I was meaning to write this discussion (or review) sooner. It's funny I heard something some guy called Jack Heath said at the Speculative Fiction Festival recently and he said he hadn't been reading any female writer and so has made a vow for this whole year to read only female writers.
Anyway, why do I mention that? I don't know, I'm not going to get into gender stereotyping in terms of the very heartfelt and touching Speed of Dark I just wanted to point out that inadverdently this blog has an uneven distribution of male to female authors funnily enough, even though as history continues to tell us there are probably twice as many or just as many excellent female writers. So here I am to look at what I consider to be another of them.
The book is essentially set in the near future. It's a future pretty much the same as our current reality, with one key difference. Scientists have found a way to stop autisim in newborns. However, people like Lou, who are autistic and well into life there's no such miracle cure...until now. When a new boss called Crenshaw is employed to the company Lou and a team of his autistic friends work for, Crenshaw is convinced that the best way to save the bottom line is by shutting the autistic section down. Of course this is far from the truth, however, as he is however briefly in free reign of the direction of the company, he basically decides to have all the autistic persons undergo assessment and testing for a new type of therapy that could cure them of autism.
So this is the premise of the book, but it is so much more. The key to the success of this book is the beautiful way Elizabeth Moon portrays the protagonist Lou. In some ways Lou behaves very child-like at least in the way he speaks and analyses the world and I found this instantly endearing. My chest is tightening just thinking about the way he fumbles over his romantic feelings for one of the other characters in the book known as Majory. To me and as you've guessed I'm a bit of a sucker for romance, that is probably one of the highlights.
Basically the book follows Lou's day to day life, as he competes in fencing competitions, talks with friends, learns what it is like to love and tries to negotiate the ever painful and intimidating Crenshaw. There's also a subplot where poor old Lou is the subject of vandalism that escalates.
Ultimately, though it's a novel as much about Lou as it is about the different ways the world understands someone different. There's Crenshaw who hates Lou because he seems just as capable as him, but due to some stroke of fate he gets all these extra privileges. There are those who treat Lou like a child and then there are his friends who understand him and the way he is. Then there's his fencing buddies. Man it's an amazing book and it really appeals to anyone, because who hasn't in their lives wanted to be normal.
Another thing I think I havent' full credited is how well Elizabeth Moon maintains Lou's very unique lens on the world. Definately check out her sight it's obvious from reading her novel that she understands austism intimately, here's the link.
Next up I'm looking at the Sequel to First they Killed My Father by Loung Ung. It's an interesting read and will provide another interlude from all these male authors.
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