Pilgrennon's Beacon

Pilgrennon's Children #1

by Manda Benson

Caught in a feud between the two greatest minds of her time, Dana must reach the distant beacon to uncover the dark secrets of her past. 

Dana Provine is a girl with mild autism and a secret ability to mentally control computers, who runs away from bullies at her school in Coventry after a hospital scan reveals an object lodged in her brain. A compelling signal leads her north to the Outer Hebrides and an abandoned military facility on the remote and supposedly haunted Flannan Isles, where she hopes to untangle the mystery shrouding her birth and her missing parents. But as the lies of the past unfold, Dana unwittingly finds herself the focus of events that will change the future for everyone...

Comments from Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award

Genres: Science Fiction, Autistic Spectrum Disorder

374 pages, Paperback

First published November 24, 2010

About the author

Manda Benson is a scientist and writer from the Midlands of England who has previously worked in research and taught science at undergraduate and A-Level. Manda's work includes:
Pilgrennon's Children, a technothriller series about an autistic girl with the power to mentally control computers and other devices, who discovers that she and a number of other children came about as a result of unethical genetic and technological experiments;
The Beasts trilogy, which explores a future vision of the age-old symbiosis between humans and animals, set in a meritocratic society where scientific advance has come at the cost of a widening gap between the haves and have-nots;
A handful of standalone science-fiction and thriller novels and novellas and middle-grade-children's novels and stories, and;
Numerous short fiction and nonfiction pieces in magazines and anthologies.

Reviews

[Layla Sabourian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed discovering Scotland through this unconventional science fiction story. Manda Benson does a wonderful job blending themes of neurodivergence, adoption, and scientific discovery in a way that’s both engaging and thought-provoking. I especially appreciated how the story encourages reflection on morality and ethics in scientific research—it sparked some great conversations in our family. This was a good read for me and my two daughters (ages 10 and 15). While we had to explain a few concepts to the younger one, it was a rewarding and meaningful experience for all of us.

[L.A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Freak” It is a word Dana hears often at school. But what is it that makes Abigail consistently go out of her way to bully and hurt her. Using her ability to make technology work for her just by thought, she finally finds sanctuary in Pauline and Graeme’s rambling home. Her brother Cale ignores her as is his wont but she knows he understands and cares about her. He too is autistic, and she has to suppose that this difference in her is what draws Abigail’s ire.

Because of the constant bullying at school she hates it, and it extremely uncomfortable going. To make it even worse this time she has closed herself in the bathroom, and when Abigail finally gets in, a tremendous fight breaks out. Dana holds her own and actually smashes Abigail’s nose in the process, but as she falls backwards, she loses her balances and smashes her head on the porcelain. The next thing she remembers it being in the hospital having x-rays taken of her head. She is not afraid of the hospital, the machines and their interface’s sooth her, but when the x-rays show a piece of metal in her head, all of a sudden her life begins to change.

Trying to get away, feeling for the first time like the freak she is, she sneaks out of the hospital only to be found by a woman who claims to know about her, named Jananin. She knows about her abilities, and actually claims to be her mother. Convincing Dana that she can help her, she tells Dana stories about her own past. She also gives Dana a rendition of how she came to be. Ivor Pilgrennon features heavily in the story, and as the tale continues, Jananin includes her own plans to use Dana to destroy him.

As Dana is drawn into the scheme and finds Ivor, she finds him to be everything that is opposite of what Jananine suggests. Not wanting Ivor to know of her duplicity she nevertheless hangs around and finds a comfort that she has been missing. Ivor has realized the damage he caused in his youth and is doing what he could to reverse the damage.

Using Jananine’s computer Dana finds an interesting game called Cerberus to keep her occupied while on Igor’s island. Somehow, this game is the center of everything that is wrong in the country and once Cerberus realizes Dana is somehow able to react in ways it does not understand she then becomes a threat to its existence. Now not only is Dana in jeopardy but everything and everyone she holds dear is no longer safe. She has become the Pandora of modern times and released an evil, which is unrelenting. Can she stop it before it is too late? She is unable to undo what she has done. Will she be able to stop the consequences? Can Jananine and Igor come together in time to help Dana before it is too late?

In Pilgrennon’s Beacon, by Manda Benson we meet an unusual cast of characters. Dana is a young girl, autistic in nature but with extra abilities added through early experimentation by Pilgrennon. She is a product of some genetic splicing as well as the plate being added, which gives her the capability to speak with computers of all kinds. She can work with cell phones, GPSs, and Satellites to name a few. It is interesting to watch the interaction. This also brings her added attention, which at her age in school makes her a freak. This too weighs heavily on her. She is drawn into a life unlike anything she has ever known, and she has to change her concept of reality.

Igor Pilgrennon and Jananine are like an old married couple who hate each other, and yet also find they must work together to save the world from a technological menace. They are a great foil and bring a balance to the story.

This is a fun and fast-paced story, and if you or your child enjoy science fiction, it will be right up your alley. Well written, the characters are strong, and it is easy to visualize the scenes as they progress. This would make an interesting book for a reading group with many things to discuss.

This book was received as a free copy from the author. All opinions are my own based off my reading and understanding of the information.

[iambic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a unique novel in a couple of ways. First published in 2010, it's written from the very convincing perspective of an autistic child, Dana, who lives with a foster family. The foster parents are diligent and caring, and this is a pleasant change as books of this sort often present nontraditional families in an unfavorable light, with wicked stepparents and horrible aunts and uncles and spoiled cousins. This is a much more positive and realistic take for children who often can't live with their real parents for good reason.
When Dana finds her real parents, they're unsurprisingly not good parents, and are quite unpleasant people in different ways, although interesting characters with their own motivations.
This is a story about technology and science with a fair amount of nuance and moral ambiguity, that explores the ethics of genetic experimentation and transhumanism. Not the typical love triangle teen novel about a girl. Possibly it would have fared rather better commercially had Benson made it a more typical story about a high tech boy pitted against a traditional villain, and that's probably why it seems to have remained rather obscure. Fiction with autistic characters seems more popular today, perhaps as part of a diversity drive, but this is an earlier example from before it became a trendy thing, by a Gen X autistic author who like so many of that generation in so many ways fell between the cracks.
Disclaimer: after reading the books several years ago and exchanging a few emails with the author, I was offered a free electronic copy of the new edition as thanks for my feedback. Opinions my own.

[Noor Jahangir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pilgrennon's Beacon is the bleak tale of an autistic child, whose disability was exploited before she was even born. Now Dana is trying to come to terms with the fact that her organic brain is meshed with a computer processor able to communicate with anything giving off a signal, from radio to Bluetooth. Afraid of being lobotomised by curious doctors she goes on the run, only to be kidnapped by a katana wielding sociopath claiming to be her biological mother, who presses her to help locate the mad scientist who stuck the thing in Dana's head. But all is not as it seems.

Think Jonny Mnemonic crossed with the Railway Children and you're a third of the way there. The main themes seems to be about ethics in science and about humanity losing what it means to be human, whilst machines become more sentient.

This is a well written, thought provoking piece, with unexpected plot twists that sustain interest throughout the novel. The author has also thoughtfully included deleted scenes at the end for those who want to go a little deeper. The action scenes are a little rushed, but overall a very decent read.

[Nerine Dorman · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not often that I award a book a full five stars but this is one of them. What I love about Manda's writing is her world-building and the way she effortlessly immerses me into her setting. Although this is a story told from the point of view of a young person, the themes that occur and are very much topical for an adult readership. As it stands, this story should appeal for a broad range of readers.

Having read Manda's earlier hard SF releases, it was a real treat to be able to see the pre-history that started her Star Archers and all the rest. Manda is one of contemporary SF's fresh voice voices and bright talents.

[Doreen Dalesandro]

Kindle freebie, 12/21/12