Escape from Genopolis

Set in 2067, the world envisaged in this novel is one that is structured by hierarchy and as a result, savagely split. The environs of Genopolis belong to the Citizens, a higher order of humanity engineered to exist without pain as the realisation of one man’s, Leuwenkind, dream for a Super race. Geminis meanwhile act out a life of servitude, shadowing the Citizens.

Escape from Genopolis is told from two alternating perspectives, that of Arlo – brought up as a Citizen, he comes to learn his past is not as he had been led to believe – and that of Usha, a Gemini who absconds from her position. Brought together, the pair make a bid for physical freedom from the constraints of their respective positions within Genopolis yet also to learn about their past and its potential impact upon their future as the dual influences of the nurtured and the natural are explored in this polarised projection of the future.

At its most powerful and high-flighted, the book’s exploration into the value of pain as a stimulus and key strand for survival is reminiscent of Anthony Burgess’ controversial A Clockwork Orange . Carefully crafted, contemplative and deeply compassionate, common aims and experiences are brought into rapid relief as civilising strands for a disparate society in this visionary novel.