First off, I need to confess that I hadn’t planned on reading "Superego" quite so soon because sci-fi is not my first choice of genres. I appreciate the creative piece, but already worry too much about our own solar system without adding (for instance) aubergine tentacle-headed aliens or giant gray flying vehicular battering rams into the mix.
But after reading Flemming’s last article on PJ Media entitled, "Frank Tips on How to Be Funny on the Internet", I decided to give Sci-Fi a try because his sense of humor was wholly to my liking…Dry, sarcastic, and witty…Perhaps he’s an Anglophile?
The book begins with Rico, the main character, on his way to make a routine (read: boring) hit. Rico, genetically engineered to be both intellectually and physically superior to mere mortals, was accidentally stripped of standard values (i.e. loving your parents, not killing puppies, etc) in the experimental process.
The corporation that created him thus produced an unaffected adult male that can only tolerate himself…But just barely.
The lead is a grouch, almost entirely nonverbal (interacting with the intellectually inferior is loathsome), crass, violent, and apathetic to life and suffering in general (even his own). His self-concept is overly inflated, even for the most accomplished hit man in outer space. But somehow, Flemming’s Rico is still amusing and likable, even when his inner monologue is gloating over the various ways he can clear a room (kill a bunch of people and/or aliens at once) with little effort. Rico’s honesty is refreshing, notwithstanding his inhumanity.
Content with his morbid but useful purpose, Rico accepts a highly weighted mission despite the fact that this hit of intergalactic proportion may conclude with his own demise. What he doesn’t anticipate is meeting Diane, a semi-good looking badass, who’s own penchant for killing peaks his interest. Finally, someone he can stomach. Unfortunately, he will need to kill her.
Flemming’s novel touches on so many timely issues, illustrating the outcomes of progressive ideologies, political and scientific specifically, that are presently being explored. "Advancements" such as the super soldier, artificial intelligence, and genetic engineering of humans, just to name a few.
The most significant theme in the novel is also a very familiar one. The apathy of "civilized" nations when simpler cultures are suffering at the hands of terrorists. Throughout the novel, Rico struggles to conceptualize philosophies of right and wrong leaving the reader to discern whether they are learned or inherent. In short, Rico wonders why one would care for the life of another when it’s easier and more comfortable just to dismiss it.
The author paints a future with current riptides, groups with increasing power evermore demanding as docile citizens and elected officials seek appeasement over added conflict. In the future will our own world be ruled by various rogue corporate conglomerates eventually colliding over supreme command? Or are we well on our way already?
I don’t want to spoil the book for those of your who haven’t had a chance to read it yet. But the predominant issues in Superego strongly support conservative principles in an unimposing fashion, which makes Superego a smart read regardless of political persuasion. It is a tidy book, just under 300 pages, and I was able to read it in one setting…mostly due to the fact that I refused to put it down.
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