SELECT * FROM uv_BookReviewRollup WHERE recordnum = 210 Mortals All, by Bruce Golden Book Review | SFReader.com

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Mortals All, by Bruce Golden
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Shaman Press
Published: 2002
Review Posted: 9/13/2002
Reviewer Rating:
Reader Rating: 8 out of 10

Mortals All, by Bruce Golden

Book Review by Darlene Hoffman

Have you read this book?

A futuristic love story with a backdrop concerning the civil rights of artificially-created humans is at the center of Mortals All (Shaman Press), but there are many layers to this book. On the surface, the plot, which involves "Blade Runneresque" tracers who hunt rogue "andrones," and a religious figure with political ambitions, may seem rather pedestrian. But what's special about this novel are the characters, which are real down to their smallest insecurities and quirkiest habits, even when they're artificially created andrones.

The scenes when the on-the-make human, Zachariah Starr, teaches the female androne, Mary 79, about sex are both sensual and humorous. The entire book is actually tinted with satire--though the humor is subtle, not overt. When this pair's relationship evolves into something greater than lust, this story really begins to grab you by the soul. Mary learns from Zach what it means to be human, while he learns from her what love is, and, more important, can be.

In addition to the lovers, there's the Jeserite reverend, Jackson Roberts, (Jeserite = Jesse?+Jackson?) with a secret past that could topple his run for the world senate. That secret past has a connection to Mary, which is only totally revealed in the climax.

A dynamic presence whenever he enters a scene is Jon 155, the reluctant leader of the rogue andrones who once was the greatest athlete of a brutal sport called "The Gauntlet." A poet in a warrior's body, he learns from Mary much of what her experiences with Zach have taught her, creating a kind of chain reaction of human experience.

There's also the church proctor who doesn't let his obsessive-compulsive fastidiousness interfere with his investigation, and the neutral (androgynous) androne who hunts Mary, but begins to question his own existence.

Golden (writing his first novel after a long journalism career according to his bio) deftly uses first person to take us inside the heads of each character. It's an unusual style, but one that works-partly because of his gift for writing dialogue.

Besides the whodunit aspects of the book, its most interesting facet is the way the author deals with the idea of human rights for these artificially created humans. It's the age-old issue of slavery seen in a crèche tank light. However, though he poses many questions related to the civil rights of these sentient beings, he doesn't answer them all. (Could this mean a sequel? The ending is set up to provide one.)

This is not a book for hard science fiction fans. Other than the andrones, some minor futuristic inventions, and travel within the solar system, there's not a lot of science fiction hardware here. This is a character study that happens to take place more than a hundred years in the future. Much of it is reminiscent of Heinlein's works. Some may read it and think "Well, this and this have been done before." True to an extent, and maybe there are no great innovations in this novel, but I don't think what is here has been done quite this way before.

This is science fiction with heart, and a story that will make you think as it entertains. I know I couldn't put it down, and when it ended, I wanted still more.
Mortals All, by Bruce Golden on Amazon

Mortals All, by Bruce Golden on Amazon

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Comments on Mortals All, by Bruce Golden
Posted by davefelts on 12/15/2002
Dang Ed! You shoulda bought it from Amazon thorugh one of my links! I'd have made about 30 cents - almost half a days worth of hosting fees!
Posted by Ed on 12/11/2002
After coming across a couple of places online that said some positive, interesting things about this book, I tried to find it. Not in any of my local bookstores (though they said I could order it). I finally got it online at Virtualbookworm.com, and I have to say, in many ways it was better than what I'd been led to believe. I don't know how this one slipped by the major publishers and ended up on some small publisher's desk, but I'm glad they saw in it what I did. Good, old-time storytelling with believable characters.
Posted by cac on 11/15/2002
This is Sci-Fi with broad appeal, heart and a human touch, character-driven--Zach and Mary have chemistry to burn. It's very visual, with just the right amount of futurespeak to give a flavor that it's taking place in a different time.
Posted by Mr. on 11/7/2002
This book was surprisingly good. I got it after reading the review on this site. Actually, depsite the good review, I think there's a lot more to it than the reviewer gives it credit for. It's the kind of book that if you give it a chance--really get into it--it'll take you places.
Posted by Bony on 10/28/2002
Yeah, this is a great book. Not a lot of hardware, but very interesting characters. You should read this is if you're looking for something a little different--something that will make you care about the characters involved.