Unwind
I read a book today. Unwind, by Neil Shusterman.
It made me cry. Several times. Beautiful and disturbing and unpredictable. Asks some painful questions and doesn't really give you an answer. I pretty much knew, from early on, that I was going to end up crying sooner or later. It was so vividly painted and so wrong. And it got me in a couple of places-- the "Cy-Ty" section in the middle, and Roland's arm, Lev's faith at the end, and Risa's fate, so obviously right and so unfair, that the only way to win was to lose...
And the unwinding scene darn near killed me. Things slowly unraveling. I found myself a little grateful that it's broad daylight and I won't be going to bed for several hours, because I don't want to dream about it.
The science is a little hand-wavy in places. I'm not sure the Harlan scene would at all work out the way it does, although I'm not a biologist. But the characters and the society are so real, I don't care. This is the sort of sci-fi I would dream of writing, if I ever get my act together-- ask an interesting question, paint real people, fudge the details if you have to. Story over science.
Anyway. Beautifully done. I'd recommend it to anyone.
It made me cry. Several times. Beautiful and disturbing and unpredictable. Asks some painful questions and doesn't really give you an answer. I pretty much knew, from early on, that I was going to end up crying sooner or later. It was so vividly painted and so wrong. And it got me in a couple of places-- the "Cy-Ty" section in the middle, and Roland's arm, Lev's faith at the end, and Risa's fate, so obviously right and so unfair, that the only way to win was to lose...
And the unwinding scene darn near killed me. Things slowly unraveling. I found myself a little grateful that it's broad daylight and I won't be going to bed for several hours, because I don't want to dream about it.
The science is a little hand-wavy in places. I'm not sure the Harlan scene would at all work out the way it does, although I'm not a biologist. But the characters and the society are so real, I don't care. This is the sort of sci-fi I would dream of writing, if I ever get my act together-- ask an interesting question, paint real people, fudge the details if you have to. Story over science.
Anyway. Beautifully done. I'd recommend it to anyone.