The Hive- John Otte

My Rating: 4 Stars

Description: A pregnant cyborg and a teenage boy fight against intergalactic governments to protect the unborn in this novel from a Christy Award-nominated author.

Why is Zain pregnant? She belongs to the Hive, a collective of cyborgs who choose to live apart from the rest of human society. At times, the Hive rent out some of their females to produce tailor-made children for paying couples. But Zain is an engineer, not a breeder. When she finds herself separated from the Hive, she decides to find the person who she thinks ordered the baby. Surely they’ll help her find her way home.

Matthew “Scorn” Nelson has spent the better part of his teenage years cracking computer systems, causing mischief and havoc wherever he can. But the night of his greatest triumph turned into a painful memory, one he wants to erase. But that night was also his first step on a road to faith. When Zain arrives on his doorstep, Scorn is horrified. What’s he supposed to do with a pregnant teenage cyborg?

Unfortunately, he’ll have to answer that question on the run. Zain’s people want to reclaim her and terminate her pregnancy. And both the Ministrix and the Praesidium, two intergalactic governments in a constant state of cold war, want Zain’s baby for their own reasons. Will their enemies run them down? Or will Zain find a new Hive for both her and her child?

My Thoughts: The Hive deals with (at least on some level) the idea of whether or not a child can be born an accident and then if the child can be aborted for the mother's benefit. It is a great theme, especially with the social issues in America today. Tangled with this was also the idea of taking responsibility for our actions and looking out for more than just ourselves. While I think that these themes could have been explored more, I still enjoyed reading about something pertinent to modern culture even if set in the future.

My one true complaint was that I felt Zain's solution to their problem came about a little too easy. I thought it would have taken a bit more effort, especially after the ordeal Mat and the others had just gone through for her. Maybe if she had contemplated this solution before, I would have found it more believable.

That said, I loved the intricacies of the politics Otte has created for his world, as well has his use of a hive to symbolize the way Christianity should work. With everyone working to the greater good it the Kingdom, supporting and helping each other without question, but with the freewill to chose. I hope to see a sequel coming soon, or else another stand alone in this world.

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.