The focus starts on a pair of brilliant scientists, Michael Morrison and his mentor, Joseph Campbell. Initially, during the 80’s, they were trying to eliminate disease to make a better world. But then their goals took a darker turn, with Morrison striving to create perfection and Campbell rethinking their "good works." Even as Morrison Biotech is born, Campbell flees and spends a number of years floating about, all the while Morrison continues to look for something the team missed – the Omega gene – the human soul.
Meanwhile, in glittering Tiber City during the year 2015, Dylan Fitzgerald parties like a rock star. Son of Robert Fitzgerald, rising political star cut down by suicide some 10 years before, Dylan seems to have no focus; at least, until events start occurring in his life that make him rethink his father’s suicide. When a new politician hits the scene, one who looks terribly familiar, Dylan begins to dig deeper, discovering that much of what he knew was a lie.
As Michael Morrison and his scientific team continue to search for the elusive Omega gene, Campbell connects with The Order, a religious group determined to keep Morrison Biotech from quite literally "playing God." As Morrison, Fitzgerald and Campbell all race toward the knowledge they so desperately seek, it seems inevitable that they will collide in a hail of violence and destruction. Who will survive in the end?
Kingdom is very well written and interesting, but I didn’t burn through it as quickly as I typically do. Not because it isn’t good, oh it is. I took a little more time reading it because the subject matter is dense. It’s not over my head by any means, but there is a lot conveyed in this relatively short story (at least page-wise at only 173 pgs.) There’s science, religion, sex, drugs, violence and politics - all of the ingredients that join together to make an interesting reading amalgam. If you enjoy sci-fi with a political and scientific bend, you’ll enjoy Kingdom. It’s a great read and very engaging.
