Black Milk

I really enjoyed Black Milk. I first discovered Robert Reed through his breakthrough book, Marrow. After that, I started browsing the used book stores for his other books. I am glad I did, since he is one of the better and more imaginative SF authors around. The point-of-view of the children worked very well. They were unwittingly caught up in a grand genetic-engineering scheme, but their basic humanity comes through to the reader, as well as the ethical and social arguments. The book is well-paced and interesting. As usual, Robert Reed has a unique viewpoint and something to say. He is a great storyteller and this is a great story.

One of the best books I've read in a long time. From the back cover, I was expecting one of those cruel evil scientist tries to control the oh so wonderfully gifted team of saintly youngsters. What I found instead was a poignant and honest portrayal of childhood. The characters stay young (about ten years old) throughout the book, except a short epilogue. Their perspective of the genetic crisis does not diminish the fright of the situation, but makes it hit very close to home. This is not a story of great daring space commanders, but of civilians, of people like you and me. That is what makes it scary. Scary's not exactly the word, though. The novel is nothing like horror. It leaves you with a sick, hollow kind of dread of the inevitable. The characters are excellently drawn. Cody is a hoot (and the female athlete - yea!) but the author manages to make the reader feel sympathy for even the whiny Marshall. The world is mostly like our own, but little details about how genetics have changed it make it very believable. My only complaint is that the end came too quickly and conveniently. Overall, a fantastic book.

Black Milk is an outstanding book. It takes a long, hard child's-eye look at the idea of genetic engineering. Reed plays a classy trick on the reader by making his narrative first-person--in the person of a child with a slightly faulty gene set who remembers everything he witnesses exactly as it happened. Black Milk is suitable for young readers, but it is also a good read for adult SF fans. It is a crying shame this book is so hard to find: I would love to teach it in a college literature class (I've tried and failed because it is out of print).