- Title: Welcome to Opine
- Author: Matthew Marullo
- Series: N/A
- Genre: Sci-fi Comedy
- Publishing Date: October 29th, 2022
- Publishing Co.: Marullo Publishing
- Length: 291 pages
- Format: Kindle Unlimited, Paperback
- Acquired: Given free print copy in exchange for an honest review
- Amazon Link: Welcome to Opine
Nine billion years into the future, the rogue planet Earth is captured by a blue dwarf star in another galaxy, eventually culminating in the rise of Homo Sapiens 2.0.
Imagine a member of the ancient humans had buried deep in the earth a quantum computer containing a vast, digitized compendium of humankind’s history and achievements, all preserved within petabytes of quantum memory.
This new human civilization, calling their planet Opine and themselves the Opinions, the first “i” pronounced with a long vowel, were granted the valuable benefit of hindsight. After spending decades studying “Ancient” history, the Opinions endeavored to expunge selfishness from the human genome through a genetic therapy called the Self Suppressor.
But what happens when one person develops a natural resistance to the therapy? Would he then represent a threat to the gene pool? Will the Opinions be able to correct this genetic anomaly, or perhaps adapt it, in the interest of regaining a sacrificed part of their humanity?
One voice may know the answer. The voice of the man who originally buried the quantum computer billions of years ago…
Final Judgment: 4 Stars out of 5
This was… quite the ride! Set in a seemingly Utopian, if slightly absurd, world with its inhabitants–the Opinions–in a state of perpetual content. With the Self Suppressor, any sexual instinct or desire has been eradicated from these new and improved humans. And with no sexual tension permeating their society, all selfishness is obsolete. There are few crimes, and those that still occur are small in scope and easily contained and remedied. But that balance is threatened when its discovered that at least one of the Opinions has a genetic immunity to the sexual side-effect of the Self Suppressor…
I’ll start by saying that this book is very well-written. The characters start off quite absurd and almost child-like, to the point where I feel zero connection to these new beings. However, as the book progresses, I actually start to fall in love with them and their simplicity. And then Marullo decides to break my heart! I won’t go into the details, but this was definitely a wild ride.
Additionally, the writing is quite poignant. It seems that every little sentence has a deeper meaning, and Marullo points out specific literature and history from our current world to prove his point. If you’re familiar with each allusion, that adds to the genius, but it is not necessary to still enjoy the story and understand just exactly what Marullo is putting down. I caught on to many, but I still feel as if there were some things I did not catch… It makes me want to read it again!
Overall, this book starts off slow and seemingly simple, with characters that you don’t quite care for and a plot that can meander. But as you dig in, the novel unfolds into something that may make you uncomfortable as you are forced to question our own society and our places in it. It did not quite reach a 5 star rating from me, as it did take a bit of convincing in the first half-ish of the novel to get me to continue reading. But now that I’ve finished, I may go for a second round!
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