Review - Totaled (2015 Hugo nominee)

The 2015 Hugo Awards are upon us!  The nominees for this year are listed here and as the deadline for voting approaches I will be supplementing my usual reading and reviewing to specifically review the 2015 Hugo nominees I have not yet covered.

“Totaled” by Kary English, published in Galaxy’s Edge, July 2014 (online)

Eligibility: Eligible for 2015 Hugo in the category of Short Story
Status: Nominated

This is the editorial voice review.  The reader's voice review is forthcoming. (for info on what this means, see here)

First thoughts
This is an idea piece, sort of a combination "what if" story and tech extrapolation story. Exposition is a little rough where it comes to the tech, as though the author is a little uncertain about how well the reader will know advancements in the field and struggling with how much to explain. The usual heart strings in tales about fundamental humanity are pulled, but character development is shallow (to be expected in a story mainly about the tech) and the relationships with the most potential for traction are developed only minimally. For all that, the sparse prose and rapid development of plot are compelling and the range of questions raised is impressive for the length, ranging from the nature of humanity to the ethics of experimentation.

Ideas
This is a near future exploration of the implications of the current state of technology, and the author does well in imagining a scenario evolving from state of the art. Several branches of the idea are raised, but only the hard technical issues are really explored, which feels a little disappointing. It might have been more satisfying to explore the human dimension more fully.  The tech side seems solid, but again the author seems uncertain about how far she needs to go with explanation - a standard problem with exploring relatively exotic tech, but not one she seems to handle very gracefully.

Writing
The style is punchy and spare. There are a few points where exposition seems needlessly technical, but this is linked to the apparent uncertainty about what to assume about the audience. On top of this, she manages to evoke emotion almost effortlessly and without needless description by invoking human universals. However, the moments of emotion seem fleeting and superficial in part due to the lack of exploration in the realm of character. The plot flows smoothly though, and the author skilfully deploys language in creative ways to help paint the picture of shifts in the narrator's state of mind. Towards the end, though, the shifts seem to come rather abruptly and seem as though she was bored of the story and hurrying toward a conclusion. This feels unsatisfying, and may leave the reader wanting a more sophisticated  treatment of the death of the narrator's humanity.  Still, she manages to keep a coherent theme (food and related sensory images) throughout, and uses the concept well in illustrating the narrator's degeneration.

Characterisation
There's really only two characters in this story, since the others are entirely filtered through the experience of the main two. Unfortunately, the protagonist develops only minimally over the course of the story, sacrificed to the imperative to engage with the "what if" tech concept that drives the plot. Likewise, the other main character really only exists to justify the protagonist's interactions. This feels very unsatisfying, and it would have been nice to see a more sophisticated treatment of the protagonist, particularly considering some of the human complications hinted at in the story. Likewise, the other characters seem to exist merely as window dressing, and engaging more with them might have given the imagined world more depth. As it is, we're left with a rather superficial view of things. In some senses this is perhaps expected, considering the point of the story, but better development of the protagonist's humanity would have provided perspective to give her challenges and her degeneration more weight. As it is, it's a little hard to sympathise beyond the obvious resonances.

Verdict
This is a compelling modern "what if" story that raises some interesting questions but doesn't really engage with them in the space available. Particularly disappointing is the lack of exploration in the human sphere. Nevertheless, the author hits the right notes when it comes to tone and the evolution of the plot, and it does raise interesting ethical and speculative questions. It will be interesting to watch her future work.

Readability: Pass
Hugo quality: Pass