Book Review: Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
Posted by childofthehive | Filed under Book Reviews, Sci-fi books
Elizabeth Moon is probably best known for her military space adventures, such as her Serrano Legacy and Vatta’s War series. She is also known for her fantasy books, such as The Deed of Paksenarrion and The Legacy of Gird, which are also adventures with a military flavour to them. So I was surprised when I came across Speed of Dark. It just seemed so completely different from her usual works that it actually sat on my shelf for a long while before I read it.
Speed of Dark is the story of Lou, an autistic man who is offered a chance to try and experimental cure. It’s a fascinating book and once I started reading it, I didn’t want to put it down.
The story is set in the very near future when treatments exist to allow autistic people to function in normal society and hold down jobs. Lou works for a company that has a special department of autism sufferers with their own benefits to help them to focus on their work. He is contented with his lot until a new manager steps in who doesn’t like the fact that Lou’s team get perks. He wants them all to try out a new treatment which could cure their autism. At the same time, Lou is feeling pressure outside of work to try and be “normal.”
This book is not an adventure by the normal definition but it’s a deeply emotional journey. As a reader, you really feel for Lou as he faces this difficult decision. Should he continue as he is or try to fit in?
The narrative is from Lou’s point of view and you really get inside his head. It’s really interesting to see the world through his eyes. There are some striking differences in behaviour between the autistics in the story and everyone else, but what really stood out to me were the similarities. Lou notices people doing things that he’d been told are symptoms of autism and I found myself recognising that I sometimes behaved like that. His thoughts and actions manage to be both alien and completely familiar. The way this is handled is a credit to Elizabeth Moon’s writing.
I would strongly recommend this book. It is, technically, science fiction because of its slightly futuristic setting, but it’s by no means deeply sci-fi. If you’re interested in how people interact, you’ll enjoy this book.
Tags: elizabeth moon, review, sci-fi, speed of dark
