is known for deftly weaving science into his fiction. In his brilliantly crafted tenth novel he tackles the promises and perils of genetic engineering: specifically, the potential for humans to pinpoint, patent and perpetuate the 鈥�happiness gene鈥�.
An orphaned refugee exhibits symptoms of hyperthymia, or persistent euphoria. Word of her condition reaches the ears of a geneticist looking to engineer a happier human race. Suddenly the public must grapple with genetic determinism and free will, the ethics of genetic enhancement and that ancient question: what does it mean to be happy? Powers handles scientific nuances with care, and his metafictional technique of using an 鈥渁uthor鈥� narrator who discusses his choices in character and plot emphasises that as our scientific knowledge grows, we, the human race, are authoring our own story.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (published in the UK by Atlantic Books in January)