Replication: The Jason Experiment

by Jill Williamson

• ISBN10: 031072760X
• ISBN13: 9780310727606
• Publish Date: 12 March 2013 (first published 3 January 2012)
• Publish Status: Temporarily Withdrawn
• Out of Print: 8 March 2017
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Imprint: ZonderKidz
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[Charli G.]

What if almost everyone around you looked exactly like you? What if you were told your entire life that the air above ground was toxic and that your purpose in life was to save the people who live above ground from the toxic air by giving your life to make an antidote? What if you found out it was all lies?

Replication takes us on a journey through a world in which a secret lab is doing something that flies in the face of ethics and God - they are cloning human beings.

This book takes a look, albeit in novel form, at what ethical and theological questions could arise from the successful cloning of human beings. Could God have a purpose for a human being who was not created naturally, but created through the process of cloning? Is it right for humans to play God and clone humans - or anything for that matter?

Seventeen year old Abby Goyer is a great character - she is a good, God-fearing girl who is also science minded, proving that God and science can coexist if one is willing to keep to proper ethics.

Seventeen, soon to be eighteen, year old Martyr is another great character - naive about the way things are in the real world, yet so willing to learn about God and what his purpose for a clone could possibly be.

Replication is a fast-paced, can't-put-it-down read. If I hadn't needed to do other things, like school work, I wouldn't have put this book down until I'd finished it. If you are looking for a part science-fiction, part thriller book with a Christian perspective, Replication is the book for you.

[Amber]

The thing that initially attracted me to Replication was the science fiction-esque premise. While this book isn’t set thousands of years in the future, the cloning of humans was advanced to a stage that hundreds of clones had been made of this one man. I was fascinated, and couldn’t wait to read it.

The book had a solid start, introducing the cloning aspect of the book along with the various characters gradually. The pacing was excellent, with enough action and mystery to keep me interested.

Martyr, one of the clones, was a great character. He provided lots of humour throughout the book, with his clueless comments about various things that we would find completely usual.

Abby was also pretty cool, although not very well developed and I didn’t feel much of a connection to her. I didn’t know much about her, other than she’s rich, religious and she likes science.

Before I go on, I will say that this next part is totally on me. I didn’t realise that this book was Christian fiction and I should have done more research. I felt that during the second half of the book, it started to become very preachy, and Abby convinced Martyr that Christianity is the only way. Like I said, me being annoyed at this is my fault for not researching this book properly.

Overall, the story was enjoyable and the beginning was intriguing enough to keep me reading. The ending was fast paced and I just HAD to find out what was going to happen. I do have a question, though: What happened to JD?