Member Reviews

There is a forthright and distancing effect Faulks narratives display for me, so I don't get engaged. Relationships have little chemistry.. like Talissa and Felix right at start .. maybe that's what he means for this story to make it work, but I'm left out. The premise is intriguing but it took a while for me to get it, so I didn't know what all the fuss was about.i am nearly alone in this reaction. I suspect.

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The Seventh Son is a thought provoking novel set in the near future. Talissa lives in New York and is career driven. To support her academic progress she offers to be a surrogate for a couple in London at the Parn institute, and a baby boy is born. The billionaire owner is interested in where the human race originated and uses the clinic as an opportunity to further his own research.
This book examines how possible future technological advancements may raise moral questions and the impact on individuals. It moves forward as the child grows up and examines how society changes in many ways, but how the public’s thirst for information through the media remains the same.

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The Seventh Son is an enthralling and thought-provoking masterpiece that masterfully combines emotion, humor, and futuristic exploration. It’s a book that lingers in your thoughts long after you’ve turned the final page, reminding us of the enduring impact of storytelling.

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An exceptionally well-crafted, thought-provoking novel by one of our finest writers. This book made me think for days after finishing it and even now I come back to some of its key passages. An important work.

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I am a big fan of Sebastian Faulks' books, but this latest release left me underwhelmed. While the scientific detail was interesting and I enjoyed the build-up, the book lost its way in the final parts. The ending seemed rushed and simplistic, which was odd and disappointing. Despite this, it's still worth reading, and I eagerly await Faulks' next book."

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I loved this novel. A philosophical thriller, the novel explores what it means to be human and the nature of consciousness. Interesting settings, characters who both intrigued and moved me and exceptional writing.

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This was an excellently written book, as you would expect from this well established author. The premise of the plot was interesting and I felt sympathy for the life of Seth who is very different to his peers. It made you think about what is ethical in genetic manipulation

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Set in the near future an impoverished academic becomes a surrogate to fund future study. The procedure takes place at an institute run by a billionaire. A healthy baby, Seth, and raised by Mary and Alaric. The surrogate, Talissa Adam, returns to the US. Seth is a “bit different” and is tested every year at the Institute.

The book follows Seth’s life.

I enjoy Faulks’ writing - he is economical with words. The plot of this one seemed more Michael Crichton than Birdsong, which was fine for me as I enjoy Crichton

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

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I went into this expecting something much more ‘futuristic’ than it turned out to be. I’ve read nothing else by Faulks. But I had assumed that being set in the near future, there would be some reason for that time jump of decades. Presumably, technologically we aren’t currently in a place where the events of the novel could happen, but I wouldn’t have known that, nor I suspect would anyone have known that, unless they were knowledgeable in the fields of genetics, palaeontology and anthropology.

This is the story of an experiment to see what would happen if a half-Neanderthal human being came to live amongst sapiens. It would’ve been fascinating perhaps, if the protagonist had been different enough to have been recognised as something ‘other’ but in fact, he seemed completely normal, except for a fondness for meat that apparently people don’t have in 2040. No one in his life appeared to notice very much different in him at all . A stocky build and a lack of general enthusiasm hardly seemed like enough to excite a pitchfork-wielding mob in the pursuit of Frankenstein’s monster.

I also found it difficult to believe that he could be pursued globally after being photographed precisely once, including in the furthest reaches of the Scottish Highlands. I doubt I would recognise Hugh Jackman if I came across him in a local Tesco’s, despite having seen him thousands of times, so how am I supposed to believe that random strangers would recognise Seth in a remote rural cafe or in upstate Massachusetts based on a single snatched photo of an unremarkable looking man? I couldn’t really see the point of the initial experiment, or the interest in it, once it was revealed. Maybe if it was a little green alien? Perhaps I lack curiosity!

I only persisted with this book because I feel obligated to write a review- I’m not even sure I felt it was particularly well written, despite knowing that this is a renowned and talented author. Overall I was disappointed. Bleak and unrewarding.

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Possibly one of the most thought provoking and confusing books I've read in a long time. Confusing only because I felt totally heartbroken, and cautiously optimistic at the same time. Completely fascinating premise, beautifully written and one of those books that makes your brain fire up with joy at the power of words to challenge and comfort.

I think this is a book I will read again and again and will learn something and think something different every time.

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I really enjoyed The Seventh Son by Sebastian Faulks, but I have to admit it wasn't quite what I was expecting. The story follows a woman who volunteers to be a surrogate mother for a couple, but during the IVF treatment something is done which breaks all the ethical rules, and has potentially huge implications for humanity. The pacing was good, and I was hooked from the start, wanting to know what was going to happen to the boy at the centre of the controversial situation. This read like a page-turning thriller, with an intelligent question at its heart.

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Seth is different. He is the product of an illegal scientific experiment. He is loved, makes his own way in the world, but when the world finds out the truth, he cannot find a refuge. The plot is interesting, however there is a lot of scientific explanation and it is also heavy on the ethics

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A really intriguing novel set in the near future. I was engrossed from the outset and because many of the characters are quite hard to empathise with I found that I was able to keep just the right amount of detachment to engage with the philosophical themes. However I was emotionally engaged enough to care deeply about the fate of the title character. I really enjoyed this book.

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I found this to be an extremely powerful while gripping novel. It is set in a near future which is all the more disturbing because it is so close and recognisable, and a logical extension of what we know to be the case today. I really enjoyed it and found it at times astonishing . But I was very uncomfortable with the final development in the relationship between Talissa and Seth. But Faulks redeemed himself with the final paragraph which was sublime.

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I know I'm late to the party but I'm glad I read it in time to add to my top books of this year. This is great speculative fiction, a book that force you to think and wonder.
There's a plot but each act and characters makes you ask to yourself what would you do.
There's science and there's human and both plays a relevant role.
The author can write and the he's a master storyteller
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

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Sebastian Faulks is not a writer who gives his readers the same book over and over again. His latest is another story that is as unique as a novel can ever be. His fascinations with brains and genetics and ethical questions are all there, but this thought-provoking novel delves into new territory and entwines the far distant past with the not too distant future. When a young American geneticist sells herself (to fund her studies) as a surrogate for a British couple who yearn to have a child but cannot, she thinks she will have no problem giving up the surrogate child to his loving parents. But as the child grows up and his differences from the norm become increasingly apparent, her affection for him grows as her suspicions about his conception and genetic makeup increase. A very fine novel indeed.

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It’s 2030 and Talissa Adams is a young American academic who’s looking for a way to fund her PhD. She offers to become a surrogate mum to a childless couple in London under the auspices of an institute run by Silicon Valley maverick Lukas Parn. Parn is obsessed with what sets Homo sapiens apart from its genetic forefathers.
Unbeknown to either Talissa or the parents, an ethically questionable scientific intervention takes place at a key point in the surrogacy, which will have a profound effect on them all. After nine months baby Seth is born, an odd but engaging little fellow who grows up to be different in a way that others find hard to put their finger on.
As the years pass Talissa remains in touch with the family from a distance. Parn’s intervention eventually becomes the subject of an explosive court case and Seth finds himself fighting for his privacy and his sanity. Talissa and Seth are eventually united as the novel climaxes in a breathtaking plot twist that messes with the reader’s head.
This is a thought-provoking and entertaining novel about what it means to be human told by a master storyteller.

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Faulks is a celebrated author, held in such high esteem by literary circles that I had very high hopes for this, his newest work. I also have a personal interest in ethics and where the future might bring us. I was therefore incredibly disappointed by how much I didn’t enjoy this book. I was quite simply just very very bored.

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A very thought-provoking read. Written in simple and lyrical prose, this explores human nature and science. Truly original and unforgettable. Highly recommended.

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I normally enjoy Faulks, but this doesn't read like him at all. I fear it's excruciatingly dull with far too much detail about peripheral matters and not enough about the actual story. I reached 27% before finally abandoning it, at which point the child had only just been born and had had a total of about five pages devoted to him. If there are interesting questions raised (as many reviewers say), then it's unfortunate that they are not raised a little more quickly. As I ask increasingly often, where was the editor? I'm not sure this would have been published if it had been by a less well known author, and I'm certain that if it was, the editor would have taken a much stricter line on cutting out the waffle. Intereting premise, poor execution.

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