Acesta este trupul meu Review by Liviu Surugiu

Science Fiction

📝 First Impressions

I read Acesta este trupul meu years ago, but unlike some of the other older books I’m revisiting for BookFairy, I still remember very clearly what made this one stand out to me: the combination of science fiction and theology.

That was unusual enough to catch my attention immediately. I had read plenty of science fiction by then, and I was familiar with the way the genre plays with technology, evolution, alien life, consciousness and the future of humanity. What I had not encountered very often, especially in Romanian science fiction, was a book willing to bring religious and theological questions directly into that speculative space without treating them as a decorative background.

That made the collection feel different from the beginning. Acesta este trupul meu brings together five science-fiction stories, each approaching speculative ideas from a slightly different angle.

Across the five stories, I remember being intrigued by the way the collection was not simply asking what humanity might become, but also what happens to belief, spirituality and the idea of the sacred when science and human knowledge move into territory that once belonged almost entirely to religion. That tension between faith and speculation gave the story a flavour I had not really encountered before in Romanian SF.

What I liked immediately was that the concept did not feel timid. The book seemed willing to take on large questions and place them inside a science-fiction framework, and that ambition made me curious even when I did not know exactly where the story was going.

Looking back now, I may not remember every detail of the plot, but I do remember the sense of discovering something unusual. At the time, I described it as science fiction from a theological perspective, something I had not really seen before in the Romanian literary landscape, and that impression has stayed with me.

That alone made Acesta este trupul meu memorable.

💜 What I Loved

What I loved most about Acesta este trupul meu was the way it brought together two areas that are often treated as if they belong in completely separate worlds: science fiction and theology. Instead of using religion simply as symbolism or atmosphere, the novel seemed genuinely interested in what faith, belief and the sacred might mean in a future shaped by science, technology and radical change.

That gave the book a distinct identity for me. The speculative elements were not there only to build an unusual setting; they created space for larger questions about humanity, morality and the limits of knowledge. I enjoyed that sense of ambition. Even when a book does not answer every question perfectly, I appreciate it when it is willing to ask difficult ones.

I also liked the fact that the novel felt different within Romanian science fiction. At the time, I remember being struck by how unusual its perspective seemed compared with other local SF I had encountered. That made the reading experience feel fresh rather than familiar, and it gave the book a strong enough personality to stay in my memory years later.

Another thing I appreciated was the tension between rational explanation and spiritual interpretation. Science fiction often explores what happens when humanity encounters something beyond its current understanding, and this book added another layer by asking how belief responds to that same uncertainty. For me, that made the speculative ideas more interesting because they were not isolated from the way people actually make meaning out of the unknown.

Looking back now, I may not remember every scene, but I do remember feeling that the novel had something genuinely different to offer. That sense of originality was probably its biggest strength for me.

🤔 What Didn’t Quite Work for Me

The main thing that did not work quite as well for me was that the ambition of the ideas sometimes seemed stronger than the emotional pull of the story. Acesta este trupul meu wants to deal with very large questions — faith, science, belief, identity and the meaning people attach to things they do not fully understand — and that gives the novel a lot of intellectual weight. But books built around big concepts can sometimes create a little distance between the reader and the characters, and I remember feeling that here as well.

I also think the theological side of the novel, while fascinating, probably made the book less immediately accessible than a more straightforward science-fiction story would have been. That was not a problem for me in itself, because the unusual perspective was exactly what attracted me, but it does require the reader to engage with ideas rather than simply follow the plot. There were moments when I was more interested in what the book was trying to explore than in what was actually happening from scene to scene.

Because I read it years ago, I do not want to invent specific weaknesses that I can no longer remember clearly. What has remained with me is not a sense that the book failed, but that it was occasionally more thought-provoking than emotionally immersive. I admired what it was trying to do even when I did not connect equally strongly with every part of the execution.

That distinction matters to me, because this was not a disappointing reading experience. Quite the opposite. I remember it as a very interesting and unusual novel, just not one that worked perfectly in every respect.

👥 Who Would Enjoy This Book

Acesta este trupul meu would probably work best for readers who like science fiction that is interested in ideas as much as in plot. If you enjoy stories that ask larger questions about humanity, belief, morality and the limits of knowledge, there is a lot here to engage with.

It would especially suit readers who are curious about the intersection between science fiction and religion. The theological perspective gives the novel a very particular flavour, and that is probably the element that makes it stand out most clearly from more conventional SF.

I also think it is worth trying for readers interested in Romanian speculative fiction and in books that approach familiar science-fiction concerns from a less familiar angle. The novel does not feel like it is simply borrowing the usual genre machinery; it is trying to do something more specific with it.

That said, readers who want a fast, purely action-driven story may find it more demanding. The book asks you to think about what its ideas mean, and that intellectual side is a major part of the experience.

For readers who enjoy speculative fiction with philosophical or theological depth, though, Acesta este trupul meu has a lot to offer.

💭 Final Thoughts

Acesta este trupul meu stayed with me because it felt genuinely different. Years after reading it, I may not remember every plot detail, but I still remember the central impression very clearly: this was science fiction looking at the future through a theological lens, and that made it stand out from most of the Romanian SF I had encountered at the time.

What I appreciated most was the willingness to bring faith, spirituality and speculative ideas into the same conversation without treating one side as automatically ridiculous or irrelevant. The novel seemed interested in what happens when science reaches areas that challenge not only our understanding of the universe, but also the way people understand themselves.

That kind of ambition always appeals to me.

The book was not perfect, and I remember the ideas affecting me more strongly than the characters themselves, but I would much rather read a novel that takes risks and asks difficult questions than one that plays completely safe.

Looking back, Acesta este trupul meu feels like one of those books whose value lies partly in the conversation it creates in your head. It made me think about science, belief and the strange territory where the two can overlap, and that was enough to make the reading experience memorable.

For me, it remains a very interesting piece of Romanian science fiction and one of the more unusual books I read from that period.

✨ The BookFairy Verdict