/lit/ - Literature

>>22338542
Acadie - Dave Hutchinson (2017)

500 years ago a rogue scientist did some extreme genetic engineering and escaped with a space habitation filled with settlers and the Earth governments didn't like that, so they've been hunting them down ever since. All they want is to live free from Earth governments who don't understand their choices to be whomever they want themselves to be, so they are on the move rather often, living a relatively meager existence. They believe that's a cost worth paying for them to be free. Anyone who wants to leave is allowed to do so.

Regardless of what's said about this novella, it all comes down to one undeniable truth - the entirety of the story is for a gimmick. The gimmick is one that I enjoy, and even though I've read several times before, I didn't like it any less. It was enough to raise this from being rounded up from 2.5, to barely being a 3. It's an adequate read despite intentionally being what it is. Aside from the gimmick, there's nothing that I found notable about it. Everything else about it barely suffices.

I admit I took it at face value until the gimmick came into play. That was a problem because it was trying to tell me that it was a gimmick but instead I took it seriously and as a result I enjoyed it less than I otherwise would've if I had been in on it. For me that's a problem with the narrative structure. Sometimes retroactive enjoyment is possible, but that wasn't the case for this. Maybe that's only because I'm disappointed in myself for not seeing it for what it was. Talking about the specifics would be too much of a spoiler.

Depending on your preferences for reading, a gimmick may not be substantial enough, especially if you don't like the gimmick. This is a short novella, a bit more than a novelette based on the word count I've seen, which is the appropriate length. If it were shorter, the gimmick may not have mattered, and if it were longer its structure wouldn't have worked. I often complain about length, so I appreciate when it's done properly.

I've almost only written about how it's a gimmick without saying what it is, which may not be that helpful for whether you want to read this, both in terms of saying too much and not enough. The following is a major spoiler for what kind of gimmick it is, without saying specifically what it is: "Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality?"

That I see this entirely as a gimmick both helps and hinders Hutchinson from whether I'd read more from him. I like the gimmick, but if that's what he mostly does, I don't know that I'd want to read a novel based around a mildly amusing one. I'd probably rather read a similar sort of author who I believe does better with execution. I may give him a try eventually again, or not, it really depends on whether a relevant whim comes up again or not.

Rating: 3/5