FUNGI OF THE GENUS
Ophiocordyceps infect the brains of ants, forcing them to sacrifice themselves. The common parasite Toxoplasma gondii causes its host to change behaviour – usually making it offer itself to a predator (see Cosmos 58, p51).
These two examples form the factual underpinning for David Walton’s latest bio-thriller. A newly discovered (and, one assumes, freshly evolved) species of fungus starts to infect human brains, turning its hosts super-smart.
After a while it turns out this is not the happy symbiosis at first imagined. It becomes clear – at least to hero Neil Johns and his colleagues at the US National Security Agency – that the fungus comprises a single gargantuan superorganism, fulfilling its genetic impetus to maximise its reproductive fitness, destroying humanity in the process. Johns and his mob fight back, battling intransigence and sabotage along the way.
Walton is a fine storyteller, in a bigcanvas kind of way, with SF chops that include a Philip K. Dick Award.
The Genius Plague is a rambunctious page-turner full of plot twists and bigcanvas settings, not a million miles away from Michael Crichton’s work. A good fit for a long-haul flight, a lazy weekend away or a day in bed.