Nothing Human

Told from the perspective of several generations of teenagers, this science fiction novel involves an Earth ravaged by mankind, high-tech manipulative aliens, and advanced genetics. Early in the 21st century, global warming has caused sickness and death among plants, animals, and humans. Suddenly aliens contact and genetically modify a group of 14-year-olds, inviting them to visit their spacecraft. After several months of living among the aliens and studying genetics, the students discover that the aliens have been manipulating them and rebel. Upon their return to Earth, the girls in the group discover that they are pregnant and can only wonder what form their unborn children will take. Generations later, the offspring of these children seek to use their alien knowledge to change their genetic code, to allow them to live and prosper in an environment that is quickly becoming uninhabitable from the dual scourges of global warming and biowarfare. But after all the generations of change, will the genetically modified creatures resemble their ancestors, or will nothing human remain?

€œNothing Human is a book of forceful honesty€¦[it] concludes on an extraordinary rhapsodic note. This is, in spite of and because of its fearsome prophetic burden, an intensely human book, a tribute to Everything Human.€ -- LOCUS

€œRiveting and thoroughly engaging€ €“ ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
€œOne of the more enjoyable and intriguing fictions I have read this year, and the future Kress has envisioned, for all its harshness, is balanced by the deep compassion and understanding with which she treats her characters€ €“ INTERZONE

€œLillie is a remarkable literary creation€¦To call Kress a science-fiction writer seems too limiting. She is one of our best writers.€ €“ SALT LAKE TRIBUNE