"Runtime" by S.B. Divya (BR)

[Anna]

Please use spoiler tags!

[Anna]

I only meant to peak, but I’m now at 40%. It starts by throwing you straight in without any hand holding, and I was completely sucked in. It’s 5AM but I want to keep reading!

[Anna]

That was a lot of fun! I’d read a novel in this world, and will certainly keep an eye out for what Divya writes next. It was a little too simple, so I can’t quite rate this four stars, but it was an interesting introduction to both world and author.

[Anna]

(view spoiler)[ I thought the cyborg concept was cool, and enough time was spent on it that I feel like I know how it works. I'm not sure why it's so desirable to become a moot, though, that could've used some extra focus. As for the race, it really needed more time to expand the critical decisions Marmeg made. It felt a bit flipfloppy, one minute you're fine cheating, then you're not, and in this world where technology is advanced and they check to make sure you're not cheating, how come they can't tell she used the tunnels? Also the Mikes were completely fine that she just decided to not help them in the end, no consequences for any of her actions from any party. This was so short, and these parts really needed to be fleshed out. (hide spoiler)]

I read this has been optioned for TV/film, I'm not sure I'm the target audience for this type of story in a visual media, but I'm sure it would fill in some of the gaps.

In any case, I really like Divya's writing, and I've already lined up Microbiota and the Masses as my next short fiction read. It's free on Tor.com.

[Kaa]

Just started this morning! Anna, I definitely agree that it throws you right in. Which is great because it means you get to the story right away, but I'm getting a little frustrated because some of the new terms are still unclear to me - (view spoiler)[can anyone else tell whether "moot" and "nat" refer to gender, citizenship status, presence/absence of body/tech enhancements, or something else entirely? (hide spoiler)]

[Anna]

Kaa, (view spoiler)[ I still don't know about 'moots', but 'nat' is just natural, meaning they have the body and sex they were born with. I did try to figure out if 'moot' is short for something as obvious, but I didn't get it. However the meaning seems clear as you read more. (hide spoiler)]

[Kaa]

Thanks for the clarification, Anna. (view spoiler)[That conflation of cyborg mods and gender identity was one of the things I disliked most about this book, to be honest. It felt like gender identity was entirely tied to bodies - very obviously by the Mike, but also by the underlying world-building. For me, this topic was just very poorly handled, and I was very annoyed by what seemed to be unnecessary transphobic comment and misgendering in the middle - there were plenty of other ways the Mike could have expressed a distaste for technology. (hide spoiler)]

I also agree with all of your comments on the inconsistencies in the story. In general, the underdevelopment of the world was a huge issue for me that ruined what started as a cool concept.

[Anna]

I read other complaints about the same thing, and I find it interesting, because (view spoiler)[ I read in her own words that she is "a female, non-conforming gendered", and her Twitter says "any pronouns". (hide spoiler)]

[Kaa]

That is really interesting. (view spoiler)[I do wonder a bit if she had more thoughts about gender and bodies in this world that didn't make it into the book, given how much of the detail of the world is skipped over in other areas? It is possible that the underlying world building around gender identity isn't as much of an issue as it seems based on what is in this book, but if so I would have wanted to see more evidence of that! (hide spoiler)]

[Anna]

Yeah, I'm choosing to interpret it in a more positive way, hoping that maybe with a little more work and some more explanation of things, it would've come across like she meant it to. I'm hoping we'll see a continuation of this story, which will answer all these questions.

[Kaa]

I was too cranky to take a positive interpretation when I finished the book, although I'm trying to be more generous as I calm down. But I would definitely read a continuation of the story, especially if it expanded on the world-building.