Book Review: X-Variant by Rosemary Cole

This is a science fiction tale about a time-traveling girl and a zombie apocalypse.

With her peaceful utopian world crumbling and humanity’s very existence under threat, Kala must travel back in time to 2079—when a synthetic viral pandemic is raging across the globe—in a desperate attempt to change the course of the future. She must succeed. But if she does, it could mean the end of her people forever.

My Review:
I'm not a huge follower of science fiction, reading only parts of the genre. I generally stick to dinosaur planets, spaceships being stalked by monsters or killers, dangerous colony adventures and a bit of the dystopian Earth side of things. This one was way outside of what I normally read as I don't really go for time travel or anything with a lot of advanced technology but the addition of a form of genetic zombie type apocalypse that the group go back in time to stop did sound intriguing and it was also an X title for my alphabet challenge! I'm very glad I took a chance on this book!

In 2079 a synthetic virus destroys most of humanity. It evolves into something that spawns a superior adapted human with everyone created from this genetic material and they are hosts for symbionts that can heal them (think Teal'c from Stargate SG1). Drones from each person connect to an advanced internet called Dronet which allows instant communication between each person and access to information without an external computer. In 2616, people are becoming suddenly disconnected from Dronet, leaving them disorientated and then they turn violent and attack and kill others. This is the X-Variant. A plan is constructed to send a team of volunteers back to 2079 and kill anyone who carries a range of genes that can become the X Variant, and protect the lives of those immune to turning X. This will stop anyone from living long enough to turn dangerous and save the future by wiping out the remaining dangerous people in the 2616 timeline. 

Kala is one of the few who was able to kill an attacker so she is one of the team to go back in time. She is capable and determined to do her duty but when she actually starts to meet and talk to those with the deadly genes, she finds it a lot tougher to just execute them, even to save the future. Now she is faced with the choice of either killing her new friends to save the future or saving their lives, knowing they could destroy the future while she becomes the enemy of her former colleagues. I liked Kala. She does what she needs to do in her present when her society breaks down, so she can protect those she loves. It is when faced with ordinary humans that she starts to have the doubts about killing these people even though she has seen what will happen if she doesn't. I liked that she showed these ordinary human traits and had her issues trying to follow very difficult orders.

I liked the idea of the various genes in each human determining who was going to create a line of genetics that will threaten the future. Only those with Beta genes survive the plague without causing this X-Variant so as many of them need to be saved as possible. The other versions like Alpha, Delta and Gamma all die out in the plague with none surviving into the future so they are just left alone. It is the Epsilon gene that survives the plague and causes the X-Variant and they must be executed. There are also others who in 2079 are already deadly like X-Variants and roaming the land so they need to be dealt with too (Ghals). I really enjoyed this science stuff and it was explained nicely so that people without scientific brains like me could easily understand what was going on! I also really enjoyed the tech side of things, especially the personal drones they had which can be used for tracking, communication and defence. That added a new element to the book for me.

There was enough action in the book to keep me happy. The first third of the book was the disaster in Kala's present where they were trying to evade the enemy and get to a safe place, while realising that family and friends were being eliminated. The second third goes into the mission in the past which is like a war zone with the executions, the infected roaming around, betas being rescued. That was filled with tension and dealing with Kala'sw changing attitude and relationships fracturing. We also meet the family that Kala wants to save. Brandon is Beta but his partner and child are Epsilons and are supposed to die. Smuggling them into the complex to hide them in plain sight is dangerous and against everything Kala is meant to be doing. The third part is like the zombie road trip with the added worry about being tracked by those who were your friends. It also looks at finding allies and enemies as they go along. There was a bit of everything to enjoy.

Trigger warning. Kala is in a same sex relationship with girlfriend Liet and they enter a three way relationship with a male. The relationship between the three is explored on an emotional and mental level rather than a sexual manner but I know that I have followers who don't read books with this kind of plot. We see how the close bonds between the three help them to cope with the horrors they face in their time but Liet becomes upset with Kala's ability to kill when necessary and that threatens their bonds. I can understand why Kala is upset at the lack of understanding from Liet, when all she did was protect her loved ones. This changing dynamic causes Kala a lot of pain but she also discovers what it is like to have real friends too.

I so much enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to getting the next in the series, which I think is a trilogy.

Read August 2019
4 stars.