and-grab hacking, Fibonacci search technique
- …ribbons of synthetic DNA
- …and swarms of drones…will love this book.
- If you are not tech-savvy…you may lose interest.
- The book tackles challenging issues:
- …a daughter trying to understand (break free of) her father
- ..a daughter mapping out
- …her boundaries in ethics (DNA) and in love.
Last thoughts:
- In YA books….the voice of the young includes
- …lots of swearing.
- Not in this book….just a few shit’s, batshit and shitloads.
- M.J. Ward in Psynode cleverly avoided this problem of swearing
- …that might influence gatekeepers and not include the book
- …in school libraries.
- She used her urban-brand of swearing…fugg and shiz!
- Of course YA would not be YA without
- …a love triangle Dax – Cat – Cole.
- blurring the boundary between romance/erotica.
- “We spent the week trying to ignore
- …the energy crackling between us,
- like two humming electrodes just waiting for a spark.”
- Hmmm… personally I prefer words like:
- “We’ll always have Paris.” in a love scene.
- Not planning to read Suvada’s #2 book in this series.
- …It is just “not my thing.”
- I am looking forward to Sally Abbott’s next SF book.
- Try reading Abbott’s Closing Down
- ..and see if you agree with me! (score: 5 star)
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Great post 💕💕
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Thanks so much for your comment!
It depends on my mood after reading a book
…I can get a bit snarky!
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