A breeze of a read that will make you think about your behaviour

Marqv “Marcus” Neves connected with me on LinkedIn at the end of 2024. He offered me an e-copy of his fictional book, The Jacksons’ Debate, which is the debut publication by THRIVE Publishing, an offshoot of the THRIVE Project, which helps people & entities measure, analyse & improve their strategies, guiding society towards a thrivable future.

The paperback was released in December 2024, and the Kindle version is up now. The author’s considering an audiobook too.

I don’t review a lot of fiction here as it can be tempting to reveal spoilers, so here’s the book synopsis: The Jacksons’ Debate is a satirical science fiction novella exploring interspecies ethics through the lens of an alien civilization, the Jacksons, who debate the moral implications of consuming humans. When a nutritional crisis forces the Jacksons to seek alternative food sources, humans, perceived as irrational and self-destructive, become a potential solution. Through philosophical discussions and scientific experiments, the Jacksons grapple with questions of sentience, empathy, and the justification of exploitation. The narrative challenges anthropocentrism while raising unsettling questions about the nature of ethics and the potential for any species to rationalize violence.

What I liked about the book

• It reads like youth fiction, so it’s super accessible. I honestly can’t remember the last sci-fi book I read since Ender’s Game in the sixth grade, but this piqued my interest. You could probably finish it in two hours or less.
• The book takes a hard, critical look at our social and cultural norms and behaviour. It asks a big question: What if humans took the place of animals we consume for food?
• I found the parts that consider humans as food the most interesting.
• Some descriptions and perspectives even seem condescending to humanity, but this can be good. It’s a sign of a good satire.

Where I think the book could have been improved

• The Foreword spoiled the plotline, which is already revealed in the book’s summary. I would have cut it down significantly.
• The author also has a personal note at the beginning of the book, which I felt was like a movie director narrating something to a viewer before watching. This is behind-the-scenes material. I would have cut this out too, or put it at the end of the book.
• A lot of the dialogue tells vs. shows, and is repetitive. I would have preferred less dialogue and more description (if that’s possible), similar to The Shed. But this is also personal preference. The point of the book is to raise a discussion, so naturally that came out in character dialogue.
• The book ends abruptly with endorsements. Then there’s a promotional bit about the publisher, and another author’s note. I would have preferred the endorsements go at the beginning (front matter), then one author’s note go at the end (back matter). I understand that this is the publisher’s first title and they’re super proud of that, but it felt market-y to me.
• The book was reviewed by several editors and proofreaders, yet I found a few proofreading errors. There were also some editorial choices I wouldn’t have made, such as repeated language. The title on Amazon even has a punctuation error in the synopsis.
• Same goes for formatting/interior design. There was little to no paragraph indentation and extra lines or paragraph breaks where there shouldn’t have been. I would have personally made different choices for the fonts and the cover because I’m a formatter—again, personal preferences.
• The editing and formatting of this book make it look like it’s self-published, even though it’s not. I’m also not sure if what I’m pointing out appears in the book or if it was just the review copy I received, but if the former, I hope the publisher improves this for subsequent titles.

The author works at the company that published the book, which raises concerns about conflict of interest.

Overall, I think this is a well thought-out book worth considering, especially if you’re not vegan and you like (youth) sci-fi fiction.

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