This is the first book of an exciting young adult science fiction trilogy. Like many other books in this genre, it describes a future world with serious problems. Author talks about how nanotechnologies and computers interact with biological material – with human body. The characters of this book are enhanced people. Using computer codes, they can change their appearance and abilities, can instantly heal serious wounds and always be in touch with others in the virtual space. However, they have to fight for survival, because even future technologies are not able to save the world from a global catastrophe – from virus named “Hydra”. It quickly spreads throughout the planet and actively mutating, infecting survivors.
With the main character Catarina Agatta, readers learn what it is like to live in that world. Catarina is always in doubt about who she can trust, and even – can she trust her memories, because technologies change all. Besides, there are many secrets and terrible things in her past, which are revealed during the events of the book. Throughout Catarina’s wandering in search of answers about her life, the author describes how devices, implanted into the human body, work.
Emily Suvada earned a degree in math. She worked as a scientist and sometimes writes algorithms to perform different tasks. Thanks to the way the author describes computer technology in detail and believably, might even think that one day this becomes the real future.
“This mortal coil” is Suvada’s debut novel, which was shortlisted in the Older Fiction category for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2018. The book series sequels are “This cruel design” (2) and “This vicious cure” (3)
(2) „This cruel design”: https://www.ester.ee/record=b5371459*est
(3) „This vicious cure”: https://www.ester.ee/record=b5371469*est
London : Penguin Books, 2017
Check from e-catalogue: https://www.ester.ee/record=b5392113*est
Elina Slycko
Department of Literature in Foreign Languages