The Odyssey Gene

by Kfir Luzzatto

You have just discovered that you are immune to a contagious disease that once threatened to decimate Earth's population. Now you must face Society and the grudge it nurtures against your kind. What... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1938212045
• ISBN13: 9781938212048
• Release Date: February 2012
• Publisher: Pine Ten, LLC
• Length: 300 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

An Allegory for our Time

The Odyssey Gene is a good read as a science fiction story, but it's even better as an allegory, in the context of events in the first decade of the 21st Century. As previous reviewers have noted, the story unfolds from the point of view of John Hektor, a young man who discovers that he is a member of a genetic minority group, and when others find out, he is subjected to social and workplace discrimination. Sound familiar? At various times in the past century, the distinguishing marker could have been a disease, a heritage, a language, or a political affiliation. This allegory has many points of comparison to our experience. The setting is ambiguous - the time is nonspecific (except for the availability of passenger space travel and existence of human colonies on other planets), the planet that is host to New Australia is unnamed, and the political situation is sufficiently vague. Apply it to the situation that fits your experience, and it will most likely be instructive. There are lessons to be appreciated here, especially in terms of marketing, political intrigue, human relationships, and negotiations. I won't give away the ending, but the reader will find that it is sadly realistic. Mr. Luzzatto has achieved a level of general truth in The Odyssey Gene, that is not only a good story well told, but also represents good literature. I hope in the allegory that Mr. Luzzatto is wrong. But I fear he is right. Read it, and draw you own conclusion.

When you're born different

Kfir Luzzatto's THE ODYSSEY GENE describes discrimination in the future. A huge plague hit mankind killing a considerable number of the population. The plague finally died out but some people were left immune to the disease. This frightened the leaders and to prevent these people from reproducing their gene with 'normal' people, everyone was tested for the D Gene by their twenty-fifth birthday. Those who were immune were spied on, followed and shunned, resulting in the loss of their jobs and being ostracized. There was a planet, New Australia that welcomed the positive D Gene population. John, a promising engineer, was found to be D positive. He was quickly shunned by his family and was denied the job promotion he had been promised. His girlfriend left him and in order to escape the stigma as well as the ostracism, he decided to migrate to New Australia. Expecting a wonderful new life, John was shocked to find out he was forced into the army as soon as he stepped from the space ship. New Australia, populated by Earthlings fleeing the discrimination on Earth, was involved in a war with the original people of the planet whom they had displaced. John's new life did not provide the comfort he sought dwelling among his own kind. Instead, insurgents attempted to slay Earthlings at every opportunity. His life was in constant danger and he became an unwilling participant in political treachery and treason. Lizzatto's book is startlingly like the Iraq war and early United States history. The main character is well developed and immensely likeable. The scenes are described so well, you feel as if you are almost there in another world. The plot has interesting twists and turns guaranteed to keep your interest. It's a must-read for sci-fi fans. Reviewed by Alice Holman of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

exciting science fiction

New Nations Organization programmer John Hektor is selected for a promotion that is his once he passes the mandatory DNA test. To his shock, John fails when he tests D-positive. This costs him more than just the promotion as his girlfriend Maya reacts by dumping him as soon as he tells her; his family disowns him; his friends drop him; and at work he has become overnight an undesirable. Stunned by becoming an outcast, John knows the D-gene only means you have immunity to a nasty plague. He begins socializing with his new peers at seedy "positive" bars before deciding to escape hell on Earth for New Australia where the Andania colony is rumored to be a heaven for Positives. On the space ship he meets and falls in love with Entertainment Officer Dana. Upon arrival, John is drafted into the Andanian army where he finds brutality and atrocities everywhere as the New Australian "Newists" want to keep their superior position of being first using abuse to keep the newcomers Andanians down; while Andanians leadership remains preoccupied with rank has its privileges. This exciting science fiction tale is a beleaguered man's journey for self actualization once he becomes a social pariah. John experiences first hand the impact of discrimination and the atrocities of war in which the heroes are leaders who never get bloody let alone feel discomfit while the losers are the countless pawns sacrificed for political expediency. Though the Newist perspective is lacking as readers only learn that John believes they are animals, mindful of Candide, Kfir Luzzatto uses outer space to paint allegories to contemporary situations on earth like sanctified marriage amendments, justified Iraqi preemption and righteous Israeli-Palestine indignation. Harriet Klausner