"Thirteen" by Richard K. Morgan

[Lynn McGuire]

"Thirteen" by Richard K. Morgan
https://www.amazon.com/Thirteen-Richard-K-Morgan/dp/0345480899/

A standalone science fiction book, no sequel or prequel that I know of.
I read the 544 page well printed and well bound trade paperback
published by Del Rey in 2008. The eight point font was a little small
for me but a larger font would have made the book huge, well over it's
current one pound weight on Earth.

The Solar System of 2195 is a radically different place from today.
There are over a million people living on Mars in several colonies.
There are regular spaceships traveling between Mars and Earth, mostly in
free fall with the humans in cryogenic sleep due to the average seven
month journey each way. The USA has split into three countries: New
England, The Rim States, and Jesusland.

You have to be tough to live on Mars. The surface air is almost
non-existent and poisonous. The people are tough, so the lawmen have to
be tougher. So, one of the governments on Mars created a genetically
enhanced man, the thirteens, to be the lawmen. The Earthers immediately
outlawed the "mutants" from coming back to Earth. So, of course, they
snuck back to Earth.

Carl Marsalis is a thirteen on Earth. He is a bounty hunter for the
COLIN (United Nations COLonial INitiative Authority). He hunts rogue
thirteens. And the UNGLA (United Nations Genetic Legislation Authority)
says that all people have rights to only share their genes when they
want to so there is no testing, officially.

The newest thirteen to sneak to Earth is a doozy. Instead of docking
the spaceship at the space station and coming down the nanostalk, he
crashed the spaceship in an ocean. Plus, there is no food on the
spaceships, only cryogenically sleeping humans. And the newest thirteen
was awake for the entire trip.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars (502 reviews)

Lynn

[Quadibloc]

The newest thirteen to sneak to Earth is a doozy. Instead of docking
the spaceship at the space station and coming down the nanostalk, he
crashed the spaceship in an ocean. Plus, there is no food on the
spaceships, only cryogenically sleeping humans. And the newest thirteen
was awake for the entire trip.

Does that mean he can endure for a long time without eating, or that
he crashed the spaceship to conceal the evidence of his cannibalism?

John Savard

[Robert Carnegie]

Post by Quadibloc

The newest thirteen to sneak to Earth is a doozy. Instead of docking
the spaceship at the space station and coming down the nanostalk, he
crashed the spaceship in an ocean. Plus, there is no food on the
spaceships, only cryogenically sleeping humans. And the newest thirteen
was awake for the entire trip.

Does that mean he can endure for a long time without eating, or that
he crashed the spaceship to conceal the evidence of his cannibalism?

Well, from the cover text / the text at Amazon:
"Marsalis is one of a new breed. Literally. Genetically
engineered by the U.S. government to embody the
naked aggression and primal survival skills that
centuries of civilization have erased from humankind,
Thirteens were intended to be the ultimate military
fighting force."

That sounds like - in in-universe terms - an old breed.

And I don't think Lynn would mention the food question
if this story's antagonist didn't need any.

The Amazon description differs from Lynn's on other
points, which I choose to believe is because Lynn has
read the book. Amazon may not have.

Other stories have presented variant humanoids
as having generally superior abilities and being feared
by those without, and possibly excluded from Earth;
Philip K. Dick's androids of course, Isaac Asimov's
robots, and some classic story - it's rather a spoiler -
sends a special agent to rescue a scientist on a field
trip on an uncivilised planet , who - the agent - is able
to navigate in the primitive culture because he's
paranoiacally insane. And known to be by those who
sent him.

I remember also being struck by descriptions of what
a swell guy Conan the Barbarian is because he isn't
civilised. At least, not by birth.

[Lynn McGuire]

Post by Quadibloc

The newest thirteen to sneak to Earth is a doozy. Instead of docking
the spaceship at the space station and coming down the nanostalk, he
crashed the spaceship in an ocean. Plus, there is no food on the
spaceships, only cryogenically sleeping humans. And the newest thirteen
was awake for the entire trip.

Does that mean he can endure for a long time without eating, or that
he crashed the spaceship to conceal the evidence of his cannibalism?
John Savard

He ate several of the people in cryosleep, decanting them first. He
crashed the spaceship in the ocean because it is illegal for him to be
on Earth since thirteen of his genes have been modified, a mutant.

Lynn

[Robert Carnegie]

Post by Quadibloc

The newest thirteen to sneak to Earth is a doozy. Instead of docking
the spaceship at the space station and coming down the nanostalk, he
crashed the spaceship in an ocean. Plus, there is no food on the
spaceships, only cryogenically sleeping humans. And the newest thirteen
was awake for the entire trip.

Does that mean he can endure for a long time without eating, or that
he crashed the spaceship to conceal the evidence of his cannibalism?
John Savard

He ate several of the people in cryosleep, decanting them first. He
crashed the spaceship in the ocean because it is illegal for him to be
on Earth since thirteen of his genes have been modified, a mutant.

I'd decided not to ask why an Augment and
the book are called _Thirteen_ since the story
probably would be about the same if replicants
were called rosemarys. But the description
raises the matter of whether it's okay to be a
twelve, and I suppose whether it's thirteen
/specific/ genes which turn you into
Khan Noonien Singh from Star Trek.

[Quadibloc]

Post by Robert Carnegie
I'd decided not to ask why an Augment and
the book are called _Thirteen_

The book _was_ called "Black Man" in the United Kingdom -
black in the sense of secret (black operation) or illegal
(black market). But it was given a new title for the United
States market to avoid confusing potential readers.

John Savard

[Lynn McGuire]

Post by Quadibloc

Post by Robert Carnegie
I'd decided not to ask why an Augment and
the book are called _Thirteen_

The book _was_ called "Black Man" in the United Kingdom -
black in the sense of secret (black operation) or illegal
(black market). But it was given a new title for the United
States market to avoid confusing potential readers.
John Savard

I suspect that all of the thirteens are Black. The hunter thirteen and
the cannibal thirteen are Black.

Lynn

[Quadibloc]

Post by Lynn McGuire
He
crashed the spaceship in the ocean because it is illegal for him to be
on Earth since thirteen of his genes have been modified, a mutant.

I'd have thought just landing it in some out-of-the-way spot would do for
that, but perhaps tracking technology is more advanced in this era.

John Savard

[Lynn McGuire]

Post by Quadibloc

Post by Lynn McGuire
He
crashed the spaceship in the ocean because it is illegal for him to be
on Earth since thirteen of his genes have been modified, a mutant.

I'd have thought just landing it in some out-of-the-way spot would do for
that, but perhaps tracking technology is more advanced in this era.
John Savard

The author had him crash the space ship in the ocean close to one of the
floating cities in 2195.

Lynn

[Default User]

Post by Lynn McGuire
"Thirteen" by Richard K. Morgan
https://www.amazon.com/Thirteen-Richard-K-Morgan/dp/0345480899/
A standalone science fiction book, no sequel or prequel that I know
of. I read the 544 page well printed and well bound trade paperback
published by Del Rey in 2008. The eight point font was a little
small for me but a larger font would have made the book huge, well
over it's current one pound weight on Earth.

That's one advantage of e-books that I appreciated as the years went
by. I can set the font to a comfortable size without affecting anything
else in the reading experience.


Brian

[Jonathan]

Post by Lynn McGuire
"Thirteen" by Richard K. Morgan
   https://www.amazon.com/Thirteen-Richard-K-Morgan/dp/0345480899/
A standalone science fiction book, no sequel or prequel that I know of.
 I read the 544 page well printed and well bound trade paperback
published by Del Rey in 2008.  The eight point font was a little small
for me but a larger font would have made the book huge, well over it's
current one pound weight on Earth.
The Solar System of 2195 is a radically different place from today.
There are over a million people living on Mars in several colonies.
There are regular spaceships traveling between Mars and Earth, mostly in
free fall with the humans in cryogenic sleep due to the average seven
month journey each way.  The USA has split into three countries: New
England, The Rim States, and Jesusland.
You have to be tough to live on Mars.  The surface air is almost
non-existent and poisonous.  The people are tough, so the lawmen have to
be tougher.

But with a 100 lb person on Earth weighing 38 lbs
on Mars it would stand to reason people on Mars
would become quite a bit weaker over time.



  So, one of the governments on Mars created a genetically

Post by Lynn McGuire
enhanced man, the thirteens, to be the lawmen.  The Earthers immediately
outlawed the "mutants" from coming back to Earth.  So, of course, they
snuck back to Earth.
Carl Marsalis is a thirteen on Earth.  He is a bounty hunter for the
COLIN (United Nations COLonial INitiative Authority).   He hunts rogue
thirteens.  And the UNGLA (United Nations Genetic Legislation Authority)
says that all people have rights to only share their genes when they
want to so there is no testing, officially.
The newest thirteen to sneak to Earth is a doozy.  Instead of docking
the spaceship at the space station and coming down the nanostalk, he
crashed the spaceship in an ocean.  Plus, there is no food on the
spaceships, only cryogenically sleeping humans.  And the newest thirteen
was awake for the entire trip.
My rating:  4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating:  4.3 out of 5 stars (502 reviews)
Lynn

[Default User]

Post by Lynn McGuire
"Thirteen" by Richard K. Morgan
https://www.amazon.com/Thirteen-Richard-K-Morgan/dp/0345480899/
A standalone science fiction book, no sequel or prequel that I know of.

According to Wikipedia (usual caveats) the novel Thin Air is set in the
same background, but 100 or so years later. I have read that one, but
not Thirteen.


Brian

[Lynn McGuire]

Post by Default User

Post by Lynn McGuire
"Thirteen" by Richard K. Morgan
https://www.amazon.com/Thirteen-Richard-K-Morgan/dp/0345480899/
A standalone science fiction book, no sequel or prequel that I know of.

According to Wikipedia (usual caveats) the novel Thin Air is set in the
same background, but 100 or so years later. I have read that one, but
not Thirteen.
Brian

Huh.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_Air_(Morgan_novel)

Lynn