OK. So I just finished a sci-fi novel, which I wrote in part because I'm tired of reading about certain things when it comes to genetic engineering/clones in military sci-fi. A lot of the books out there (Star War series, Stephen L Kent's books, etc.) make the following assumptions about clones:
1. You can "program" them (not to disobey orders, to obey catch-phrase commands, etc. - like a Manchurian Candidate type scenario)
2. They're all identical, but they have been programmed (a) not to recognize that they look like the others (b) to think they're really humans, but everyone else wround them is a clone.
3. They are programmed to die if they realize they're a clone.
And there are more but I'm tired.
I have a PhD and some background in complex biotech, and I find it hard to swallow a future in which these things are plausible. WOuldn't a bunch of clones get together in the barracks and start talking about how they're the only human and the rest are clones? Then wouldn't the others say, "hold on, I'm not a clone, you are!" At that point, wouldn't they all keel over dead? How do you "program" someone to die when they think something?
Look, I'm biased. There is only so much you can do to make a military sci-fi novel different from the others; the principles of infantry combat are pretty much the same: kill the enemy while trying not to get killed. But I tried to incorporate the following in my novel to set it apart from what has been done:
1. Clones know they're clones; they can see themselves in a mirror!
2. Clones are human with some modifications to make them (a) more tolerant of CBW environments, (b) resistant to infection, and (c) able to surivive in wider temperature ranges.
3. Clones are force fed a combination of pseudo-religion and a controlled upbringing to make assault a thing to crave, not fear.
4. Clones are human. Despite being brainwashed like described in point 3 above, combat breeds in them a desire to survive; it's instinct
5. Clones need drugs at some point to maintain their sanity in the face of being used as fodder.
6. Clones break within a couple of years on the line and therefore have to be executed by the replacements at a certain age (very Blade-Runneresque, I know - but I think Ridley Scott got it right.)
I'm getting rejections to queries along the lines of "this has been done before." Despite that my character treatment, plot, etc. is totally unique. I crafted to make my query point out the differences between my work and others, but I'm up against the system here; it's just the way it works. Live and learn; next time I won't even try to do something that "has already been done."
So it's getting to be time for me to pack this one away and move on to finish my next book, but AAARRRRGHHH!!!!
Thoughts?
1. You can "program" them (not to disobey orders, to obey catch-phrase commands, etc. - like a Manchurian Candidate type scenario)
2. They're all identical, but they have been programmed (a) not to recognize that they look like the others (b) to think they're really humans, but everyone else wround them is a clone.
3. They are programmed to die if they realize they're a clone.
And there are more but I'm tired.
I have a PhD and some background in complex biotech, and I find it hard to swallow a future in which these things are plausible. WOuldn't a bunch of clones get together in the barracks and start talking about how they're the only human and the rest are clones? Then wouldn't the others say, "hold on, I'm not a clone, you are!" At that point, wouldn't they all keel over dead? How do you "program" someone to die when they think something?
Look, I'm biased. There is only so much you can do to make a military sci-fi novel different from the others; the principles of infantry combat are pretty much the same: kill the enemy while trying not to get killed. But I tried to incorporate the following in my novel to set it apart from what has been done:
1. Clones know they're clones; they can see themselves in a mirror!
2. Clones are human with some modifications to make them (a) more tolerant of CBW environments, (b) resistant to infection, and (c) able to surivive in wider temperature ranges.
3. Clones are force fed a combination of pseudo-religion and a controlled upbringing to make assault a thing to crave, not fear.
4. Clones are human. Despite being brainwashed like described in point 3 above, combat breeds in them a desire to survive; it's instinct
5. Clones need drugs at some point to maintain their sanity in the face of being used as fodder.
6. Clones break within a couple of years on the line and therefore have to be executed by the replacements at a certain age (very Blade-Runneresque, I know - but I think Ridley Scott got it right.)
I'm getting rejections to queries along the lines of "this has been done before." Despite that my character treatment, plot, etc. is totally unique. I crafted to make my query point out the differences between my work and others, but I'm up against the system here; it's just the way it works. Live and learn; next time I won't even try to do something that "has already been done."
So it's getting to be time for me to pack this one away and move on to finish my next book, but AAARRRRGHHH!!!!
Thoughts?