Trinity

by Nancy Kress

This is a brilliant, fascinating tale about the search for God, in which a young woman endures sensory deprivation, brain stimulation, and biofeedback; she has sensed something, but not everyone agrees about the nature of the presence. It may not be a blessing... Nebula Award Nominee

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories

60 pages, Unbound

First published October 1, 1984

About the author

Nancy Kress is an American science fiction writer. She began writing in 1976 but has achieved her greatest notice since the publication of her Hugo and Nebula-winning 1991 novella Beggars in Spain which was later expanded into a novel with the same title. In addition to her novels, Kress has written numerous short stories and is a regular columnist for Writer's Digest. She is a regular at Clarion writing workshops and at The Writers Center in Bethesda, Maryland. During the Winter of 2008/09, Nancy Kress is the Picador Guest Professor for Literature at the University of Leipzig's Institute for American Studies in Leipzig, Germany.

Excerpted from Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Mike Seay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Logging a novella to cheat on my reading challenge

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in Gardner Dozois' The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction collection. Humans tamper with nature and science in a search for something greater, but at what cost? Sibling rivalry, cloning, religion, drugs, trying to understand another mind, calling out to the void, creepiness. Also interesting to see Kress imagined a future NYC where people all have bodyguards for hire escort them on their commutes -- I guess projecting forward from when this was written in 1984 that might have been a decent guess.

[Ken Finlay · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Trinity”, a novella by Nancy Kress, was first published in 1984 and received a Nebula nomination.
A young woman seeks to find God and she needs her clone to help her.
Almost two decades before research into 'twin-trance' may have indicated a third presence (God?) but all the participants died within a few months.
Now a research centre/hospital/monastery, the Institute of the Biological Hope, is continuing that research in the Caribbean island of Dominica.
It's set in a somewhat dystopian world where the African Horror (it's not detailed) has dramatically changed 'normal' life.
It's an odd tale and one which might have got me thinking 50 years ago when I actually had some interest in religion (debunking it, mostly!)
The outcome is interesting and unexpected.
3 Stars.

[Octavia Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

An award-nominated novella from the 1980s, about the technological search for God. I was interested, but not riveted. I'm not religious myself, so it was hard to feel sympathetic to Devrie... but then it was kind of hard to feel sympathetic to anyone here, given that they're all such nutters. For a hot minute Keith seemed normal, then he got caught up in the incest storyline that both his sisters were also willing to exploit, and you know what? These people are off their rockers, all of them. It can only be a family trait. And they might have found God at the end, or God might have found them, but I'm not entirely sure that God deserves them.

[David]

Here's the table of contents; 3 of these stories are reprinted in The Best of Nancy Kress

Introduction / by Gene Wolfe --
With the original cast --
Casey's empire --
Talp hunt --
Against a crooked stile --
Explanations, inc. --
Shadows on the cave wall --
Ten thousand pictures, one word --
Night win --
Borovsky's hollow woman --
Out of all them bright stars --
Trinity.

[Rare Finds · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most astonishing science fiction stories I’ve ever read. Thematically challenging and difficult to grapple with. A story that once you put it down will absolutely stick to you like glue. Part theological investigation, part body horror. A masterpiece and one that if you have the stomach for, a must read.

[Erik Wennermark · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. excellent story - complex and unusual and engaging.

[bluetyson]

Trinity by Nancy Kress (2000)

[Mack · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like having your cultural buttons elegantly pushed.