Much better than I expected from the summary, somehow. I enjoyed it a lot.

Minor grumbles: I thought the ending was a bit predictable and rushed. It's annoying to try to read speech written in dialect (Donal). And I thought the author was too squeamish about describing anything violent - considering the violent topics addressed, almost everything that actually happened was left offscreen in a way I found weird. It's not that I particularly enjoy reading gory descriptions, but either write a violent book or don't, you know? ( )

This is an excellent book and a great modern sci-fi series. In this story Saulter imagines a world where genetic engineering and designer genes have turned humanity into something quite a bit different from what we now now. A terrible disease swept through our species (I am a bit skeptical about the cause of the disease, but it could work) and the technology required to cure the disease (plus the economics and politics surrounding this cure) resulted in a whole subspecies of humans, lab created and lab-reared, with interesting new or enhanced traits. Some have gills or extra long limbs, some have extra fingers or enhanced vision, etc. Now humanity must deal with the racism and other social issues that surround the integration of these new humans into modern society. ( )

For the last century, companies have been creating and exploiting gems — genetically modified people. Gems have recently been granted freedom from the corporations, but questions as to their legal status and place in society still have to be answered. The European Union is holding a conference to determine how the law will deal with gems, and scientist Eli Walker has been commissioned to give a report on whether or not gems are a different species than norms. On one side is Zavcka Klist, a gemcorp executive who’s trying to retain her company’s power. On the other is Aryel Morningstar, a celebrated gem leader and activist.

Gemsigns has clear historical parallels to racism and the end of slavery. The Gems are now free from direct corporate control, after society largely turned against it. But there’s still conflicts over what place Gems have in society and whether they’ll be on the same footing as Norms.

The narrative takes place entirely within the span of the week leading up to the conference and shows the perspectives of many different characters. Eli is obviously a central focus, but there are other major players as well, including Aryel Morningstar with her secretive past, members of the “godgangs” who want to destroy all gems, and a child adopted by a gem couple. Through these many different perspectives, Gemsigns paints a picture of society as a whole and how people at various different stations engage with the central issues of genetic engineering and shared humanity.

Unfortunately, I never found any of the characters to be that memorable. The core themes that Gemsigns is dealing with aren’t that new to science fiction, so it needs strong execution to make it stand out. I don’t think it’s badly written or anything of the like; it’s just that there’s not enough about it to make it memorable or make me want to continue with the series.

Also, I found the whole “Syndrome” backstory to be ridiculous. In short, genetic engineering of humans gets such a fast development because people start dying because their brains can’t handle the internet. Seriously.

I don’t regret reading Gemsigns, but I wish there had been more development to the characters and plot.

Review originally posted on The Illustrated Page. ( )

This is basically a novel about now, dressed up as science fiction. The writing is excellent in in parts, but the 'rights' issues around humans versus 'Gems', genetically altered altered people, are just are too drawn out. ( )

Pros: shows multiple viewpoints of challenging issues, thought-provoking, wide range of interesting characters

Cons: first chapter’s style didn’t work for me

It’s been a year since the Declaration that made it illegal for Gemtech companies to own their genetically modified humans went into effect. In a few days Dr. Eli Walker’s report on wether gems are fundamentally different from unmodified humans will be delivered at a European Conference.

Zavcka Klist of Bel’Natur, one of the main Gemtechs, has a plan to get the gems working again, and earning Bel’Natur more profits. Aryel Morningstar, a petit gem with a disfiguring hump, is the spokeswoman for the gems, savvy and hopeful despite the realities of the challenges ahead. Gabriel is a young boy, found by a gem in Aryel’s community, who has an unusual, and highly desirable, ability.

Tensions are high and, as the conference nears, a godgang starts attacking gems in the streets.

This is a brilliant book. It takes place over 7 days, the last 5 days preceding the conference, the conference itself and the aftermath of Eli’s report. It’s remarkable how much information and how many differing viewpoints Saulter manages to pack into those days. She deals with the necessary background information via reports and news stories, so it feels natural.

There’s a lot of politics going on in the book as various players try to influence Eli and his report. But the author makes sure the complexity of the issues being address is front and centre by showing not only the extremes of positions, but also the concerns of regular people, if mostly through mentions of what’s happening on streaming sites.

The economics of amalgamating a large group of people is also dealt with, both in terms of supporting those who are unable - or unwilling - to work and by showing the reaction of norms when gems ‘steal’ their jobs.

The issues being explored, slavery, humanity, discrimination, acceptance, as well as the gems themselves, with their engineered abilities, reminded me of Karen Sandler’s Tankborn trilogy, but the treatments and tones of the books are wildly different. While Tankborn follows two protagonists who don’t have much power to change things, Gemsigns follows those at the forefront of the politics deciding what laws will be put into affect. Gemsigns was very thought-provoking and relevant with regards to today’s politics, with its social issues (ex: do LGTBQ people deserve the same rights and privileges as their straight neighbours?).

I loved the ending and the fact that I figured out the twist a few pages before it was revealed.

The only complaint I had with the book was the style of the first chapter, which was a bit off-putting for me. After that, the book took off and never stopped. ( )