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gemsliterarygems 's review for:
Cold People
by Tom Rob Smith
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Liza is on holiday in Europe with her parents and sister when she meets a mysterious tour guide that she is drawn to. Arturo takes her on a boat ride and when they return, the city is deserted with everyone gathered indoors looking at screens. Aliens have arrived and they only have one message- humanity has 30 days to get to Antarctica. No explanation of the consequences. But the ships in the sky are very real, satellites are all out and even the worst of humanity’s weapons no longer work.
But this is not really a tale of the journey as after just a short time we jump 20 years into the future and the story of what humans are doing to survive in one of the harshest places on earth. Genetic engineering is the new focus of the entire human population, and The Cold People project is seen to be the future of civilisation.
Firstly can I say that I’m a zoologist by training, and teach genetics on a regular basis, so found the over simplified “of course we can just change a bit here and there and a person will suddenly be born with scales and cold resistance but everything else is pretty normal” really grating at times. But suspending belief (there are omnipotent aliens invading after all), I can skip over that as believable enough. But although the plot is gripping, I just found the lack of any conclusions frustrating.
There’s multiple characters introduced, a back story for them and then something happens in present day. There’s the Cold People and their potential to be a danger, the aliens and the question as to whether people can go back to the rest of the world, as well as Echo and her family’s place in the world. But I just didn’t feel that anything was really resolved! We don’t even know whether the aliens are really a threat past the deadline. All in all, well written and yet I can’t help but feel something was missing.
But this is not really a tale of the journey as after just a short time we jump 20 years into the future and the story of what humans are doing to survive in one of the harshest places on earth. Genetic engineering is the new focus of the entire human population, and The Cold People project is seen to be the future of civilisation.
Firstly can I say that I’m a zoologist by training, and teach genetics on a regular basis, so found the over simplified “of course we can just change a bit here and there and a person will suddenly be born with scales and cold resistance but everything else is pretty normal” really grating at times. But suspending belief (there are omnipotent aliens invading after all), I can skip over that as believable enough. But although the plot is gripping, I just found the lack of any conclusions frustrating.
There’s multiple characters introduced, a back story for them and then something happens in present day. There’s the Cold People and their potential to be a danger, the aliens and the question as to whether people can go back to the rest of the world, as well as Echo and her family’s place in the world. But I just didn’t feel that anything was really resolved! We don’t even know whether the aliens are really a threat past the deadline. All in all, well written and yet I can’t help but feel something was missing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Homophobia, Infertility, Suicide, Grief, Deportation
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Classism