Change Agent

De: Daniel Suarez

Narrado por: Jeff Gurner

New York Times bestselling author Daniel Suarez delivers an exhilarating sci-fi thriller exploring a potential future where CRISPR genetic editing allows the human species to control evolution itself.

On a crowded train platform, Interpol agent Kenneth Durand feels the sting of a needle—and his transformation begins...

In 2045 Kenneth Durand leads Interpol’s most effective team against genetic crime, hunting down black market labs that perform "vanity edits" on human embryos for a price. These illegal procedures augment embryos in ways that are rapidly accelerating human evolution—preying on human-trafficking victims to experiment and advance their technology.

With the worlds of genetic crime and human trafficking converging, Durand and his fellow Interpol agents discover that one figure looms behind it all: Marcus Demang Wyckes, leader of a powerful and sophisticated cartel known as the Huli jing.

But the Huli jing have identified Durand, too. After being forcibly dosed with a radical new change agent, Durand wakes from a coma weeks later to find he’s been genetically transformed into someone else—his most wanted suspect: Wyckes.

Now a fugitive, pursued through the genetic underworld by his former colleagues and the police, Durand is determined to restore his original DNA by locating the source of the mysterious—and highly valuable—change agent. But Durand hasn’t anticipated just how difficult locating his enemy will be. With the technology to genetically edit the living, Wyckes and his Huli jing could be anyone and everyone—and they have plans to undermine identity itself.

Reseñas de la Crítica

Praise for Change Agent

“Biopunk has been waiting for its William Gibson, to bring a whole new vision of the future as Mr. Gibson did for cyberpunk, and Daniel Suarez has done it...Exhilarating, alarming—Daniel Suarez plays the two great thrills of sci-fi against each other, and not just for fun. He thinks this is coming, and he means it. Read it and wonder.”—Wall Street Journal

“Terrifyingly plausible.”—Time

“Besides being a rockin’ thriller, Change Agent is a vivid depiction of where ubiquitous gene editing might take us. I came away believing I'll be less surprised by the future.”—Kevin Kelly, Senior Maverick for Wired and New York Times bestselling author of The Inevitable

“The depth and sophistication of Suarez’s dystopian world—not to mention his facility at making complex science intelligible to the nonexpert—rivals anything Michael Crichton ever did.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The action scenes are plenty lively, [but] the best thing about the book is its depiction of a troublesome future in which people can change physical identities the way they change clothes...A natural at making future shocks seem perfectly believable, Suarez delivers his most entertaining high-tech thriller yet.”—Kirkus Reviews

“The ultimate form of identity theft is just a genetic edit away in Suarez’s newest fast-paced, speculative thriller...Offer this to Michael Crichton and science fiction-suspense fans.”—Booklist

Impressive Scientific Knowledge

Once I began I couldn't stop listening. I finished the entire book in two sittings interrupted only by my daily dose of sleep. Both the story and the performance were superb. The author's familiarity with various ethnicities was greatly appreciated. Mr Suarez succeeded in converting me into a science fiction fan, a genre I was previously averse to due to my reading a couple of scientifically poor science fiction novels. BTW I heard about the author for the first time through an interview with Mr. Leo Laporte on his Triangulation podcast.

Great world. Poor story. Unlikeable Lead.

Change Agent is less of a story, and more of voyeuristic trip through the underworld of a plausible near future. Listeners who are satisfied experiencing the very well thought out semi-dystopian future will have a lot to like. It is for this reason I gave the book 3 stars instead of 2. However, those like myself who want a more coherent story, and notice the numerous flaws of the main character will find it tough to get through.

A fundamental problem with Change Agent is it doesn't know the scope of the story it wants to tell. It is clear that most of the effort went into building the world, yet that world is mostly static throughout the book. It is only there to be viewed and is incapable of driving the story forward. Thus it is left to the main character, Kenneth Durand, to provide the fuel to tell a compelling narrative. This is his personal story. It is not an epic tale about a world or society. Unfortunately it is the world, not Durand, that is most developed.

Simply put, Durand is hypocritical, unethical, reckless, selfish, and acts like an old man yelling at these new fangled computer doohickies. To be clear the story doesn't intend for him to come across this way, and on first look he isn't. It is only when you think a little harder about the actions he takes and their outcomes that it becomes apparent, and it colors the rest of the story from that moment forward. It also needs to be noted that Durand's motivation and plan (what little there is) throughout the book makes little to no sense.

Finally, the elephant in the room about this story is that it has a rather liberal political point of view. That will turn off some listeners who simple don't agree. I want to say that as a liberal who mostly agrees with the overall views of the book, ideology is not coloring my opinion.

==== Very mild spoilers below ====

I've kept this review spoiler free up to this point but now will provide very mild general examples to back up some of the claims made about the traits of the main character.

* Hypocritical: He intends to do the same thing (genetic modification for personal gains) he keeps arguing against
* Unethical: He withholds vital info from police to pursue his goals. This is information that would be lost in the very likely event he got killed.
* Reckless: Has no way to achieve his goals. He lucks through the story. He basically wants the people trying to kill him to help him out.
* Selfish: He is willing to get other people killed to further his own goals.

Ultimately Durand is a groan inducing character (I literally did this). He continually acts holier than thou, but his entire motivation is that he can't take the way he looks. He is willing to likely get himself killed and deprive his daughter of a father growing up just on the improbable chance to get his original body back. So much for thinking a person is more than their appearance.

To the book's credit, it is self aware enough to point out some of these issues, but it does absolutely nothing to resolve them. When confronted, Durand simply gets upset and forcefully says yet again he must get his body back.

A whole lot of traveling and not much more.

I am a big Daniel Suarez fan and have loved all of this other books. Change Agent is very dull. 80% of the book is travailing from one place to another and not much happens. The charters a mostly forgettable, and then book's ending is very predictable. There are also a couple of main charters in the book that have no bearing on the actual outcome of the story at all.

meh!

Great concepts; but it just didn't come together. I won't be listening to this one again. Suarez usually writes stories that I enjoy... this one wasn't horrible; just meh...

genetic manipulation dystopia

Science fiction. Very creative story of the criminal and moral extremes of a society dealing with the ultimate results of high tech and genetic augmentation meeting morality and greed