Reetta Vuokko-Syrjänen: Genetosoma, or the No-Legged Race

How far would you go just to touch another human being? To feel the sun caress your skin?

Kip Markham has been stuck without a body on a social security server for years – just like all the underprivileged people after the population explosion was solved by separating the mind from the body and virtualizing human existence. Kip no longer remembers how to dream, except perhaps when he dreams of eating a real tomato one day.

If I was just given a chance, any chance.

Once Kip's best friend is killed by bio-modders, he is provided with a physical body for a day, in order to testify at his friend's murder trial. Kip manages to escape all the way to Paris, where he ends up working as a courier for the Artist, a legendary illegal modder, who can sculpt any dream into flesh.

Daily life in a body is as confusing as it is glorious. Sleep is a like black hole threatening to swallow Kip, and the concept of physical violence is utterly alien and horrifying. But for every scare there is something equally mesmerizing: a new taste, a new vista, a new sensation. Most of all, there is the Artist, an enigma that Kip finds himself gravitating towards.

Unfortunately Kip doesn't have much time to revel in these new experiences, as it turns out there is also a global megacorporation out to murder him, and a lot of the things Kip was taught turn out to be false. Most things, really.

You can be great at running, great at grabbing any opportunity you get, but there comes a time when you need to have the guts to stop.

Genetosoma, or the No-Legged Race explores themes of social inequality in a futuristic world, where only the rich can afford a body. On the surface level Genetosoma an entertaining science fiction adventure but it questions our identity in a changing world: Who are you, if you can choose a new face every day?

Genetosoma is also an unconventional love story, where the word 'love' is not mentioned even once.

The novel was very well received in Finland and was shortlisted for the Blogistania Finlandia Award. It is set to come out in Portuguese in 2027.

Praise for Syntykeho

"A good book you hurry to finish. An excellent book you are afraid to finish, because you never want the book to end. Genetosoma is an excellent book."

— Mikko With in Iltaluvut

"Genetosoma is an amusement park. But you can't buy a ticket. You only gain entrance by reading the book, and I say it's worth it. Genetosoma spins you around, lets you catch your breath, serves sweet candyfloss – until we go again."

— Joanna Heinonen in Kosmoskynä magazine

"Like a long movie or a short tv series with its many twists and turns, this thrilling story of escape offers glimpses of life in fantastic bodies and intriguingly described locations. The story surprises and reflects the multi-faceted inequalities of our time, without pointing at the obvious."

— Miia Vistilä in Voima magazine

"If you only read on science fiction book in your lifetime, read Genetosoma. This commendable debut novel shows how a skillful author can make a reader believe in most incredible worlds an circumstances."

— Heidi P in Kirjapöllön huhuiluja

Details

Genre: science fiction
Sub-genres: biopunk, cyberpunk Keywords: transhumanism, identity, body modification, social inequality, virtual reality

Original title in Finnish: Syntykeho, eli miten juosta pakoon ilman jalkoja
Published: 2022
Publisher: Osuuskumma
Words: 91 753