Ian Ginn’s Serum 8 is a near-future dystopian science-fiction thriller set in the city of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, several years after a devastating global ecological event known as The Tipping has occurred.
A Big Brother-style assembly of corporations, collectively known as Authority, has assumed societal control and divided humanity into three distinct classes: “the privileged Us, the working Servs, and Unders—the disenfranchised, climate refugees with nothing left to lose.”
The story focuses on charming criminal Serv antihero, Arief “Camel” Teheri, who is rising in the ranks of a criminal fraternity run by ruthless gangster 3Time. While investigating an associate’s disappearance, Camel finds himself caught in the crosshairs of the Security and Intelligence Service, a brutal paramilitary force tasked with safeguarding Authority, and AgeFree, a morally questionable corporation that sells a longevity product (Serum) to the privileged Us classes to give them years of extra life.
Run by cruel scientist Dr. Zeno Alkehest, AgeFree is attempting to extract a previously unknown protein from youthful Unders. Unfortunately, its research has encountered a developmental snag. To resolve this, Dr. Alkehest resorts to increasingly extreme measures to achieve his aims.
Meanwhile, accused of a terrible crime he didn’t commit, Camel goes on the run, racing against time to expose AgeFree and clear his name.
Fusing cyber-punk, science-fiction horror, conspiracy-thriller elements, and man-on-the-run, wrongly-accused tropes, Ginn delivers a complex, fast-paced, politically astute thriller that capably tackles themes relating to socio-economic disparity, the perils of corporate omnipotence and humanity’s obsession with longevity.
The future Amsterdam is a believable, disturbing dystopia populated by diverse charismatic characters, such as principal protagonist Camel, his inquisitive teen accomplice Jay, and dastardly antagonist Dr. Alkehest.
Ginn, displays a spot-on ear for dialogue and makes excellent use of stripped-down prose to power the narrative toward its satisfying, open-ended climax.
Overall, Serum 8 is a philosophically intriguing joyride, filled with action, romance and creative worldbuilding, that will appeal to a wide range of science-fiction fans.
Also available as an ebook.