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System Reset
Why is there only one species of human? What happened to the others? Did they become extinct? Or are they still here? Waiting. When Federal agent Mike Throckmorton is assigned to investigate Anglo American tycoon Drew Quatermain he finds himself drawn into a mysterious family whose wealth is the least of their extraordinary assets and whose capabilities are out of this world. And this world is about to end.
373 pages
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 2, 2009
This is a hard book to review, System Reset by John Illsley is quite unlike any science fiction novel I’ve read in a while. It’s obvious the author is trying for Arthur C. Clarke here and I have to admit he comes pretty damn close to doing it!
System Reset is about Drew Quatermain a billionaire who wants to change the world with his good works. His company Trikos is a world wide conglomerate that has holdings in drug companies, hotels that are being built in the ocean, and in computer companies. His altruistic efforts include creating a drug that cures drug addiction and he has released it into the general population and junkies are losing their cravings; for what purpose did he do this? No one is sure, and it catches the attention of the CIA. Quatermain has an extended family of beautiful young daughters who mostly walk around in the nude and to whom promiscuity is a virtue, it’s necessary to their survival. Why is it necessary? Because the Quatermains all have psychic abilities of differing strengths but the younger generation is finding their powers exceed that of their parents. But this doesn’t lead to strife, quite the opposite they want to share their abilities as well as their bodies to the world. The problem for the Quatermains is they don’t know if they’re human or not, but they also don‘t know if they‘re aliens or some other species. The CIA sends in one of their operatives James Bond wannabe, Mike Throckmorton, to infiltrate the Quatermains compound through one of the daughters because one of his assets as a spy is his ability to seduce women. System Reset doesn’t move like your typical thriller, Illsley keeps the action moving ever forward with the risks and odds ever increasing to the Quatermains but it resists, no, it totally ignores the formulaic clichés typical of the genre and leaves them behind with lesser writers who believe the formula drives the plot, while still engrossing the reader in the characters. The writing itself is very good, there are some very arresting passages which you will find yourself caught up in the lyrical resonances of it. There’s also some very English humor, I mean humour that comments on the art of the novelist. It’s easy to see Mr. Illsley is well read, incorporating a little physics, metaphysics, philosophy, general science, and they work well in the book almost melding perfectly into the plot of the book. Mr. Illsley has the gift of the storyteller, being able to write about those subjects that in others hands might come off as pedantic or didactic, he gives you just the right amount of information and then seamlessly merges back into the plot. He has good ear for language in the early chapters which take place in Greece, I can hear through his writing the accents of the people without it sounding clichéd or stereotypical.
I do want to be clear about this, this is adult fiction there is a lot of sex, not gorily detailed into XXX territory but specific and unblinking in the use of sexuality, its used in a mature manner by characters that have shed their Puritan squeamishness about such things. The sexuality isn’t in the story for prurient or titillating effect, it’s part of the world the Quatermains live in and relevant to their philosophy and the living of their lives.
And what did I mean about Mr. Illsley aspiring to Arthur C. Clarke? Without wanting to give too much away about the resolution, like Clarke, Mr. Illsley takes what would ordinarily be a standard science fiction plot and it takes it into the transcendent, to the realm where physics become metaphysics, and the molecular, physical.
System Reset is a brave book with the highest ambition, but it’s well worth taking the journey and discovering a path less traveled in science fiction.
System Reset is available at: http://stores.lulu.com/indiebooks
System Reset is about Drew Quatermain a billionaire who wants to change the world with his good works. His company Trikos is a world wide conglomerate that has holdings in drug companies, hotels that are being built in the ocean, and in computer companies. His altruistic efforts include creating a drug that cures drug addiction and he has released it into the general population and junkies are losing their cravings; for what purpose did he do this? No one is sure, and it catches the attention of the CIA. Quatermain has an extended family of beautiful young daughters who mostly walk around in the nude and to whom promiscuity is a virtue, it’s necessary to their survival. Why is it necessary? Because the Quatermains all have psychic abilities of differing strengths but the younger generation is finding their powers exceed that of their parents. But this doesn’t lead to strife, quite the opposite they want to share their abilities as well as their bodies to the world. The problem for the Quatermains is they don’t know if they’re human or not, but they also don‘t know if they‘re aliens or some other species. The CIA sends in one of their operatives James Bond wannabe, Mike Throckmorton, to infiltrate the Quatermains compound through one of the daughters because one of his assets as a spy is his ability to seduce women. System Reset doesn’t move like your typical thriller, Illsley keeps the action moving ever forward with the risks and odds ever increasing to the Quatermains but it resists, no, it totally ignores the formulaic clichés typical of the genre and leaves them behind with lesser writers who believe the formula drives the plot, while still engrossing the reader in the characters. The writing itself is very good, there are some very arresting passages which you will find yourself caught up in the lyrical resonances of it. There’s also some very English humor, I mean humour that comments on the art of the novelist. It’s easy to see Mr. Illsley is well read, incorporating a little physics, metaphysics, philosophy, general science, and they work well in the book almost melding perfectly into the plot of the book. Mr. Illsley has the gift of the storyteller, being able to write about those subjects that in others hands might come off as pedantic or didactic, he gives you just the right amount of information and then seamlessly merges back into the plot. He has good ear for language in the early chapters which take place in Greece, I can hear through his writing the accents of the people without it sounding clichéd or stereotypical.
I do want to be clear about this, this is adult fiction there is a lot of sex, not gorily detailed into XXX territory but specific and unblinking in the use of sexuality, its used in a mature manner by characters that have shed their Puritan squeamishness about such things. The sexuality isn’t in the story for prurient or titillating effect, it’s part of the world the Quatermains live in and relevant to their philosophy and the living of their lives.
And what did I mean about Mr. Illsley aspiring to Arthur C. Clarke? Without wanting to give too much away about the resolution, like Clarke, Mr. Illsley takes what would ordinarily be a standard science fiction plot and it takes it into the transcendent, to the realm where physics become metaphysics, and the molecular, physical.
System Reset is a brave book with the highest ambition, but it’s well worth taking the journey and discovering a path less traveled in science fiction.
System Reset is available at: http://stores.lulu.com/indiebooks
May 7, 2009
I have to rate this highly because I wrote it but in literature there is no disputing taste, so see what you think.
March 18, 2012
I have to give it a high rating because I wrote it. Buy it for your Kindle and judge for yourself. http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews