Submitted by
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thishouse. Thank you,
thishouse!
We
Bootstrap ourselves from mere insensate clutches of jelly and molecular interaction until We
Remember
We were on an adventure.
For many long spans of time we were Lante, once we had repaired Lante. Except that Those-of-We who had learnt what Lante was had to make such repairs so that what came out was less Lante and more We. But Those-of-We had experienced what it was to be Lante and could fill in the gaps. We were We and We were Lante and Lante was Lante and did not know it was also
We.
Blurb for Book 1: Avrana Kern spearheaded an exoplanet terraforming program with the goal of populating new Earth-like worlds with monkeys uplifted to human-like intelligence by a nanovirus. Her program was sabotaged by people who rejected her scientific ideals, and the conflict blossomed into nuclear war back on Earth. Avrana escapes the sabotage, and she uploads herself to a computer system while she waits for rescue. The monkeys died, but the virus lived on. Its host becomes a species of jumping spider, beginning their ascension toward a space-faring society. Thousands of years after the nuclear war, ark ships take off from Earth and seek terraformed planets to re-establish a home for humanity. The ark ship Gilgamesh discovers Kern's World, and its crew are determined to make a new home there.
Why is it worth your time?: Besides the unique and interesting plurality portrayed in these books, they're fantastic science fiction with an emphasis on worldbuilding and speculative evolution. Their greatest strength is their empathy toward atypical experiences of sentience and intelligence.
In Book 1, Avrana Kern is the primary plural character as the distinction between her, the computer system, and her uploaded version of herself blur together. In Book 2, Children of Ruin, Tchaikovsky adds sentient octopuses, and the octopuses' selves divided between their Crown, Guise, and Reach showcases a permanent co-fronting experience. Also introduced in Book 2 but explored further in Book 3, Children of Memory, is a naturally plural species that seeks to understand what it means to live as one and as many at the same time. In Book 3, there's also a sentient headspace-like world.
Plural/1+ Tags: setting-specific sci-fi stuff, enmity in Book 1, the naturally plural species is a scary antagonistic force in Book 2 at first, teamwork in Books 2 and 3
Content Warnings: nuclear war, extreme isolation, murder, lynching
Accessibility Notes: audiobooks available; pretty easy library book; Book 1 is available in English, French, German, Romanian, Portuguese, and Dutch; Book 2 is available in English, German, French, Romanian, and Dutch; and Book 3 is available in English, German, and Dutch
Misc. Notes (if any): Even though Book 2 has a "plurality is a scary monster" situation, the resolution is peaceful and empathetic, and the species is redeemed and explored further in Book 3.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
getyourwordsout Yahtzee story. And I’m 500 words into a new Hazbin story
