Scales

War, what is it good for? Not a lot, but depressingly it is a real driver of innovation. What better way to inspire the greatest minds in the country than to task them with more efficient ways to kill the enemy? Arms races happen all over the place from conventional gun and bullets to newer types of warfare like AI and social media. You even have bizzarro experiments like telepathic goats. There will be labs somewhere that are experimenting with animal/human hybrids, some for medical reasons, others for potential war benefits. Christopher Hinz explores what may happen when the first human/dinosaur hybrid is introduced to the world in Scales. 

Eddie Boka is faster, stronger and has keener instincts than the average soldier. He is a human/dinosaur hybrid whose DNA has been altered to make him a more efficient killing machine. For all these benefits all he needed to sacrifice was his looks, libido, and his ability to stop himself ripping out the throat of the enemy and gorging on the meaty goodness. Eddie is not quite fit for public consumption, but the big reveal is weeks away. The army hire controversial therapist Adelaide “Addi” LaTour to work with Eddie. Will a little targeted electro-therapy calm the wild beast? 

The concept of Scales is the type of entertaining speculative thought exercise that only science fiction can provide. Hinz has the idea of a solider who is part human and part dinosaur, which way will they run with the concept? Initially, it seems like the book may be an action novel, Rambosaurus Rex, an opening scene introduces us to Eddie and his enhanced powers, and his enhanced issues. 

Interestingly, rather than focus on the reptilian side of Eddie, the book focuses on the man. The story returns to US soil and the secret base where Eddie and his fellow test subjects are held. The book becomes a therapy exercise as Eddie and Addi work together. The book also evokes the likes of Robocop. The army are working with a private firm to produce super soldiers. The management have their own targets and Eddie’s best interests are not part of their equations. The meddling at the top has a disastrous effect on the base and the public perception of Eddie et al. 

At times it was disappointing that the reader was not able to witness Eddie and the other hybrids in all their glory, spending more time on relationships and politics, but there are enough action scenes to keep fans of grue and explosions happy. At its heart this is a book about Eddie and the toll the experiments exacted on him took. The external transformation making him less palatable to look at, but more importantly the internal. The normal thoughts of feeling like a freak, but also the compulsion to violence and a taste for human flesh. There is also the loss of his desires, but as the book progresses these may not be as gone as first thought. 

Scales is an interesting exploration of what could happen if a man were mixed with a T-Rex. It is far more intelligent than you may think, exploring physical and phycological turmoil, whilst also mentioning the military industrial complex and how messed up that can be. There are also pockets of entertaining action, the balance is more cerebral, but I think any fan of unusual science fiction concepts will get something from this book.