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WoGF Review: The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
Rae McCausland (ParallelWorlds) was raised on speculative fiction and dedicated most of her teenage years to the dream of writing fantasy novels. During her college years, her interests shifted toward science fiction thanks to Star Trek and Isaac Asimov’s robot stories. She writes reviews for Parallel Worlds Magazine as a way of building connections between the perspectives of fellow sci-fi nerds and people of marginalized gender and sexual identities.
Orbit Books, 2002
Intended Audience: Adult
Sexual content: Mild
Ace/Genderqueer characters: ?
Rating: PG-13 for brief discussion of sexual organs, brief language and violence
Writing style: 5/5
Likable characters: 4/5
Plot/Concepts: 4/5
Lou Arrendale was born too early to have his autism taken away. He did receive other interventions and now lives a fairly independent life. When his new boss tries to force him and his fellow autistic coworkers to try a new treatment which could make them “normal”, Lou must decide whether his current self is worth fighting for—does he want to join the ranks of those “normal” people who cannot see the patterns he does, but also do not struggle to speak under stress? To what extent can people’s minds be changed before they are no longer themselves?
The science fiction aspects of The Speed of Dark are very subtle. Lou lives in a world almost identical to ours—a world which could become a reality within the next decade or so, depending on what medical breakthroughs unfold. The primary difference is that many diseases and disorders began to be cured at birth a few years after Lou was born, so that he and his fellows are the last generation of autistic adults. Treatments are also available to extend people’s lifespans, although they are still expensive, which suggests that the technology hasn’t been around long enough to become commonplace.
