I just finished The Unit by Ninni Homqvist and published by Other Press. It’s a great read that shines a light on what can happen when society starts looking at the population as numbers and statistics and quits seeing the people behind the numbers.

I picked up this book because I really liked the thought-provoking premise: society’s older members, who have no family or crucial job are taken to a utopian campus where every whim, wish and need are catered too. They get to live out their final years as comfortable as possible. The only catch: they are expected to participate in medical experiments and donate their body parts, for as long as they can… until their “final donation”. This society sees it as humane as it takes their poorest members, gives them the best in art and creature comforts, while maximizing their contributions to society.

It’s absurd. Sure. Crazy. But still, a great premise for this story. It’s an idea I was hoping the book would dive deep into, but it doesn’t. Instead it swirls around on the lives of the “dispensables” that are inside “The Unit” and focuses on the main character, Dorritt. All of the people in the Unit completely understand what is going on and they don’t put up a fight when they have to participate in a psychological exam, drug test, donate a kidney or even donate their lungs and heart. They see it as finally being of value to their community, on the outside.

It doesn’t take you long to accept the rules of this community and start living alongside Dorritt in the dome. The writing in this book is fantastic. It just flows in and out of conversations and offering insights into love, loss, society, ethics, etc. I was truly impressed with the author. The book flies through every emotion you can think of and every type of relationship as these people lean on each other and help each other deal with loosing body parts, going crazy, love, politics, pregnancy…

Towards the end, I knew the clock is ticking and I just wanted to know, does Dorritt escape? Does she die? But also towards the end, I didn’t wasn’t quite ready for it to be over. I enjoyed the many conversations and personalities in The Unit.

This one gets three out five stars and will be recommended often.

I read this book back during the summer of 2010 and The Strain was exactly what I wanted for a quick summertime read. Penned by the guy behind Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth, you can almost see the movie playing out before you.

The premise is that the ancient virus that turns people into vampires has made its way from the Old World to the New World via a trans-Atlantic flight.

The book, being the first of a trilogy, covers all the basis. Background for all the characters ties in global business, science, World War II, and current government workings, all to build the case that something evil has always been lurking in the dark throughout history.

The first part of the book read more like CSI or a Crighton novel with all of the CDC, tech and biology talk. All of which adds to the realism (and gore). But then it turns to the mystic side when an old Jewish Holocaust survivor joins the fight and brings more history to light.

It’s a very straight forward and great sci-fi romp and I look forward to the next two installments! I give it 3 out of 5.

I read a lot of business books. It’s just something I enjoy… but not as much as a good sci-fi tale and The Unincorporated Man. book combines both. The book is loaded with lots of ideas early on. Such as, ownership, property, government, investing, money, etc. It’s a very ‘free markets can heal the world if we’d just stay out of the way’ will solve 99% of the world’s issues if we’d let them. But as the story unfolds, it’s individuals and people that have to take us the rest of the way.

The entire book is set in the future where everyone is self-incorporated. That is, as soon as you are born, the government gets a certain percentage stock in you, your parents and their friends probably take out some shares. As you grow older schools, classmates, the general public all invest in you, your life and your future, with the idea that if they help invest in your beginnings, once you become successful and rich you will buy them out to get majority ownership of yourself and they get rich. If you’re unable to increase your self-stock’s value, then they sell-off their stake in you. So a mining company could buy up all your stock and move you to the moon to mine ore or something like that.

But, introduced into this world is a savvy businessman unfrozen from the past… predating the incorporation period. So he is unincorporated, untaxed, not contributing to society as they see it. So what to do? Force him to incorporate and sell off parts of himself to business owners? Leave him alone and risk his “unalienable rights” thinking and talk to spark an uprising? Soon enough there is bloodshed, legal proceedings with businesses and governments aligning themselves against this man from the past.

It’s a great concept and idea. Certainly one that gets people talking. Especially in this day of micro-payments and  crowd-sourced funding many sites and non-profits are pursuing.

At a minimum, it’s a fun sci-fi  yarn. At the most, it will get you thinking, talking and looking at the good and bad of how things are run in America. I gave it a 4 out of 5.