One

by Nancy Kress

"One," by Nancy Kress, is a science fiction novella about an angry young boxer who, after experiencing a concussion in a bout, is able to sense what people are thinking and predict their every move. He finds this useful in boxing but not great for personal relationships and turns to artificial means to deaden the sensations.
At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Novella

72 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 17, 2013

About the author

Nancy Kress is the author of thirty novels, four story collections, three books on writing fiction, and over a hundred short stories. Her work has won six Nebulas, two Hugos, a Sturgeon, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. Her most recent novel, Observer, co-written with Dr. Robert Lanza, concerns the nature of consciousness, reality, and love. Forthcoming in 2026 is an historical fantasy, The Queen’s Witch, set in the court of Henry VIII. Nancy’s work has been translated into two dozen languages, none of which she can read. She has taught writing at various venues in the United States and abroad, including Leipzig, Beijing, both Clarions, and the annual SF-writing intensive workshop Taos Toolbox. Nancy lives in Seattle with her husband, writer Jack Skillingstead, and Pippin, the world’s cutest Chihuahua.

Reviews

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽]

I loved Nancy Kress's Beggars in Spain (the novella; not so much the full-length novel or its sequels) and she's written some other short fiction I've enjoyed that has a really fascinating take on nanotechnology and genetic engineering. This one, though, left me cold.

Zack, a boxer and a first-class jerk of a guy, has brain surgery that results in his ability to read tiny clues in a person's face, posture, movements, voice, etc., so that it's almost like being able to read their minds. The interesting thing is how this affects Zack's life; he has a lot of personal issues and often doesn't react to events or people the way you'd expect.

It had its moments, but I expected more from the story, and I had a few issues with the ending What was the whole oneness thing with the voices about? Why did he suddenly lose his powers? Did he reject the gift and the aliens/supernatural powers took it away? Someone else please read this and help me out here. Plus I've never been fond of unsympathetic protagonists, and Zack is right up there, although in his own limited way he's trying.

Free online, if you're interested: http://www.tor.com/stories/2013/07/on... If you like reading about troubled and conflicted souls who lash out at those who love them, you'll probably enjoy this more than I did.

Content advisory: rough language and mildly explicit sexual situations.

[atmatos]

I didn't like the main character much. Wasn't much of an end either.

[F.R.]

Absolutely fantastic!

What I particularly liked about this short story is that the boxer at the centre, the man who gains extra-sensory abilities, really doesn’t feel like the kind of character you normally get in science-fiction. He’s more of a throwback to 1940s noir, the beaten up pugilist whose heart of gold is more than outweighed by his bad temper and who’s bound to meet a bad end.

Actually though his end here seems ostensibly fairly good – but given what we've seen of his personality and its built-in flaws throughout the tale, one is left with the distinct impression that even in the happiest of endings, he’d find a way to screw things up.

[Christa Schönmann Abbühl]

This was a strange read for me. I do not remember why this story was on my phone. But read the first sentences on my way back from work and got sucked in instantly. Even though the main character is very hard to like. Had to finish the same day and it felt round and well done. But very different from what I usually like.

[Erica Naone]

Really interesting writing here. The main character is not likable, extremely threatened by intimacy, and misogynistic. But I can feel that a woman wrote this because most of the characters who really matter are women. This makes for an interesting stage on which the speculative fiction plays out. The main character’s mind is affected with… a Gift? A Curse? He gains a sort of extreme empathy, and he hates it so much. He is too angry for this, and too interested in running from others and from himself. There are glimmers of a better person inside him, but they often seem quite faint. I got really absorbed in what the writer was accomplishing with this story and this character, though he is not pleasant to be around. I wanted a few more pages at the end - that could have made this a five star read for me. The ending as it is works, and I think I know what happens, but after how much we have been through with this character, it felt a little too fast.

[Lance Schonberg]

Meh.

Major concussion results in a boxer’s mental wiring adjusting so that he subconsciously analyzes the patterns in everyone’s speech, body language, and behavior so that he can actually predict what they’re going to do. And not just people. This brings both advantages and frustrations.

So, bump on the head grants magic powers. There are worse premises, and this one could work. What happens to the POV is grounded at least a little in potential science, though the story exaggerates things so that we have more potential for both story and conflict.

But I found the main character a little too unsympathetic, so that’s probably my real issue with the story. I’m not fond of unsympathetic characters to begin with, and there I didn’t find enough to like about Zack, or even relate to about him to get past that.

The writing was up to Ms. Kress’ usual standards, articulate and engaging, but the story didn’t really work for me.

[MB Taylor]

Interesting story about a pretty thoroughly unlikeable young man who gains an incredible talent he can't understand and (unfortunately) can't control.

The story was more interesting than the blurb made it sound (which is saying something because the blurb really hooked me). The story had enough unexpected turns to keep me interested and my only complaint was the ending which felt a little flat.

[Maggie Gordon]

I enjoy reading stories about protagonists outside my realm of experience, and an emotionally distant, undereducated boxer was an interesting mind to inhabit. Combined with the strange new cognitive abilities he develops and how he copes, One is a journey I didn't expect, but enjoyed. The ending is a bit weak, and I would have appreciated seeing the protag learn a bit more about himself, but the story is definitely worth a read. (Stars = 3.5)

[Kimikimi]

Another Tor.com short story.

This one is not so short after all. It is however a good story about a man who is running from being connected to other people, despite the fact that the universe keeps shoving it towards him. Zack is kind of a jerk, but I was really rooting for him to be well and happy, even though the ending is kind of ambiguous in that regard.

[Kate]

Interesting story of a man who becomes an empath, or even more than that in the "collective unconsciousness" sort. Of course this all comes with its prices, and his seems to be taking higher risks. I wonder now at the end if he can turn it all around?

[Amy]

Good story but the protagonist is extremely unpleasant and unlikable. Not a bad person but just a jerk to everyone he meets. Makes it a bit of a difficult read.

[Chris]

Enjoyable despite the unsympathetic protagonist, interesting in part because of him.