The Games

The Games is a good first novel from one of my favorite short fiction writers. I've seen a lot of reviews that compare this to a Michael Crighton novel. This is probably because of the author's background in the biological sciences, and that most of his work deals with near future scenarios. The novel is also a pretty straightforward thriller when compared to some of his moodier short fiction. I was reminded of some of Robert J. Sawyer books while reading.

The plot centers around the scenario that rampant genetic engineering of human athletes in the Olympics led to an event where genetically modified gladiators battle to the death. The only rule is that the gladiators can't have any human DNA. Genetic engineering of human athletes in other events is outlawed. The main character is the head of the team that develops the US gladiator. An important side story involves a savant who develops an experimental computer which designs the newest combatant. The weakest part of the novel for me was the meshing of these two storylines. I actually thought the programmer character would have been more interesting as the focal character. I would have liked to see the character developed more, or to have him minimized to see more development of the main character. I think we will see an improvement in dealing with issues like these as Kosmatka continues to write more novel length works. I think Kosmatka set out to write an entertaining book and he succeeds very well. His writing style keeps the pages turning. I could easily see the novel being adapted to a movie.

This book sat on the slush pile for a long while before being published. I hope we don't have to wait as long for a second book. I rated it an 8/10.