Nebula Nom: Movement, by Nancy Fulda

[Candiss]

Let's discuss Movement by Nancy Fulda, nominated in the Short Story category for the 2011 Nebula Awards.

[Jasmine M]

since I'm reading the stories in the order in which Candiss posted them, this is the third Sci-fi story so far, I was kind of hoping for a fantasy by now

but since this one can also be put in the soft Sci-fi category, I have no complaints

I liked this one-didn't care much about the science mumbo-jumbo, the only thing I deduced from it is that a century from now, there will still be no cure for autism- not an optimistic prospect and I'm still not sure how this is relevant to the story, because to me it's an insight into the mind of an autistic girl, nothing more, I loved the way she interacts with the world, how this interaction is translated into actions unfamiliar to the people around her, by the end of the story my vision was a bit blurry, I really loved it :)

[Sarah]

Yes, this is the third one I've read as well, and my favorite so far.

[Nick]

The plot of this one doesn't grab me, but then I think it's more of a character piece.

However, there are some beautiful sequences of sentences. Such as:

"Mine is an endangered species in the performance hierarchy; a neoclassical variant that no one remembers, no one pays to watch, and only a few small groups of dancers ever mimic. It is solitary, beautiful, and doomed to destruction. I love it because its fate is certain."

This would be a great reflecftion on a personal aesthetic in any regard. The fact that this phrasology has a science-oriented background behind it only adds to the chills it sends up the spine.

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

This was a beautiful piece of writing, just sentence after sentence of gorgeous poetic prose like the one Nick quotes above. I love how it put autism on a scale against evolutionary changes like the development of language (in the past) and the way the brother connects to the "Vastness" (going forward). The end is heartbreaking.

Also, I've now read 3 stories and all 3 have had some form of medical experimentation on humans as the main theme. Interesting.

[Renee]

I think it was beutifully written but its not really anything new.

[Shel, Moderator]

I loved this one. I teach a mainstream science class and so don't usually have students who are as severely autistic as the narrator here, but I do have some more higher-functioning autistic students in my class and I really enjoy working with them; they're a lot of work sometimes, but such interesting kids!

Anyway, this reminded me of The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon, which deals with a similar situation on a larger scale...the protagonist is an autistic man who has to decide whether or not to undergo a treatment that would "cure" his autism. Really wonderful book that anyone who enjoyed this story would probably like.

[Renee]

I loved the Speed of Dark. It was a powerful heartbreaking stoty

[Sarah]

Ms. Fulda was interviewed about the story: http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2012...