Bad Bugs Book Club meeting report: The Girl with all the Gifts by mr carey

The aim of the Bad Bugs Book Club is to get people interested in science, specifically microbiology, by reading books (novels) in which infectious disease forms some part of the story. We also try to associate books, where possible, with some other activity or event, to widen interest, and to broaden impact.

We have established a fairly fluid membership of our bookclub through our website In The Loop (www.sci-eng.mmu.ac.uk/intheloop), but we hope to encourage others to join, to set up their own bookclub, suggest books and accompanying activities to us, and give feedback about the books that they have read, using our website as the focus for communication.

Our bookclub comprises both microbiologists and members of the general public. We felt that this would encourage some discussion on the science – accuracy, impact etc – as well as about the book.

The Girl with all the Gifts (2014) is a story about a fungal infection caused by Cordyceps, the ‘zombie fungus’, which attains pandemic status. The manifestations of infection vary with different hosts, and the novel focuses on Melanie, a bright and intelligent child, imprisoned – and studied – by military, psychological and medical personnel who try to identify how and why her symptoms are different. However, the situation ‘gets out of hand’….

Meeting report

The bookclub meeting was held during the Science in the City festival which celebrated Manchester’s designation as the European City of Science for 2016. We were also delighted to welcome Prof Priscilla Wald, author of ‘Contagious’, who has presented at one of our microbiology events at the festival. In addition to the book, we also considered the game ‘the Last of Us’, which enables the gamer to lead and defend some survivors through a world of criminals and infected individuals.The infection is again caused by Cordyceps, and the infected individuals present with different degrees of mushroom-like disfigurations. Interestingly, again an infected female child is a focus, potentially holding the key to a cure (PD James’ Children of Men has a similar premise).

We began the meeting by discussing the game, following a similar format to that usually used for books.

The game is narrative-driven, but is predominantly ‘shoot-‘em-up’ in nature – although there are many stealth-based strategies that can be employed as alternatives to fighting. The infected individuals are the more interesting of the ‘baddies’, but make fewer appearances than gangsters/soldiers etc. There is some evidence of spore-dust, and there are different degrees of infection of hosts, causing different appearances and enabling combatant attributes, but there is little easily-accessed information about the pathogen. About half of the group had played the game, appreciating its polished appearance and film-like narrative. However, we would have liked more choice as to how the story progressed, and the opportunity to consider more about how relationships could contribute to decisions made. There seemed to be little of educational merit in terms of science content – although as a comparison with other games focusing on infection, discussion is possible.

We had in our group an expert able to comment on the award-winning title sequence, which was ‘microcinema’ – film of slime moulds and other fungi as seen down a microscope – an interesting contrast to the CGI of the game itself, lending an air of reality/credibility to the story.

We found the book easy to read, descriptive and easy to identify with – the ‘survivor escape’ story. There were interesting differences of opinion about the nature and behaviour of the different characters: the coldness of the scientist/her drive to find a cure; the feral features being held back by Melanie making her either a threat or a victim; the friendliness of the psychologist trying to assuage her guilt; the changing attitude of the soldier to Melanie. In particular, the future nature of the planet: the feral children had developed a new form of socialisation, living with their parasite (I am Legend by Richard Matheson), in a more environmentally (human-free) world. The decision as to where the future lies, rests with Melanie.

We were able to draw a number of comparisons with other stories: the children, like Bladerunner replicants, struggling to retain/acquire ‘humanity’. The use of the children as experimental animals, as in Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. The fungal pathogen, although rare in apocalyptic stories in comparison with bacteria – and particularly viruses – is also represented in Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation; or in Charlie Higson’s The Enemy series.

There was ‘science’ in the book, with occasional clumps of fairly heavy technical jargon, for example describing the reproductive cycle of the fungus, and using terminology that really demanded looking up! There is opportunity for follow-up of the science – neurobiology, ant biology, mycology, symbiosis/parasitism, immunity/partial immunity, vaccination/prevention and cure - and for provocative discussion around the future of the planet!