Title: A Harvest of Thorns
Author: Mario Carini
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 978-1-5320-5474-7
Pages: 432
Genre: Sci-fi / Political thriller
Reviewed by: Tara Mcnabb
Pacific Book Review
Set in a highly futuristic world and teeming with intrigue, A Harvest of Thorns by Mario Carini is at once both a powerful force of social commentary and a nail-biting pageturner.
Earth has made rapid and astonishing technological advancements, including the discovery of interstellar travel. But things are not all well; corporate and government corruption runs rampant, and making large profits by any means necessary has become a priority over the well-being of mankind. This has led to a mass intergalactic migration from Earth to the planet of Aquario Prime, a place that has managed to stay prosperous and balanced while learning from Earth’s mistakes. To prevent the new homeland from falling prey to the greedy eye of big business, Aquario Prime exercises a strict set of laws governing science and biotechnology, especially when it comes to food and drugs. But despite these efforts, that hasn’t stopped money-hungry corporations from infiltrating the new planet with secret agents and politicians that will stop at nothing to take Aquario Prime for themselves.
A central and arguably the main theme in A Harvest of Thorns is the corruption and economic injustice caused by what many know as simply, “Big Pharma.” The opening chapter depicts the anguished suffering of a plant worker who becomes deathly ill by a mysterious virus that is spreading widely throughout his city, and it is no coincidence that he happens to work at a drug manufacturing plant. Carini holds nothing back in his seeming attack on the corrupt pharmaceutical industries and the harm they inflict on innocent civilians, both rich and poor. The book does an excellent job of combining sci-fi with the thrills and conspiracies of modern politics, while not glossing over the serious and often catastrophic consequences of unchecked power. The virus serves as a powerful metaphor for the way power hungry elite will use anything as leverage for a purpose of their own gain, and back room deals and shady agreements are depicted with a gritty realism that feels almost too close to home.
What makes A Harvest of Thorns so engaging to read is the sheer amount of characters that all somehow have a stake in the final outcome. Loyalties are tested, ethics and morals are questioned while people from all walks of life become intertwined in one another’s fate. The ultimate question is not whether mankind will learn from its mistakes, but whether we can all work together, despite our differences, to guide our future in a more sustainable direction. Carini gives us hope that humanity is not over yet.
