The Sword and Laser discussion

I’m just over half way through this book - I raced through the first half but I’ve slowed down since the midpoint for reasons that I expect you’ll find obvious once you’ve read that far.

Picking up on some of the comments on the podcast about how likeable (or otherwise) the protagonist is…

My main emotion in the first half of the book was mingled annoyance and pity at Kyr, who’s been brainwashed so thoroughly by Gaea Station that she can’t see what’s right in front of her face. Tesh does a great job of making all kinds of things clear to the readers while Kyr remains oblivious to the realities of life on the station. It’s easy to guess that the station authorities are going to treat her (view spoiler)[ as a brood mare (hide spoiler)] and that her brother is (view spoiler)[ deeply unhappy and planning to escape (hide spoiler)], and yet Kyr has no idea. She’s even surprised to learn that (view spoiler)[ Cleo hates her (hide spoiler)] .

Even once she (view spoiler)[ escapes the station, sees how other humans live, and meets her sister and nephew (hide spoiler)] she’s still frantically trying to reshape her perception of reality to fit her distorted, denial-driven view of the universe. It’s a brilliant portrait of how someone can be so thoroughly brainwashed by their society. As the story goes on I have increasing sympathy for Kyr and her struggles to make sense of what she sees around her. I guess we’ll see how my view develops! I thought I knew where the story was going at first but I was totally blindsided by the events of half way through and now I have no idea where it’s going to end up.

At some point while reading this one I was reminded of one of Jack L. Chalker’s books from the early 80s where people didn’t leave their situation of subjugation because it never occurred to them there might be another way. As Cristos says in The Truman Show, “People accept the reality they’re presented with.” I don’t think people really appreciate how difficult it is to go against the weight of society.

I think this is one of the strengths of the book. So often the protagonist immediately knows that society is wrong and if they fix this one magical thing then all will be right with the world.

Kicking the table over halfway through also means that you are unsure of the ending for most of the book ratcheting up the tension.

Ruth wrote: "I thought I knew where the story was going at first but I was totally blindsided by the events of half way through and now I have no idea where it’s going to end up."

Absolutely my biggest plaudit for the book is how familiar it seemed in tone to lots of things I'd read before, and then how it used my expectations against me.

There’s a scene about two-thirds of the way through where another character tells Kyr that she was like a horse with blinders on, unable to see anything going on around her so she could be a perfect space fascist Girl Scout, and that’s a pretty good description of how she is in the early chapters.

Seth wrote: "Ruth wrote: "I thought I knew where the story was going at first but I was totally blindsided by the events of half way through and now I have no idea where it’s going to end up."

Absolutely my bi..."

So well put. This is what elevated the book for me.