The novel “The Lazarus Protocol” by David Bruns and Chris Pourteau was published for the first time in 2018. It’s the first book in The SynCorp Saga series.

When her aunt Xi arrives on the Moon to meet her in person, Ming knows the reason must be really important. The death of her father is certainly a big deal, as is the succession at the helm of the corporation the man founded many years earlier. To her surprise, Ming discovers that her father wanted her to be his successor.

Anthony Taulke’s plan to terraform Mars is very ambitious, but seems simpler than repairing the damage inflicted on the Earth’s environment in previous centuries. At least until the US president offers him his support in a plan to save the Earth.

This saga is set in a future where the environmental situation has further worsened, and even in rich nations like the US there are areas where it’s difficult to get freshwater to drink. The army can support local populations, in some cases assisting the evacuation of an area hit by yet another environmental disaster.

Although the situation is difficult, economic interests often remain a priority. There are billionaires like Anthony Taulke trying to save the planet, but the opposition of other powerful corporations can make geoengineering plans fail before they even begin. The subtitle is “A Sci-Fi Corporate Technothriller” to emphasize the centrality of the role of corporations in this series. It concerns the policies related to products and services but also their influence on the information and the perception that the public may have of the news.

The authors throw the reader in the middle of a number of situations that show various aspects of that future by following different protagonists. This is the typical narrative technique of starting various separate subplots that slowly start intertwining. In this case, the various protagonists offer very different points of view. Also thanks to references to their past and their motivations, they help to understand that future and the various developments of the saga.

Initially it can be difficult to follow a story that can appear fragmented, but the reader can begin quite quickly to get a more general idea of ​​what’s going on. Subplots that at first may seem secondary reveal their importance throughout the novel. For example, Colonel William Graves’s point of view may seem useful only to understand how disastrous the environmental situation is even in the USA, but in the course of the novel his role becomes more important.

My only complaint is that there are no time references, and in some cases it may not be easy to understand how close or far the events are. Already in this first book of the series, you can see that events happen in the course of a time that can be quite long, but it’s not clear how long it is. Sometimes there are leaps forward in time, and that would make some references even more useful.

For the rest, the authors made skilful use of detail to develop subplots and protagonists without having to resort to exposition. In this way, the pace remains fast throughout the novel with surprises and twists. This made it possible to obtain a novel of nearly 300 pages which is only the first part of a trilogy but already offers a certain development of protagonists that are not dull and subplots.

“The Lazarus Protocol” ends with some important events open to further developments that will come in its sequels. I found this beginning of the series interesting as it projects into the future some problems that exist today in a story that is compelling and at the same time offers food for thought. If you’re ready to read a whole series with these themes, I recommend reading it.