The two “hardest” sci-fi books I’ve read this year have been published by long-time publishers of SFF, Gollancz. Last month, I reviewed Adam Roberts’ Lake of Darkness. This month, it’s Darkome by Hannu Rajniemi. There is some complicated biochemistry in this story about mRNA vaccines and gene-hacking. Behind all the science, is a classic story of the counter-culture sticking it to the man.
What Is Darkome by Hannu Rajaniemi?
First up, as it doesn’t say anywhere on my copy of Darkome, it’s worth mentioning that this is the first book in a series. The book does not end with the resolution I was looking for. And boy did I want some resolution. After I had worked my way into the book, via some quite complicated biological science, I was hooked on the story of bio-terrorism, counter-bio-terrorism, and the fascinating potential of gene manipulation.
The novel is set in the near future (around 2040). The world has suffered a “decade of plagues”—a series of manufactured pandemics that held the world in terror. This was stopped by the Aspis chip a wearable vaccine factory that adapted to new viruses on the fly. Inevitably, not everyone was happy with making their lives beholden to a big tech/pharma enterprise.
This gives rise to the “Darkome” a sort of Darkweb for biohackers. Whole physical communities sprung up too. Inara lives in one such community. She has cancer. Inara and her mother were trying to hold it back, when her mother died in mysterious circumstances. Now, Inara’s only chance to survive her cancer is to install an Aspis chip. After which she will be unwelcome in her community. She’ll have to leave her life behind.
Alone, trying to make a go of it, things become worse when her chip starts to malfunction. As Inara investigates why this is (she and her mother, were both very capable biochemists), she discovers a startling revelation about her cancer. A revelation that will rock the world. But will it save it, or damn humanity to an existence in which viruses cannot be stopped?
With players big and small, all wanting a piece of Inara, who can she trust?
Why Read Darkome by Hannu Rajaniemi?
If you had told me this book had been written by Cory Doctorow, I would have 100% believed you, Rajaniemi taps into the same counter-culture, gig economy feel, that forms the spine of so many Doctorow novels. The protagonists of both authors’ novels would get on famously!
Darkome is tough going in some places. There is a lot of hard science in the book, and at times, I just had to let it wash over me, hoping I’d glean enough from the exposition to follow the story. That said, there are some interesting ideas about the nature of drug evolution and how we might treat future epidemics and cancers. Whilst the novel was close to being overwhelmed, Ranjeimi keeps the reader locked in with a strong narrative and some interesting ethical questions.
The alt-culture setup is drawn well, as is the company of Aspis, which feels very much like a well-meaning but ultimately a victim of its own success, much like real-life tech corporations from the boom in the early 21st Century. Again this gives the book a “Doctorow” feel. Some of the novel’s ethical questions also reminded me of the current situation regarding the companies thirsting for the next AI breakthrough. There are hints of “Just because we can do this, does it mean we should?”
The pacing in the final third of the novel is excellent. Up until that point, I wasn’t sure what I thought of Darkome. As I raced towards the conclusion, I was desperate to find out what was going to happen. I was a little dismayed when I realized a single volume was never going to wrap things up. Dismayed but also glad that I would be able to read another novel about Inara, and the near-dystopian future dreamt up by Hannu Rajaniemi.
If you would like to pick up a copy of Darkome by Hannu Rajaniemi you can do so here, in the U.S., and here, in the UK. (Affiliate Links)
If you enjoyed this review, check out my other book reviews, here.
I received a copy of this book in order to write this review.
