Here were another week gone by and heading into another month. I didn’t get nearly as much reading in last month as I had hoped to, but the books and short stories that I did get through were fun. This was the final short story by G.S. Jennsen related to which I didn’t realize until after finishing was more of a prologue for the seventh book in the actual series. It was an event that relates to book one, Relativity, of the Aurora Resonate trilogy.

This story of Re/Genesis was a little different from the other short stories that I have read and posted about simply due it be much further down the chain than the others. The feel of the read was much more fast paced than the others – almost brief at times. The only way I can describe it in simple terms is like looking at this piece of the universe in much the same way you might peering out of the window of an airplane. Even though this short story is just a glimpse into the vaster story within the universe that Jennsen has created in this series you still get an idea of where it fits in. I think that is the real beauty of this story.

In simple terms Re/Genesis while being set in space there is still a “real world” feel to it. In large part that is due to ideas and events that we  can relate to in our present world. If you don’t believe me just read the news page and you’ll see what I mean. The story features a repressive government that holds everything in an iron clad fist. Do we have those today? Yup, Check box one. Do we have rebels and/or terrorist? Might as well check another box. We even have rebels willing to die for what they believe and for the small sliver of hope to gain independence. These ideas give this short story an amazing depth despite how brief it is.

Alright, I suppose any similarities end there. We must considering the plausibility of hyper-evolved humans probably don’t exist – at least not in the way they are described here. This story follows one of the rebels whom takes on a dangerous mission to try to take down the oppressive government. The desire for freedom is the end game. How we achieve that determines the future for many. In this case extreme means as she knows from the start she will have to give up her life to do it. Now that does sound a bit familiar in light of some recent events in both Europe and the Middle East during the past decade. The only difference here is that it all takes place in a massive space station that she hopes to turn into space junk.

Over all I did enjoy this story for what it was. The truth is it reads as a prologue more than the other short stories Jennsen has written. The others felt more like side stories that were meant to be read along with the others books. Like the others it does introduce the reader into the larger universe in a simple and effective means. I think the difference is that it is more connected to a particular book of the series much further down the road. I would suggest if you have Re/Genesis or plan to get it there is no reason not to read it as just a short story. However, I would say from a personal stand point I wish I had waited to do it.