My life in books

John Scalzi’s Head On is a stand alone sequel to Lock In, his powerful novel about people rendered completely immobile by the disease known as Haden’s Syndrome, and the society that develops around them once technology finds a way for Hadens, as they are known, to transfer their consciousness into mechanical robots called threeps.

Chris Shane is a Haden, a former celebrity - famous as a child victim of the Syndrome and child of a rich American sports star - and now an FBI agent with responsibility for investigating crimes involving Hadens, along with partner Leslie Vann.

In Head On, Shane and Vann are investigating the suspicious deaths of Duane Chapman, a Haden and a professional athlete, a utility player for a team engaged in the game of Hilketa - a violent sport, played professionally only by Hadens, in which the object of the game is to score points by decapitating the threep being worn by the designated ‘goat’ of the opposite team.

Chaoman’s death during a game, in which he served as goat three times and was decapitated three times, leads Shane and Vann into a convoluted web of corruption in sport and in the arras of high finance that surround it, dealing with issues including manipulation of wins and point spreads for gambling, money laundering, performance doping, corruption in sponsorship deals, and just about everything else you can think of, including multiple murders.

I did not enjoy this as much as I did Lock In, possibly because sport isn’t a big interest of mine, but it’s a good, solid mystery, and the continued exploration of a society that is no longer tied to the body, thanks to advances that make it possible for all humans to make use of the same technology that Hadens use to function in the physical world, is fascinating.

Not only does Scalzi use these novels to examine disability issues and the nature of consciousness, he also looks at the ways that funding for accessibility for the disabled, or the lack of it, makes people vulnerable and desperate. As a disabled person, It makes me happy to see a major genre author dealing with disability issues in a significant way.

Lock In is possibly the most interesting of John Scalzi’s novels that I’ve read to date, and not just because of the disability angle, although that is a significant part of it. On face, it’s a science fiction murder mystery, with lots of puzzles and sleuthing, murders and attempted murders and even an explosion, and it all takes place within the context of a cosy-cutting government bill that will materially affect the lives of millions of severely disabled people who are dependent on expensive, usually government-subsidised, life support mechanisms and assistive devices.

The setting is America, in a world changed by the emergence of a new disease, named Haden’s Syndrome after one of its more prominent victims. It looks a bit like the flu, then meningitis follows. Many die. Some recover, unchanged. A small proportion, however, are so neurologically altered that they can no longer control any of the voluntary functions of the body - they are locked in, unable to move, speak, blink, but they are fully conscious. Massive research has enabled these people to be fitted with neural nets - computers integrated into their brains - which allow them to control external devices, from voice synthesizers to robotic bodies, affectionately called “threeps” - and to interact with each other in a virtual space known as the Agora. More, it is discovered that a tiny fraction of Haden survivors who are not locked in, known as Integrators, have neurological changes that allow them, when fitted with a special neural net, to virtually ‘host’ the awareness of a locked in Haden, allow them to experience the sensations of being in a functional human body. All of this - the research, the nets, the robotic bodies, the computer space needed to host the private and public online worlds of the Hadens - is government subsidised, and is the basis of an entire industry. And all will be subject to massive change when the new laws come into effect.

The story begins with a murder investigation. It’s newly minted FBI Agent Chris Shane’s first day on the job. Shane, along with Agent Leslie Vann, a firmer Integrator, are part of the FBI section that handles crimes involving Hadens. An Integrator, Nicholas Bell, has been found, seemingly confused, in a hotel room with a very bloody, very dead corpse with no ID. The fact that Bell is an Integrator means that even if his body killed the unknown man, he himself may not have committed the murder. It’s the start of very complicated case involving murder, industrial sabotage and conspiracy to manipulate an entire industry for corporate gain that will end up having implications for all Hadens in America.

The novel explores in considerable detail the practical, ethical and legal issues arising when a person can act at a distance through a robotic body, or through another, specially enhanced human being, and that aspect of the book is fascinating. Inevitably, all sorts of disability issues arise, from the question of financial support for research and accommodation, to discrimination, harassment and hate crimes. Particularly interesting is the debate over accommodation versus cure, which parallels such conversations in and around a number of real life communities, including the Deaf and neurodiverse communities.

Something that’s been noted in other places is Scalzi’s choice not to specify the gender of the protagonist. We have no idea of Chris’ biological sex, nor their identification as man, woman, non-binary, or agender. It makes sense - Chris was infected at the age of three, and has lived outside their human body ever since - gender doesn’t make a lot of impact when one’s primary presentation is a metallic genderless robot, and one can experience physical desire only through the body of another person, who could be of any gender. If Chris has a sense of being gendered, it doesn’t enter into their public life and doesn’t need comment in a book that focuses entirely on their public life. Similarly, it s not until late in the book that it Is confirmed that Chris is biracial - again, it’s nit something you can tell from the metal bodies that Hadens use to move in the physical world.

One weakness of the book is that we have no idea what is going on with research and support for Hadens in other parts of the word, or whether any of these technologies exist in other developed nations, or how international trade might affect the various plots and machinations to take control of the American Haden support industry. We’re not even sure if the Agora is for American only.

All in all, a complex and interesting novel, with a solid story, and more meat on it than one finds in some of Scazi’s other novels, which have tended to be exciting and engaging tales, without a lot to challenge one’s thinking. Lock In does both.

"A Trump Christmas Carol," by Roz Kaveney, Laurie Penny, John Scalzi and Jo Walton; Uncanny, December 25, 2016
http://uncannymagazine.com/article/trump-christmas-carol/

A brilliant piece of political fiction, a solid reworking of the ideas of Dickens' classic as the ghosts of 2016 teach the President-elect the true meaning and proper use of political power.



"The Orangery," Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam; Beneath Ceasless Skies, Issue #214, December 8, 2016
http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/the-orangery/

Using the myths of Apollo and Daphne and Apollo and Dryope as central images, Stufflebeam gives us a powerful look at the responses evoked in women when confronted with men's desire and sense of entitlement to women's labour, bodies and love. When confronted with all the women, including Daphne and Dryope, who have chosen transformation into trees, Apollo asks “Why do you women fear men so much that you would rather be tree than give a kiss?” It's a question answered by this novelette, though perhaps not in any way that one who must ask can understand.



"The Evaluators: To Trade with Aliens, You Must Adapt," N. K. Jemisin; Wired, December 13, 2016
https://www.wired.com/2016/12/nk-jemisin-the-evaluators/

A brilliant and truly terrifying cautionary tale told in modern epistolary style (excerpts from emails, reports and other documents) about the dangers of making assumptions and rushing first contact.



"Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station | Hours Since the Last Patient Death: 0," Caroline M. Yoachim; Lightspeed, March 2016
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/welcome-to-the-medical-clinic-at-the-interplanetary-relay-station/

Having spent way too much time dealing with medical personnel and institutions lately, this grim little story about the futility of getting any real healthcare from a bureaucratic and underfunded system hit close to home.



"My Grandmother's Bones," S. L. Huang; Daily Science Fiction, August 22, 2016
http://dailysciencefiction.com/fantasy/religious/s-l-huang/my-grandmothers-bones

A short and moving story about generational relationships and cultural changes, seen through a series of funerary behaviours.


"17 Amazing Plot Elements... When You See #11, You'll Be Astounded!," James Beamon; Daily Science Fiction, May 3, 2016
http://dailysciencefiction.com/fantasy/religious/james-beamon/17-amazing-plot-elements-when-you-see-11-youll-be-astounded

An interesting approach to the retelling of a very old tale. Short, but worth reading for the way it's told.



"The Right Sort of Monsters," Kelly Sandoval; Strange Horizons, April 4, 2016
http://strangehorizons.com/fiction/the-right-sort-of-monsters/
Powerful story about need, sacrifice and how humans deal with difference. A strange and alien grove - the Godswalk - appears mysteriously beside a village, leaving most of the inhabitants unable to have children of their own. In the forest are the blood trees, whose flowers produce children in return for human blood, children that are not quite human, but human enough. But when Viette enters the forest to seek a child to fill the void left by a series of miscarriages, she learns that the Godswalk hides deeper secrets than she realised.

I read some science fiction novels that weren't re-reads in 2010, too, and found all of them quite enjoyable. New (to me) authors Sarah Zettel, John Scalzi, and Helen S. Wright were all discoveries to be savoured - Wright's book A Matter of Oaths in particular, as it is the only book she has published, and is a very good read, with an original setting,strong worldbuilding, and interesting characters. I have heard rumours that she is working on a new book - I hope it's true.

The most eagerly anticipated SF novels I read in 2010 were Jo Walton'sHalf a Crown - the excellent ending to a brilliant and chilling examination of how easily a people can be led into embracing a fascist and hate-mongering state - and Lois McMaster Bujold's Cryoburn, the latest volume in the highly entertaining saga of Miles Vokosigan.

Rounding out the year's new reading in science fiction were a collection of short stories by Elizabeth Moon, a John Wyndham novel I had somehow missed before now, another of Todd McCaffrey's books expanding on the world and history of Pern created by his mother, the late and sadly missed Anne McCaffrey, and one of Sharon Shinn's Samaria novels.



Elizabeth Moon, Moon Flights

John Wyndham, Web

Todd McCaffey, Dragonheart

Jo Walton, Half a Crown

Sharon Shinn, The Alleluia Files

Sarah Zettel, Fools’ War

John Scalzi, Old Man’s War
John Scalzi, The Ghost Brigades
John Scalzi, The Last Colony

Lois McMaster Bujold, Cyroburn

Helen S. Wright, A Matter of Oaths