Title: Surviving Immortality
Author: Alan Chin
Publisher: DSP Publications
Length: 446 Pages
Category: Sci-Fi
At a Glance: Besides my inability to find anything compelling about Matt Reece as an MC, the story suffers a bit with some of its dialogue/conversations being particularly stilted and sometimes dubious. However, as a whole, Surviving Immortality is interesting, not afraid to take chances and make bold choices, and has science that is not so overly complicated that it alienates the causal sci-fi reader or so ridiculously farfetched in a real world setting that it completely infuriates a sci-fi lover.
Reviewed By: Jovan
Blurb: This is the story of the fountain of youth.
When Kenji Hiroshige discovers a formula that will keep people youthful and healthy for several thousand years, he tells the world he will not divulge his secret until every gun, tank, battleship, and bomb hasbeen destroyed. When the world is free of weapons, everyone can live forever. And then he goes into hiding.
Before he disappears, his son Matt Reece is exposed to the formula. Kenji takes Matt Reece on the run with him, but as they struggle to elude both government agencies and corporations who will do anything to profit from Kenji’s discovery, Matt Reece learns that world peace might not be his father’s only goal. But what can a young man who’s barely stepped foot off his isolated ranch do in the face of something so sinister?
This is the story of human greed and the lust for violence. It’s the story of a world on the brink of destruction, but it’s also a tale of one young man who finds in himself the will, courage, and compassion to stand against the darkness—both outside and within himself.
This is a story of hope.
Review: In the aptly titled Surviving Immortality, Alan Chin discusses human nature, western capitalism, the status quo of political corruption, extremism, overpopulation and in the midst of a world sliding into chaos, a coming of age tale in which the young man seems only marginally successful. The MC, Matt Reece, is an eighteen-year-old growing up on a ranch in Nevada. Having a shy disposition, an abhorrence of violence and a gay father in a rural community, Matt Reece is bullied and beaten so often and badly that he was eventually pulled from school. This isolation is only compounded when his older brother, Patrick, goes away to college, leaving Matt Reece with only his panic attacks, his fathers, his dying grandfather and dying dog, Groucho.
Knowing that his increasing sense of loneliness will only sharpen upon losing his grandfather and lifelong companion and also longing to experience the world and romantic love, Matt Reece makes a plea to leave the ranch that is brushed aside by his father. In an act of kindness, his stepfather, Kenji, uses a secret technology to heal Groucho, unaware that Matt Reece observed him. When Matt Reece uses this technology to save his grandfather, he exposes himself as well and is spirited away by Kenji into a crash course on surviving his newfound immortality. For while being immortal means his body is immune to natural decay and disease, it is not immune to the natural cruelty, violence and destructiveness of man.
The book has two distinct arcs that fully converge at about 90%; one follows a large cast of characters and the ramifications of Kenji’s pronouncement on the world, and the other follows Matt Reece. While, the book has an interesting premise and the action, political machinations and the quickly escalating dystopian response are interesting, for me, the book’s main shortcoming was Matt Reece’s journey. Matt Reece is young and uncertain of who he is, and was just beginning to desire freedom from the safety and seclusion of the ranch when he is swept away by Kenji. So for a time, it makes sense that he goes along rather passively, alternately embracing the change in his circumstances to bemoaning his fate, and following unquestionably behind Kenji even when he has doubts.
Unfortunately, this never really changes, and his character is dragged along like a passenger is his own story. Although the author wasn’t speaking about Matt Reece, he offers a description of this shortcoming that describes Matt Reece perfectly—“so mentally weak he emotionally caved into acceptance”. Although the narrative refers to his growth, there is not much evidence of that in the story. Even when he finally does something proactive around 50% into the book, after this bit of rebellion, he quickly goes back to the same staples we saw at the beginning: cooking, chores, quietly doing what he’s told and waiting for his next command. Although to be fair, his growing resentment and anger towards Kenji indeed progresses. When Matt Reece’s character does finally gain a bit more depth and development, it’s done in such a way that actually robs Matt Reece of the agency and growth it represents.
Spoiler
Choosing to have Matt Reese’s arc in the first part be as isolated as his life on the ranch is a compelling choice in theory. Matt Reece thought being out in the world would give him freedom, choices and opportunities to engage with others. Instead, he is just as isolated, in more danger and more aware of how his mental state and shortcomings keep him from moving forward, illustrating how a substantial amount of the freedom people need for personal growth is reliant more on the internal than the external. It also provides an interesting contrast to the chaos in the rest of the world. However, having Matt Reece remain relatively underdeveloped and almost static in his behavior, going from pining for his dying grandfather and dog, pining for his brother to pining for his lost love, but seeming not to do much else except being impotently angry despite the narrative telling the reader he has “learned much about himself” makes it hard to engage with him. Not only is there so much going on in the world from which Matt Reece is isolated, and his lack of notable growth, the book is full of other characters whose development or story participation is much better.
Besides my inability to find anything compelling about Matt Reece as an MC, the story suffers a bit with some of its dialogue/conversations being particularly stilted and sometimes dubious. There is the impression that Alan Chin is trying to convey something profound in these interactions in as few words as possible that does not always hit the mark, especially compared to his impressive descriptive prose. However, as a whole, Surviving Immortality is interesting, not afraid to take chances and make bold choices, and has science that is not so overly complicated that it alienates the causal sci-fi reader or so ridiculously farfetched in a real world setting that it completely infuriates a sci-fi lover.
You can buy Surviving Immortality here:
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