Customer Reviews

Act One - 2009 Nebula Nominee

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I am a long time Nancy Kress fan. When she's in the groove, no one's better. I thought this story was terrific. It's smart, tightly written, and displays Nancy's trademark ability to "turn a phrase." I'd recommend it to anyone who wants an example of great writing.

I really do not understand entirely why this novelette was nominated for a Nebula Award. It is, I suppose, a nice little treatise on the ethical dilemmas of genetic engineering, both at birth and in adult humans. Here Barry Tenler, a midget and wealthy agent to the stars, and his aging starlet, Janie Snow, become inadvertently involved with a rouge "terrorist" group that has tried to manipulate the human genome to induce empathy in humanity. Their first attempt, which was to breed this into children at birth, had some unintended consequences. So too the second attempt, although not drawn out as much in story.

We also encounter Barry's son, who he had genetically altered at birth to ensure he was "normal" (which to Barry normal means a midget), also with drastic unintended consequences, although not the kind you'd expect. Barry had to make yet another decision, another ethical dilemma, later in the book regarding genetic manipulation and his son, which is where this novelette is rather clever.

But overall I really did not find the story that engaging or interesting. There really isn't anything that drastically new in the debate over genetics, it's just told in a different way. It's short quick read, though, and at least mildly entertaining.

Act One by Nancy Kress is a Novella. It is a small piece that wonderfully knots together various ideas into a coherent narrative. Berry is a brilliant, bitter Dwarf; Jane is a beautiful, aging actress. Bridget and Belinda are rich, eleven year old, genetically enhanced twins. One is kind and one is vicious.

As this group of unlikely candidates are thrown together in a situation that amplifies all their differences interesting insights are gained about the brains, brawn, and beauty that individuals are stamped with at birth and have no real choices about. I found the tale to be enthralling, enlightening and entertaining. Though the little tale is complete in itself, it would have also made a great full length novel.