Hella

Imagine a world where Godzilla would be just an ordinary part of the worlds ecology. But this is not a Japanese monster movie story by any means. It is an in-depth study of how life interacts and evolves on a strange large but not dense world. It also discusses the extreme seasons due to a large tilt to the world. Winters are colder. Summers are hotter. Weather activity can be extreme. That acts as the background for the rest of the story.

It also brings other story lines into the picture. The Dingilians have finally arrived at their destination and are in orbit around Hella waiting to become colonists. They also have a Harlie unit with them a self-aware artificial intelligence. There is also something bad happening at the earth they left, but that does not get much play in this story.

Human interactions show up, family, school bullies, unlikely friends.
The worst of politics with severe abuse of power also raises its ugly head, and is an important part of the story line.

Then there is the protagonist, Kyle, who is a young teenager who is different somehow, and perhaps the greatest mystery to resolve. You immediately understand that he is different, and his interactions with others are different, but coming to understand him and his struggles makes the book.

Imagine a functioning communist utopia where people can and do change their genders at will. I’m fact prepubescent children can change gender on a whim. Then imagine this WOKE world through the eyes of a neuroatypical(read autistic) protagonist. Of course every Eden must have its snake. In this case Satan takes the form of a greedy capitalist who (gasp) wants to create private wealth. So this is the premise but the reason it only warrants 2 stars is the inconsistency of the characters and plot lines. The neuroatypical protagonist hates being touched but homoerotic sex suits him just fine. So centrally planned economies may have their problems (i.e. Venezuela) but not if the planning is done by the ultimate A.I. Who parenthetically rejects dominance over the war like apes. Characters are not very subtle. They are either good guys or bad guys with little emotional depth.
So what’s to like. Absolutely wonderful world building,terrific descriptive language and obviously professional editing. So my final assessment is beautifully written drivel.

“Theres this general feeling in the Hella Colony that well never conquer the planet if we hide behind the fences of Summerland Station. So we have to go out ourselves, smell the air and taste the world. We have to feel the dirt between our fingers. If we are ever going to make this planet ours, we have to give up our fear of it and get into a genuinely courageous relationship. Thats what Captain Skyler says.
But that doesnt mean we have to be foolish about it.”

David Gerrold is an accomplished author with undeniable scifi credentials, publishing dozens of scifi novels and writing a handful of episodes of Star Trek (including The Trouble With Tribbles in 1967). But when I first saw his new book announced I completely missed the connection to this author who Ive read before I was completely taken in by the premise, and only realized whose work I was reading much later.

Encountering new scifi from an acclaimed author is always a thrill, but Hella proves that Gerrold has always understood what makes scifi (and Star Trek) so great: fantastic scifi stories and real-world explorations of what it means to be human go hand-in-hand.

On Hella, scientists, explorers, and refugee settlers are trying (and succeeding) to survive on a hostile world full of hella big threats. Due to Hellas low gravity and high oxygen saturation, everything on Hella grows to enormous proportions, but the truly epic fauna is only the beginning of what troubles the colonies of Hella and our young narrator, Kyle.

Gerrold gets everything right, as far as Im concerned, and he has not set himself to a simple task. Instantly, you get a taste of how large these animals must be but Gerrold waits to give you a true sense of their enormity until he can get Kyle (and the readers) up close and personal, and he marries the true sense of their size, physics implications of that size, and character-driven narration to create scene after scene of hard-hitting action and emotional moments that instantly suck the reader straight into Hellas colony.

“We headed in closer. I climbed up into an empty turret to get a better view. Even from a half-klick away, the animals were scary-huge. Its one thing to know that Hellas lighter gravity and oxygen-rich atmosphere allow for everything to grow to enormous proportions, but until you can see an actual meat mountain in motion, up close and thundering, you cant really understand what it means.”

One of the most obvious tells that this isnt Gerrolds first scifi rodeo is his efficient world building. He doesnt waste time interrupting the narrative to delve into the biology, the history, the motivations, the cast of characters because he doesnt have to. Gerrold knows exactly how to deliver all of the exposition, the background, the setting, the reader needs to be grounded and immersed with as little work as possible and the result is gripping.

At the same time, Hellas pace is reliably varied. One of my favorite techniques he employs is allowing Kyle (the autistic narrator) to focus on the details of specific procedures as a way to hone the readers focus and subtly shift the tone to set up a scene, all the while smuggling in a ton of thoughtful world building.

Thoughtful kept popping up in my notes while reading Hella, because its so clear that Gerrold put careful thought into every aspect of this story. Kyle is a lovingly-written narrator, and after reading this part of me will always love him. Ultimately this story is about Kyle, and the ways in which the unique way he interacts with the world can be viewed or interpreted by others and the extent to which others choices help or hurt him.

Kyles syndrome is a major part of the book, not just because it so clearly colors the world we see through Kyles eyes but also in the theme of insidious ableism that grows throughout the story. An appreciable number of scifi stories with autistic main characters in the past few years, and if Im being honest my experience with some of them caused me to hesitate to even read Hella.

Have no fear. Gerrold knows exactly what hes doing.

Kyle is lovingly written, and his unique experience is an intrinsic part of the story Gerrold tells instead of a new trope to exploit. Its clear right away that the author is familiar with neurodivergent experiences and writes from an authentic and respectful perspective that neither sensationalizes or plays down Kyles experience AND the varying reactions his neurodivergent behaviors and needs inspire in the people around him.

But of course, with Gerrolds skill and economy of word and technique hes never just doing one thing. And this story which truly is Kyles doesnt just feature his neurodivergence, its shaped by it in intelligent and graceful ways. Gerrold is not shy about using Kyles wandering attention and hyper-focus to shape a scene or to play with what information he gives to or withholds from the reader.

I couldnt help but stop to appreciate (multiple times seriously) how an author with this level of experience could write such a thoughtful, careful, modern story. Hella isnt just a pleasure to read, it also redefines how high we can set the bar for stories that are truly inclusive particularly in science fiction. Gerrold has single-handedly proven that it is not too much to ask to have a truly diverse cast of characters whose differences respectfully and realistically impact the narrative and enhance, rather than compromise, a rich, full, challenging, inspiring book.

But its not all cultural commentary and world building and science (and giant dinosaurs?), because Gerrold has a wicked sense of humor and he really has fun in this book. He has obvious fun with the name Hella, from the direct wordplay

“But the lesser gravity and the greater oxygen levels make it possible for everything to grow a lot bigger. Hella bigger.”

to more elegant exercises of playful language

“Jamie says that calling a leviathan big is to stretch the word beyond its breaking point.”

He also goes wild with naming conventions in this book, blaming it all on Hellas first settlers (and creating some absolutely perfect Hellan history at the same time). From places like Ugly Mountain and B**** Canyon, to a family of carnosaurs lovingly named the Sackville Bagginses, Gerrold plays with irreverence and Earthly cultural references in a way that brightens the narrative and humanizes Hellas inhabitants. Its clear that Gerrold had fun with Hella.

The result is an achingly human story that will stick with me for years to come.

The protagonist is neuro atypical and Gerrold does a wonderful job of portraying that as a complex human, not just backstory. It was interesting seeing behaviors Id noticed in coworkers from the other side. Like all good science fiction, this is a great story that just happens to be set in a science fiction world. The descriptions of the ecosystems and technology add flavor to the story without overpowering it. I want to say more, but I dont want to spoil the exploration and reveal to another reader. Definitely worth a sequel, but only if Gerrold has more stories to tell in this world.

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