simple but full of things to think about
Review by Chris Turner on February 18th, 2010
This is a nice short piece of sci-fi that has stuffed full of interesting issues. In this possibly future, physically disabled or deformed babies are given the chance at a productive life a shell person if they show signs of being intelligent. Essentially they are fed chemicals to stunt their growth and installed into a titanium shell that allows them to control directly vast constructs, like spaceships or cities, as if they were an extension of their own bodies. After years of training to this new life a shell person will have racked up a large bill for their care etc... and so they are forced into working for the government that has given them their bright new future to pay off their debt.
This book doesn't go into too much detail about the wrongs or rights of this system, although it mention that there are organisations dedicated to protecting the rights of shell people. Nor does it dwell on the babies that aren't mentally fit for this process either. In many ways it seems like the government are cold and calculating as a lot of the shell people do not end up paying off their debts as they incur more debt for repairs and upgrades.
But the story of Helva, the shell person protaganist of this book, is not one of slavery or hardship. The missions she is given do test her sense of self and morals, but ultimately she triumphs at every obstacle. She relishes the challenges, although it's possible that is only because of some of the training she received as a child. Ultimately, the book gets you thinking about what a human is and where does a person start and end.