David Murphy Longevity City

How would you like to live to a ripe old age and then trade in your body for a copy of yourself aged fifteen? That's the promise delivered by the wonder drug, "Geminizon". No wonder the pharmaceutical company that developed the drug, "Bio", acquired great political power, to the extent that its owner, Ronald Carver III, was in virtual control of the entire world.

Is that such a bad thing?

Well, with the Carver commercial enterprise in control it doesn't take long for the use of Geminizon to become compulsory for every pregnancy. Every pregnancy produces two identical foetuses. One is extracted and its development put on hold until the time when it needs to be brought to full term to grow into a fifteen year-old ready to receive the mind of its twin, who, by that stage, will have led a long and full life and be ready to do the same again.

This is the world of Longevity City. It would appear idyllic to some, but what of those people without a twin, the singles? What of those people who have doubts about this whole process?

Dave Murphy creates the world described above and tells a tale of internal politics, global power, ruthless annihilation of resistance, and the struggle of the disillusioned.

The story starts with Lee, a boy who, as a foetus, was rescued from the Corporation clinic where he had been extracted from his mother's womb to be put in reserve to become the replacement body for his twin, Max. Lee's rescuers belonged to the "Association", an underground group biding their time to strike at Carver's empire.

Lee's experiences give him firsthand knowledge of how Bio operates and sets him on the path to his ultimate destiny.

Max, Lee's brother, is unaware his twin is not safely ensconced in a womb-bank, stored away for the day when Max would go through his "Transposition" into his new body.

At the top of the Bio organisation we have betrayal, backstabbing and blatant sycophantic behaviour as ambitious young professionals clamber over their associates and one another to curry favour with Ronald Carver III and grab some of his power for themselves.

An enforcement officer, Mandy Ullman, with a personal mission to fulfil, adds another strand to the story and helps weave a tapestry of sub-plots that makes a very entertaining whole.

Apart from telling a story of good and evil, Longevity City holds up the spectre of corporate greed and commercial ruthlessness. It highlights the abuse of power in the hands of self-centred individuals and, ultimately, raises the question of how long the righteous will remain righteous once they get into a position of power.

Longevity City is a tale of social struggle, military adventure and corruption. It contains a lot of elements and Dave Murphy did a good job in telling the story in 315 pages. His characters are solid and their motivation clear. Actions are in keeping with their perpetrators' personalities and purpose. To cap it all, Dave finished with a realistic ending rather than a trite happily ever after.

This is the type of Science Fiction I like. The science provides a backdrop to the story. The characters are the main players, not the novel scientific ideas. The realistic actions and reactions make for a plausible story of the not too distant future.

Longevity City

David Murphy

Five Star, August 2005, $25.95, 298 pp.

ISBN 1594143528

Due to widespread infertility, the drug Geminizon is taken by women who can bear children. By the twentieth-second century, one twin is allowed to live a natural life while the fetus of the other is stored in a womb bank. When the living twin reaches a designated age, the other fetus is activated and allowed to reach the age of fifteen. At that time the longer living sibling is killed and the memories is placed within the younger twin.

The Association forms to fight against this state sponsored genocide. Meanwhile world dictator Ronald Carver, whose father invented Geminizon, is into his second lifetime more repressive than ever. When a cell of the Association is wiped out except for Lee, the fifteen year old twin becomes determined to destroy the world order. His twin Max, a gynecologist, knows nothing about him but questions his placed in society. His lover knows what a vile man Carver is but feels helpless to do anything about it. As the Association gains recruits, Max, Mandy and Lee prepare for the forthcoming war.

David Murphy paints a bleak foreboding twentieth second century landscape; a place where the first generation of adult twins don't care that they are killing a life so they can have a second one of their own. That premise seems improbable given the anti-abortion sentiment of today at least in America yet feasible with the state of health care. This is a thought provoking novel that makes readers evaluate issues that they might deal with in the foreseeable future. The point of view rotates between the four main characters, giving readers an intimate look at the viewpoints and state of mind of the principals without slowing down the dark plot.

Harriet Klausner