A review by felix
Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome by John Scalzi

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

1.5

to be fair to john scalzi: this was written in 2014, well before covid. BUT to be fair to john scalzi in a different direction: i have read other fictional pandemics written pre-covid that were way more accurate to the real thing. in particular, there's no point at which this book mentions any kind of lockdown or other mitigation measures for this new scary disease--in general i think the history presented here lacks complexity, which is mostly fine when it's just exposition for a story that takes place 20 years later (because in that case it's clear that the concept is what appeals, and the history is just the excuse for the concept), but doesn't work at all if you're going to write an actual "oral history." but it was short, and so i did read the whole thing.