Hella | Gerrold, David

Lange Beschreibung
A master of science fiction introduces a world where everything is large and the problems of survival even larger in this exciting new novel.

Hella is a planet where everything is oversized especially the ambitions of the colonists.

The trees are mile-high, the dinosaur herds are huge, and the weather is extreme so extreme, the colonists have to migrate twice a year to escape the blistering heat of summer and the atmosphere-freezing cold of winter.

Kyle is a neuro-atypical young man, emotionally challenged, but with an implant that gives him real-time access to the colony's computer network, making him a very misunderstood savant. When an overburdened starship arrives, he becomes the link between the established colonists and the refugees from a ravaged Earth.

The Hella colony is barely self-sufficient. Can it stand the strain of a thousand new arrivals, bringing with them the same kinds of problems they thought they were fleeing?

Despite the dangers to himself and his family, Kyle is in the middle of everything in possession of the most dangerous secret of all. Will he be caught in a growing political conspiracy? Will his reawakened emotions overwhelm his rationality? Or will he be able to use his unique ability to prevent disaster?

Rezensierung
Praise for Hella

'The effortlessly diverse cast, complex political machinations, and heartfelt coming-of-age themes combine to create a fleshed-out vision of the future that is intense, emotional, and immersive while still maintaining a sense of rollicking fun. Sci-fi readers should snap this up.' Publishers Weekly (starred)

'Gerrold has created a vibrant world with a creative exploration of colonization and alien ecology that also smoothly touches on polyamory, gender confirmation, and queer relationships. Hella does what science fiction does best: it uses classic sf tropes to ask important questions about contemporary society.' Booklist (starred)

'The thoughtful and enjoyable page-turner Hella [is] a book sure to entrance anyone with an active imagination for distant worlds and giant monsters.' Chicago Review of Books

'Sci-fi has a strong tradition of deathworld planets. David Gerrold s Hella is one of them, on steroids.... Gerrold makes it plain that there s as much drama and danger in office politics as there is in dealing with wild beasts.' Wall Street Journal

Buchausschnitt
I was in the shower.

I like the shower.



I like the way the water floats down.



Mom says it comes down faster on Earth, but I like it this way.



I close my eyes and feel it running down my skin and for a while I can forget the noise in my head.



It's not noise, not really. But sometimes it is.



My phone chirped.



It was Mom, so I had to answer.



I went voice-only so she wouldn't see where I was. She probably knew anyway. She says I spend too much time in the shower. But she doesn't understand why I need to feel it.



'Come home,' she said.



'Why?'



'Jamie broke his leg playing soccer.'



I didn't know what to say, so I asked, 'Did it hurt?'



Mom said, 'It's only a green-stick fracture. They're setting it now.'



'So why do I have to come home?' I wanted to finish my shower.



'Because Captain Skyler is here.'



'But why should I come home?'



But she had already rung off.



It didn't make sense to me. But there's a lot that people say that doesn't make sense to me. So I dried off. I don't like the hot air blasts, but they get me dry. I pulled on a blue longshirt and shorts and headed across the quad. The gym isn't that far from the summer pods.



Captain Skyler was sitting in the main room with Mom. They both looked serious. I can recognize that expression, even without the noise. They stood up when I came in. I still felt damp. It was the air. Hella's air is wet.



'Where's Jamie?' I asked.



'He's still in med bay. His dad is with him. Stand up straight.' She turned to Skyler. 'I told you. He's too small.'



'Half a size, maybe.'



'He's three months too young.' Five Earth-months and ten Earth-days. But I didn't say that out loud.



Captain Skyler ignored her. He studied me. 'You passed your field-readiness tests?'



'Yes, sir.' Didn't he know that? Captain Skyler always knows everything. Sometimes I think he has the noise too. But he says he doesn't.



'You know how to operate the surveillance gear?'



'I know how to operate everything, sir.' He should have known that too. So why was he asking me?



'Ride-along leaves 0700 tomorrow. Mission briefing is 0630. You'll be in tractor two with me.'



I stared at him.



'Did you understand what I said?'



'Yes, sir.'



Mom didn't look very happy about it. She must have been arguing with Captain Skyler before I came in. I think she must have lost the argument.



I should explain that. There's this rule on Hella. The way it works, everybody works. Even me.



Especially me.



Because I have the noise.



It's not noise, but I call it that. Because sometimes it feels like that.



Back on Earth, the way Mom tells it-I don't know this from my own experience, I was born on the twelfth voyage-but back on Earth there are too many people and not enough jobs. So every job has lots of people fighting for it.



But here on Hella, there are too many jobs and not enough people. So the rule is that as soon as you're old enough to hold a hammer, you're a carpenter. I don't know what a hammer is or what a carpenter does, but that's the rule. Jamie was eighteen Hella-months older than me, and he'd already done sixteen ride-alongs, four times as a driver.



What the rule means is that everybody has to learn as many different jobs as they can. I'm certified for Class-3 Child Care, Class-2 Farming, Class-2 Emotional Maturity (that's since the noise was installed), Class-3 Food Service, Class-3 History and Civics, Class-3 Data Management (that's the noise, of course), and Class-3 Health Maintenance.