More Than Human by Mel Keegan and Jayne DeMarco

Title: More than Human

Author: Mel Keegan & Jayne DeMarco

Genre: Science Fiction (Futuristic 2190)

Length: Novel (195pgs)

Publisher: DreamCraft (2nd April 2012)

Heat Level: Moderate – Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥5Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: The year is 2190, and the first starship of Earth, the Gilgamesh, is plying between the homeworlds and the new world of Eidolon, a five-year flight at near-lightspeed. The “starshippers” have been idolized for many decades, since the first landing on Eidolon. They’re “augmented” humans … they’ve been modified for the work and for the new world. The public has envied them and emulated them — and perhaps they have been emulated too much, too often.

Eventually, perhaps inevitably, a political movement has begun back on Earth. Calling itself The Pure Light, its campaign is to “Keep Humanity Human” … to stem the tide of the genetic modification that was steadily remaking humans into more and more different forms.

Twenty years ago, The Pure Light rode into office on this ticket, and their policies have made the augmented humans illegal. They’re now categorized as Borgs, or cyborgs — artificial life forms that do not have full human rights. The more augmented the individual, the less rights he or she has, and by the time one is a “fifty” — one whose body is fifty percent modified — one is registered, licensed, and control-chipped, in the possession of the government, and assigned to the military, industry or the lab.

It’s been more than twenty years since the Gilgamesh cruised into Earth space. At home on Eidolon, the crew is free — many of them were bred and born there, designed for the new world and thriving there. Now, they’re entering space where they’re perceived as unwelcome aliens…

And it’s the job of Civil Representative Adrian Balfour to journey out to Titan Central, meet Captain Dirk Vanderhoven and his Executive Officer, Jason Erickson, and inform them that the crew of the Gilgamesh is to be taken into custody — registered, licensed, control-chipped, and reassigned for the battlefield, the mines, the lab.

But Adrian is nursing a secret agenda of his own and everything in his cosmos changes the moment he sets eyes on young Jason Erickson. Almost before he knows what he’s doing, he’s lying to the Titan Central commander and life is set to become a race against time.

Because Adrian is a “twenty,” and unwelcome even at home, while among the fifties of the starshipper crew he’s respected, cherished — and desired by at least one of them. Romance explodes between Adrian and Jason, white-hot and filled with the piquancy of exploration, as Adrian discovers how the humans of Eidolon are different in every way from the Earthborns, most of all in their sensuality.

For Adrian, the next days are critical. He’ll be “tested” by the big, beautiful fifty with whom he’s fallen deeply in love, and he’ll risk everything in the desperate attempt to get the Gilgamesh out of Earth space before warships can run her down, and The Pure Light will turn starshippers into control-chipped drones.

Purchase Link: http://www.dream-craft.com/melkeegan/morethanhuman_dc.html You can also read sample chapters and admire some drool-worthy artwork.

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/More-Than-Human-ebook/dp/B007R42G18/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1339940519&sr=1-3

USA: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007R42G18?ie=UTF8&tag=arsgabo-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B007R42G18

Review: Jason and Dirk are nearly at the end of their journey, but the ships AI is acting oddly, as they dig they find out that Earth has changed for the worst. The Pure Light have taken over and want only pure humans… and all the crew of the Gilgamesh aren’t… they’ve been modified for work on the starship and for the new world Eidolon. Adrian only has his legs augmented because of a crash when he was young, but he is looked down upon for it and now he is the government flunky who has been sent to tell the crew of their fate. They will all be chipped and forced to become like slaves to the government and unless the crew come up with a plan and fast, then it is a fate worse than death. Adrian, Jason and the crew have to pull off the escape of the century, because to be more than human is against the law.

Oh, boys and girls do I have a treat for you ;-). For those of you who love science fiction and M/M then this is a fantastic combination that will give you a major fix of genuine sci-fi, with a wonderful dose of M/M romance. It also has a huge dose of realism in the way that The Pure Light and humans have turned on the ‘borgs’ (augmented humans), the way that humanity has to find someone different and persecute them, it is brought up in the story a couple of times as examples… witch hunts, segregation of races, women’s liberty’s, sexually repression, sexual orientation etc. Using the ‘borgs’ for their own purposes (after chipping them to behave of course) and imprisoning any who stand against them in a camp (shortest term 20years). So this is what our starshippers have walked into and it is a challenge for all of them to come up with a plan that doesn’t include being chipped.

Okay, let me start simple. Adrian and Jason do have a very fast relationship, but because of the overall timeframe it didn’t feel that quick… kinda like a life and death situation forces you to act quicker and trust your emotions more. Adrian and Jason complemented each other well and they were striking sparks off each other since they first met… and the sex woo hoo, was that hot or scorching, definitely scorching. The technical details were awe-inspiring and were vivid in both imagination and detail; they came to life as you read, incredible. The entire story is magnificent and I am hoping that there will be more to come from these characters in the future.

This is an excellent novel that is rich in technical detail (fan-bloody-tastic) with a thread of romance (Jason and Adrian *sigh*) with an exciting escape plan and a happy for now ending, there is no way that you should miss the opportunity to read this rich science fiction story, so I highly recommend this if you ever watched Star Trek etc.

2 thoughts on “More Than Human by Mel Keegan and Jayne DeMarco

  1. Thanks, Pixie, for this great review — I *loved* this book, couldn’t put it down. I actually wrote to Mel Keegan about it, and he was kind enough to reply at length. Turns out there’s a lot more to come … basically, if I understood properly, (and am sure I did) he wanted to “test the water” with this segment, make sure readers would “go for” the scenario before launching into another vast storyline. So far More Than Human has been hugely popular — he was able to tell me it’s best-selling for him at this time — so the rest of the story is imminent. Fabulous news for me, because I fell like a tonne of bricks for Jason, who’s a dream come true. Yes!!

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