Scan barcode
A review by suzemo
The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
4.0
This book nearly got three stars because of the ending.
Lou Arrendale is an autistic near genius (definitely autistic, and the genius is implied) who works at a pharma company in their bioinformatics department. He and several other autistics are employed by the company and are given accommodations so that they can work comfortably and efficiently. Their section (Section A) has proven efficient and profitable for the company.
A new man, higher up (under the new CEO) is resentful of their accommodations, seeing their "privileges" as a waste of monetary resources and when the company somehow secures the rights to a new experimental process that has helped an "autistic" ape, seeks to (illegally) force the section into experimentation.
I thought it was interesting, especially looking at the world in a different light (through Lou's eyes), and I really enjoyed the book. It's very much a character driven book, and even the few plot points in the book are still used to focus on the character development.
Through most of the book, I was preparing myself to be annoyed with the only ending I thought Moon could give, which is one where we are either unsure if Lou is going to elect to undergo the experiment, or he does undergo the experiment, but we're left hanging on whether or not it worked (and was worth it). Unfortunately, we did get an ending, and it was entirely to twee for me, and I wish I had stopped just short.
Lou Arrendale is an autistic near genius (definitely autistic, and the genius is implied) who works at a pharma company in their bioinformatics department. He and several other autistics are employed by the company and are given accommodations so that they can work comfortably and efficiently. Their section (Section A) has proven efficient and profitable for the company.
A new man, higher up (under the new CEO) is resentful of their accommodations, seeing their "privileges" as a waste of monetary resources and when the company somehow secures the rights to a new experimental process that has helped an "autistic" ape, seeks to (illegally) force the section into experimentation.
I thought it was interesting, especially looking at the world in a different light (through Lou's eyes), and I really enjoyed the book. It's very much a character driven book, and even the few plot points in the book are still used to focus on the character development.
Spoiler
Through most of the book, I was preparing myself to be annoyed with the only ending I thought Moon could give, which is one where we are either unsure if Lou is going to elect to undergo the experiment, or he does undergo the experiment, but we're left hanging on whether or not it worked (and was worth it). Unfortunately, we did get an ending, and it was entirely to twee for me, and I wish I had stopped just short.