Ciara, a teenage girl, discovers she has a remarkable inheritance in her DNA, one that propels her into a globe-trotting adventure which involves biotechnology, an enigmatic Maori legend, and the famous voyages of eighteenth century explorer Captain James Cook. Before this entertaining novel is finished, the future of the human race will be in the hands of her and her small group of friends.

This is the debut novel of Terrance McAdams, and I should say upfront that he’s also my cousin. He has written this exciting Young Adult novel, the first in a series, Biocode: Endeavour and he has done an impressive job of mixing real history, recent scientific developments in human physiology, and his own foreign travel experiences into this science fiction adventure.

True, at first I was a little concerned that the book was following the weary trope of the ‘chosen one’ protagonist, for whom all obstacles are solved by their destined specialness, which make others bend rules and give her advantages. Ciara is boarding at the private Sanjung Academy in South Korea, set up by tech billionaire Dr Sanjung Kim next to the government’s Global Education City. It is a kind of super-science Hogwarts. Naturally this means she is surrounded by the best and brightest, whose talents in martial arts, computer hacking, science, and international contacts will come useful later. She’s being troubled by intense dreams, mostly ones where she is Midshipman William Hartley, aboard First Lieutenant James Cook’s ship HMS Endeavour as it discovers New Zealand. She also learns that the real reason she was invited to the academy is that there is alien DNA in her genes. Her dreams and an invitation to an archaeological dig organised by Dr Kim leads Ciara to learn about a race of beautiful blonde people called the Patupaiarehe who had supernatural powers. The truth turns out to be stranger.

Frustratingly for this review I cannot talk much about my favourite element of this story without spoiling it for other readers. Suffice to say that the initial ‘hero with a destiny’ plotline which takes up the first half of the narrative becomes subverted and a very different and a better story emerges.

The author is a teacher who currently lives in South Korea and that local knowledge certainly comes through in the way he conjures up both that country’s culture and describes the environs of New Zealand. He also has a good ear for teenage dialogue and the scenes and relationships between this set of smart, pro-active young heroes rings true without going into tiresome quip-heavy sub-Buffy material. He has a particular interest in encouraging more girls into science, so its not surprise that most of the group are female and generally are the drivers of the story, but they still feel realistic rather than superheroes.

When the true nature of the antagonists does emerge they are excellently depicted and for a while I was wondering how such a powerful enemy could realistically be defeated. There’s plenty of incidents along the way, including a shark attack, kidnappings, battles with Maoris and a even James Bond style mountain base to be infiltrated.

I think Terrance McAdams’ writing will only become richer in future instalments. He’s created an engaging set of leading young characters and brought something fresh to the YA scene with this combination of cutting edge science and traditional adventuring. Although the start of a series, this is perfectly self-contained novel and I can recommend to readers of all ages.

You can buy Biocode: Endeavour from Bookshop.org here

You can buy the sequel Biocode: Resolution from Bookshop.org here