Caenogenesis

Caenogenesis follows the story of Yin, a synthetic person, who doesn’t remember her past. The initial story starts with Yin being told to run away. After which Yin stumbles into Kraken, or rather, the other way around. After a rough initial first encounter, the two of them develop a friendship. They have an awkward second encounter at a laundromat where Yin is washing her outfit, her only outfit. Kraken arrives at the laundromat, finding the owner trying to explain to Yin that she needs to be clothed to use the laundromat. Kraken steps in to help, lending Yin his shirt. Kraken also offers to have Yin stay with him.

The story takes a bit of a shift, as Kraken reveals he works with a revolutionary group, the Outsiders. The world they live in has a class system with different privileges associated with each. The system is rather oppressive, and hence it is the goal of the Outsiders to topple the existing government.

For me, the major source of profluence is the relationship between Yin and Kraken. I think the blend of high-paced thriller scenes interposed with the interpersonal development of the two characters is masterfully done. The resulting story is riveting and compelling. 

The story also has excellent, intricate details painting the interaction between the characters well. The book is also witty at times, to quote a line, "Cheeseburgers in Paradise was the kind of place your cardiologist would warn you about.” This tickled me. 

The book changes the perspective character from chapter to chapter. The perspective character is identified with a picture of them at the start of the chapter. I think this is also fun, as when a new perspective character is introduced, we don’t actually know much of anything about them. (Whereas we might know their name if that were instead provided.)

I think the multi-threaded narrative works well. We are able to see both into the minds of Yin and Kraken, just at different times. I found the pacing also to be enjoyable, which I think is related to how the narrative changes perspectives.

Overall, if you like dystopian novels or perhaps enjoyed the movie Ex Machina, this would be a perfect book for you. In a sense, the book explores the idea of what it means to be human.

Length: 372 pages

Perspective: 3rd-person Limited

Tense: Past  

Kindle Unlimited: (not released yet)

https://www.amazon.com/Caenogenesis-Gemini-Files-Book-1-ebook/dp/B0GG2R5YTC