Genesis

Winner of several awards including the 2010 Prix Sorcieres for young adults.

In the year 2075 the island Republic has emerged from a ruined world. Its citizens are safe but not free. They live in complete isolation from the outside world. Approaching planes are gunned down, refugees shot on sight. Until a man named Adam Forde rescues a girl from the sea.

Anaximander, a young Academy student, is put through a gruelling exam. Her special subject: the life of Adam Forde, her long-dead hero. What secrets has she discovered and what is her own surprising link to Adam? She is forced to confront the horrifying truth about her totalitarian world.

Genesis is a thriller that asks the big questions. What is it to be human? What makes a soul?

'...sophisticated sci-fi that explores thorny issues in philosophy and science...Beckett presents a series of philosophical conundrums with lucid and penetrating intelligence, and weaves them into a bleak but compelling futuristic vision.' Age