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Skin Deep, by Jacqueline Jacques
http://www.jacquelinejacques.co.uk/
 Six
frozen brains are found in an abandoned cellar: the
result of Nazi concentration camp experiments. They
give British scientists the chance to pioneer the
first brain transplants. Max is the first successful
transplant. Journalist Clare wants to tell the story
and get her promotion - perhaps also a new
relationship - but she can't see the real story, the
nightmare she is being drawn into, until it is much
too late.
This is a novel that examines
what would happen if people cryopreserved in the
1940s were reanimated in the early 21st
century. The process was brain vitrification and the
reanimations rely on a present day culture that is
capable of performing brain transplants, so anyone
with a scientific background would have to suspend
reality with regards to the "science" in the science
fiction. In addition the brains were preserved
undiscovered and untended for over 50 years. Storage
without the need for maintenance would be nice if
possible, but of course in reality no one knows how
to do it.
If you disregard all this,
though, you do have a discussion about how the rest
of the world would react. The story is based around
a news team covering the events and observing the
reactions and behaviour of the reanimated people.
Unlike the scenario as most cryonicists see it, the
patients were revived after their brains were
transplanted into the bodies of people who were
brain-dead. Therefore there was the added dimension
of dealing with someone else's body.
Neuropreservation concepts today can only theorise
about realities of the future because people cannot
predict the future with certainty. This book does
not consider nanotechnological regrowth of the
original body, but it does detail the problems that
would arise using a "body transplant". The donated
bodies were chosen only on the basis of tissue
typing, not whether they were physically compatible
with the brains. Even today with surgical procedures
such as liver transplants strange events occur, such
as the recipient developing new likes and dislikes
for food. Now just imagine what would happen with a
whole body being transplanted around the brain of
someone else! In the novel, a musician has a
particularly hard time as a result of an
inappropriate body.
The novel does consider the
matter of continued life. Here the replacement
bodies can age, and further body transplants would
be needed in a society that has not cured ageing.
The question of whether the brains would age
regardless of what bodies they are in apply and are
mentioned as well. This relates to concerns that
some cryonics people have as to whether they'd need
a second cryopreservation at some time and whether
they'd be able to earn enough money for it in their
second life.
Of course the history of 1940s is
emotionally charged, and yes this is another
"thriller" time travel type story about extremist
authoritarian politics with the inevitable crop of
scenes of violence, mayhem and attempted world
domination. There were scenes that, for example,
cleverly juxtaposed the concentration of people into
ghettoes and camps by the Nazis using railways with
the concentration of present day working people into
cities and their public transport systems. I think
the point may be being made that although the cries
of "Seig Heil" may never be made again in earnest by
those in charge, many National Socialist methods
could appear again under other ideologies unless
checked. Indeed, this already happened in Yugoslavia
and many African countries.
The lead in goes on for a long
time, making very pertinent comparisons between
events today and 60 years ago as seen by the
protagonists. This sort of thing may be interesting
to cryonicists wondering how they will take to life
in the future. The action scenes occur more towards
the end. However a number of points are made during
the lead in that will interest cryonicists. There is
more about this book and its author on the web site
and on
Amazon. I urge
cryonicists to read these.
 Jacqueline
Jacques was born in wartime Wales, but lived most of
her life in and around London's East End, settling
finally with her husband and family in Essex. There
she is able to combine the outdoor pleasures of
Epping Forest with visiting the London art galleries
and theatres. Besides writing she loves to paint and
her other interests include travel, cooking, and
music.
After graduating (Newcastle) and
obtaining a teaching certificate (Leicester), she
worked as a teacher, but after her family had grown
up she realised a life long ambition and become a
writer, beginning with short stories and articles.
Honno, the Welsh Women's
publishing company, publishes Skin Deep in
November 2004. Jacqueline Jacques is now working on
her seventh novel.
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