The Thing meets Contagion meets Life in a thrilling novel set in Antarctica 

I am thankful to Angry Robot for my review copy – this book, set in an exotic locale of Antarctica, travelled with me on my vacation to some exotic locales as well 🙂

Michael Nayak’s Symbiote is a thrilling sci-fi novel that leverages its unique location setup of Antarctica fantastically well in this cat-and-mouse story of survival, for humans as well as an extremophile parasite. Symbiote, while hitting certain standard tropes of this genre, packs enough twists and turns, especially on the nature and evolution of the parasite, while hewing to the “Life finds a way” adage

“The silent cross of Antarctica is loneliness, a shadowy cloak growing over them like icy moss on stone from their very first moment on the plateau.”

Symbiote, set on the backdrop of WW3 between the US and China, starts when a group of Chinese scientists arrive at the American base in the Antarctic with a dead body brutally mutilated in tow. Rajan Chariya, our primary protagonist, takes charge of this situation without knowing the storm that follows. This Antarctic base, consisting of a mix of science and military personnel, is a seething hotbed of politics, intrigue, and some petty junior school antics based on sex, drugs, and posturing. This serves to form the luscious petri-dish that the parasite latches on to as it seeks to infect, grow, and thrive with a body count that keeps piling on as the plot advances 

“South Pole is the modern-day Deadwood. Wild and harsh and isolated… and, politically, it belongs to everyone and no one. It was only a matter of time until something boiled over, Deadwood style”

The biggest draw for this book is the setting of Antarctica. The sheer inhospitality of Antarctica makes this a deeply atmospheric read. The harsh conditions and the fact that everyone mostly has to be indoors for most of the time or heavily padded up amps up the claustrophobic nature of the read while showing how it weighs upon the people at the base. And when things go south (all pun intended), the pent-up rage, frustration, and desperation inevitably explode with the parasite inciting fatalistic delusions as well. 

“Science wasn’t always clean or considerate of life. In fact, evolution set out to kill everything. Only those who adapted survived.”

Once the contagion spreads, the book hits predictable themes of one vs many, us vs them, while some hide their infections for a while. There is also a false dawn built in that shows the true insidious nature of the parasite as it evolves into something cannier, craftier, connected, and ambitious. There are also narrative choices made early in the book that pay off in a rather ominous manner. The interesting part of the infection is how the parasite co-opts the infected to do its bidding in a forceful, considered manner, rather than the mindless frenzy that we usually see in other books.

“Mitigating a fuck-up more frequently makes a career at CIA than running a squeaky-clean op start-to-finish.”

There are frequent epistolary breaks in the narration as well that show how WW3 essentially played out, and it was pretty well handled with the details being doled out at a rather high level. There is also a pretty neat political statement of the world that we live in packed in the form of an American President who has a soft corner for Russia. This war plays an important role even in the happenings in Antarctica, and there is an element of spycraft and their games happening at the base, including a secret agent for the CIA. There are also happenings and cover-ups at the CIA that find their way into the book.

“I keep coming back because now I feel like I don’t belong anywhere else.”

Having an Indian sounding name as the lead of the book also kind of worked – its rare that these find representation in mainstream books, and I can’t deny that it was kind of nice to see this. What also helps drive the authenticity of the book’s location and the impact on the human psyche is that the author himself has been part of such missions in Antarctica before.

“What did the President want? What men in power always want – A way to keep it.”

The rough start to the book is an area of concern. There is an element of male fantasy, misogyny, and juvenile high school level clique formation in the first 20% of the book that makes for some wince-inducing reading. It was almost like the author wanted to get those out of the way as soon as possible before getting into the real meat of the story. That thriller element is quite well done, but the set-up is a bit clunky. I guess that’s an area that can make or break this book for a few readers. If you plough past the first 20%, you have an unputdownable thriller, but it is rough sailing till then.

“At least I know you’re human, too,”

Symbiote mixes and matches the standard contagion tropes with some interesting narrative, survival, and evolutionary choices that propel a fast-paced story. Framing this story with the backdrop of a Sino-US World War and some CIA shenanigans lends further sheen to this book. The book is pretty much unputdownable, barring a bit of a rough start, and I can’t wait to pick up the sequel that promises an expanded scope and scale in this cat-and-mouse struggle between humans and the parasite.

Rating – 4 inhospitable environments on 5

Symbiote is available now, you can order your copy HERE