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Gemini Cell (2000)

by Myke Cole(Favorite Author)

3.74 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0425269647 (ISBN13: 9780425269640)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

review 1: I think Myke Cole invented the military fantasy genre, and even if he didn't, he'll be remembered as somebody who introduced it to the masses.Myke Cole has previous experience as an US military officer and security contractor, so that gives his military fantasy books a good tinge of "realism".Gemini Cell was an action packed, full blown adrenaline ride. The protag, Jim Schweitzer is a Navy SEAL. But combine a hard-case like him with magic and you've got a one of a kind book on your hands. Although Gemini Cell calls itself a prequel to Cole's brilliant Shadow Ops series, this can be considered as a brand new book/series on its own. And it's Cole's best work to date. The characters are interesting and diverse. Cole pulls off that rare trick of making you feel all kinds of th... moreings about his characters: you want to root for them, then they are deplorable, and then you're back to cheering. You get your money's worth.Like all his novels, Gemini Cell also asks interesting questions about personal rights, and how far the government can interfere in those rights when it comes to issues such as national security. However, I just couldn't flow with the idea that being a "professional" killer somehow made it okay to being a killer. When this book asks nice question about religion and personal rights, this sense of American gungo-ho-ness somehow didn't jive with the whole book. And considering, Cole distanced himself from this very thing in his other novels, even criticized them.That apart, this is a great book. To quote Jim Schweitzer, this is the start of something new. I can't wait to see where it goes next.Full Disclosure: I got an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a review.
review 2: Whenever I read a book I try to write a review as soon as possible so I can 1. Read the next book I have waiting in the wings and 2. review it before I forget what I wanted to say. Sometimes I forget to review a book until I have already read another, which makes my brain spin as I try to remember which character did what, and what plot line I liked better. Sometimes I put off the review because I want to mull over how to say the book sucked without sending a sensitive or temperamental new writer into spasms of self-defeating behavior. Occasionally I come across a book that I put off reviewing because I am just not sure what to say - this book seems to have fallen in the latter category, as I finished it a month ago.Overall, I enjoyed Gemini Cell. The story was pretty good, although I have seen the basic premise written a little better (magic coming into the modern world). The characters were interesting enough, although the female lead fell a little flat with me. I have the feeling that even though this is supposed to be a stand-alone prequel to the author's prior novels, I feel I might have understood the basic world a little better had I read them first. Once I read a comment about it being a different take on the Zombie genre, a few things made more sense (after all, who wouldn't be elated and repulsed at the same time when your lover shows up sporting a 3 foot long tongue, bony spines, and glowing orbs where the eyes used to be). I think the premise of two spirits/entities fighting over occupying the same body was well written, and I'm curious where the author is going to take it from here.The biggest issue I has was the world didn't seem fully fleshed out to me, so there were parts that seemed rather awkward. I would have liked to see a bit more on the fact that the government can't control all these people with new powers, and a better idea of whether it was a few random people with magic or a large section of the population. I would imagine in today's world, news would spread faster than a government could control and it would potentially destabilize the world. Maybe this is something explained more in the other novels, but I would have been interested to see a larger world view mentioned somewhere.I received a copy of this novel to peruse through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. less

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