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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “Ancestor by Scott Sigler |
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“Horror, yes....intrigue, yes...drama, yes...spine-tingling terror, yes...this book has it all! Cloning to save lives, no more transplant waiting list, a very noble cause is at the root of this sci-fi thriller. Genetic companies all over the world are in a race to produce a mammal compatible with humans for easily accessible organs for transplant. The brilliant scientists who work for Genada are close, very close, when another company causes a virus to jump species with an 80% kill rate. Governments all over the world shut down the xenotransplantation projects, except Genada. They go underground with their mad science experiment almost at fruition. Their motives drive them, some altruistic, some not. But everyone has lost sight of the lead scientists swirl into madness and Liu Jian Dan can't remeber anymore what genetic sequences she created to produce the fetuses that are now ready to be born. No one heeds the warnings going off in anyone's heads and the "ancestors" arrive...predators with a primal hunger not easily slaked. Who lives...who dies? Read it to find out. Brilliant!”
Pat K wrote this review Saturday, November 19, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“If you're a BIG Scott Sigler fan then you'll enjoy this read that " offers a chilling tale of what can happen when greed and madness drive scientific experimentation past the brink of reason." 5 stars!”
Chuck H wrote this review Friday, November 18, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A great sci-fi thriller. If you don't like gore, DON'T read this book. But otherwise, Mr. Sigler is a mastermind. His genetics and science actually make since.”
Firebreather wrote this review Tuesday, May 17, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Scott Sigler is always exciting. You'd expect his characters dialogue to be too cheesy, but the way he brings together action and wit makes his story too amazing to criticize. In an effort to bring about an abundance of organs to cure humanity's need for transplants, they very nearly end it by creating a chilling predator. This story keeps your blood pumping the entire way!”
Lindsey wrote this review Tuesday, April 26, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Great book, the ending is great and there is an amazing plot in it, I will never look at a cow the same way again. Level Z”
Daniel B wrote this review Monday, April 11, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No1 of 1 members found this review helpful“Ancestor by Scott Sigler
Chandler Matlock wrote this review Friday, March 11, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The novel Ancestor by Scott Sigler is a very well written novel. The genre of the novel is science fiction. The thing that sets this book apart from others is the unique spin Scott Sigler puts on science fiction. The setting of the novel is in three different locations. One of the locations is a high-tech biomedical facility in Iceland. This facility is home to the first “Ancestor” type project. The second setting is another facility, but in Canada and it is run by a different corporation. The final setting is a remote island in the middle of Lake Superior. This island is home to Genada’s secret lab in which their scientists in Canada escape too. The time period of the novel is modern day or sometime in the near future.
In my book there are multiple main characters. One of them is P.J. Colding, he is the leader of Genada’s “Ancestor” project. He also is in charge of keeping the project secret from the outside world. Another main character is Dr. Klaus Rhumokorff. Rhumokorff is the lead scientist on the “Ancestor” project; he is also in charge of Jian’s medications. The third main character is Dr. Liu Jian. She is in charge of the genome sequencing on the project. Jian also suffers from schizophrenia. The final main character is Colonel Paul Fisher. Fisher is in charge of the CIA run operation that is in charge of taking down all of the projects like the “Ancestor” one.
This novel starts out with Colonel Paul Fisher responding to a call from a biomedical lab in Iceland. Once on site he watches the security cameras from inside the lab. The cameras display the horror that has happened to the staff of the facility. A break out of some disease that has been brought on by the lab’s project has killed the entire staff. In order to keep the disease from spreading Fisher orders the entire facility and all occupants inside bombed. Fisher now moves on the other company’s’ projects that resemble the one being performed at the lab in Iceland. P.J. catches wind of the firestorm that has come upon their project. P.J. decides it is best to move the project to its secret base which is located on a small desolate island in the middle of Lake Superior. Just hours after the project has been moved Fisher shows up on the deserted Genada base. Immediately Fisher orders the base bombed just as the lab in Iceland. P.J. and the rest of the staff of Genada’s “Ancestor” project land on the small island. Immediately P.J. shuts off all outside communications and shuts down the island’s radar. Weeks later, the project takes a giant leap and produces an ancestor. The problem is Jian (who has wanted to commit suicide) has changed the genetic code of the creatures. The ancestors are now born killers and have decided to turn on the staff, who is basically marooned on the island with no way to escape. What happens next is full of suspense and nonstop action and the outcome is something you won’t believe.
This novel is full of many strong points. In my opinion the novel only has one downfall, and that is the ending. The reason for me thinking that the ending is the weakest point in the book is because I think more time should have been spent winding down the plot. One of the many strong points is how well the plot is built up. When the story actually starts to unfold you feel like you know every character to the “T”. An example from the text is, “the man Colding, ex CIA, a man born of secrecy, is the man Fisher has to find. Another strong point of the book is the imagery for example, “the creature resembles, a cow but low to the ground with red eyes that scream evil.”
I love the book for multiple reasons. One reason is that it is different from all of the other science fiction novels I have read. Another reason is that the book has so many strong points. The final reason is that it is such great twists on the books I have been reading as of late.
Page Count: 432 Pages
Genre: Horror/Action and Science Fiction
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“The basic premise is that a company has funded a project to create an animal that would be bred for organ transplantation. An 'ancestor' that would avoid the problems of rejection by combining genes from many, many mammalian species - bot halive and extinc. A fine, humanitarian mission. Of course, when you have huge amounts of money on the line add human egos and frailties and put that in a pressure cooker, bad things are sure to happen.
Bill L wrote this review Monday, March 7, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The plot is tighter in this version and even though there's plenty of science, it doesn't bog down the action. Once I had a day off, I finished the final two-thirds of the book in one day.
Mr. Sigler creates facinating characters and great dialog. He's at the top of his game here. There are villains and monsters and heros -- all fully fleshed out so that you can't wait to find out who lives and who meets with (a sometimes grisly) death. No, I won't spoil the suspense, you have to read it for yourselves. ”
“Full video review here http://mysterythriller.tv/ancestor-by-scott-sigler/
Joanna Penn wrote this review Tuesday, March 1, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I like Scott Sigler’s blend of action and intelligent plots. Ancestor is almost like Crichton’s Jurassic Park in that he investigates genetic engineering and how that could go horribly wrong in the pursuit for profit and scientific praise.
I really enjoy the learning side of a novel and in this we get some scientific detail about genetics woven into the tight plot. It’s not too technical but enough that you can appreciate the research. Sigler also writes gore really well and some of his other books are definitely horror. This book has some gruesome scenes but not so much you have to skip pages.
Genada is out to clone the perfect ancestor animal whose parts could be used for transplant into humans, a docile herd animal easy to control and harvest from. The setting moves from a mobile lab to a tiny island where the scientists are trying to finish the experiment. The constraint of the setting is critical for the plot. When the aircraft containing the pregnant cows crashes back into the island, we know things are about to get ugly. The ancestors are not docile cow-like creatures at all, but ravenous, intelligent, killing machines.
The fight also turns inwards as the survivors of the ancestor attack fight each other in order to keep the company secrets and to stay alive.
The characters are a mix and there are enough introduced so that they can be killed off in quite gruesome ways. I especially liked Jian, a brilliant geneticist but definitely mentally ill and her nightmares of horrific spliced animals gone wrong foreshadow the coming events. The insights into her mind as the architect of the final solution are fascinating. The love interest of Sara and Colding gave an extra facet to the sub-plot and humanized some of the feelings behind the violence and the science.”
“Let me start off by saying that I walked into Ancestor with a promise to myself that I would not, under any circumstances, become attached to any one character in the story. Because let's face it, Sigler has a way of crucifying people to walls and boiling characters alive and just about every character you see cross the page has a time limit before some alien or monster makes mince meat out of them. But there I was, chest deep in science fiction/horror and there were not one but three characters who I was praying would survive.
Aimee H wrote this review Monday, February 14, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
As in, if they died I would have to use my "junkie" powers on his website to somehow reach through cyberspace and choke the author to death.
Which meant, of course, that I had become emotionally attached to the characters. And in the world of readers and writers, that's one of the highest achievements. So my proverbial hats off to you, Mr. Scott Sigler, as much as I didn't want to attach myself to the walking body count on the page, I did. I won't spoil it for anyone and say whether or not those three particular characters died or name them specifically, but if I could strangle you via cyberspace, you know that I would. ”
