The Original

Similar to Brandon Sanderson's Snapshot with futuristic technology.

Here’s what’s funny about my relationship with Brandon Sanderson books. I’ve tried to read several of his series and I haven’t made it through even the first book of any of them. That means Mistborn, Elantris, Warbreaker, what have you. I did make it pretty far into the first Mistborn book and then it started to drag.Ironically, as much as I can’t get through his novels, I love his short form work. “The Emperor’s Soul” may be my favorite fantasy of all time. Certainly, it’s among the top three. Similarly, I found this novella excellent, as well. I know he didn’t write this one alone but I sense his hand in this the most.In any case, it’s a relatively quick but good listen. I’d like to see more stories with replicate Holly, in the future.

Originally published at Fantasy Literature. (Copied and pasted, so links won't work.)Holly wakes up in the hospital. Her last memory is being at a party with Jonathan, her husband. The party was for a potter and she remembers being thrilled to actually be able to touch the clay – something real to feel and even deconstruct. She has no idea how she ended up in the hospital, and it takes a while to get some answers, but finally she learns that she has been cloned as a Provisional Replica because her real self (her Original) murdered her husband. She has four days to find her Original and bring it to justice.Holly is confused because not only does she not remember killing her husband, but she loves him, they get along great, and the goriness of the murder doesn’t sound like her style. Yet, there is plenty of evidence that she is the culprit. As a provisional clone, Holly’s genes have been edited to give her the kinds of skills she needs to hunt down and kill herself (she wonders if this is murder or suicide?). If she succeeds, she can take the place of her original and, if she wants to, she can also choose to revive Jonathan.Another consequence of being a provisional clone is that she is now “unthemed,” meaning that she sees the world as it really is, and not with the personal filters that most everyone else uses to enhance their drab reality. There are some people, however, who choose to live without themes. These include people who “check out” of normal society and also terrorists who are concerned about privacy and actively work against the government. Jonathan used to study people who check out. He knew important things about the theming technology and Holly wonders if terrorists have framed her for a murder they committed.The Original, a 3.5 hour-long audio story written by Brandon Sanderson and Mary Robinette Kowal, has a fascinating premise. Holly’s task is daunting – how is she supposed to outsmart herself in four days? And what if her Original was framed and didn’t commit the murder? Then, who did, and why? If she lets her Original go free, what will happen to herself? If she replaces the Original and revives Jonathan, would he even know her? Because she’s been edited by the government, she’s no longer the same person who married him. How can she be sure her memories, emotions, and morals are the same as the Original’s?These kinds of questions are what Sanderson and Kowal handle so well in The Original. Holly’s predicament is riveting and the societal and ethical dilemmas she encounters are thought-provoking.Other aspects of the story are not as effective, however. While the idea of theming is interesting, thought-provoking, and essential to the plot, it was hard to believe in a society where everyone had their own interpretation of the physical space around them. They actually see different structures in their environment. Why is that desirable and how would that work? There wasn’t enough explanation of how the world got that way or why people were willing to tolerate living in a society where everyone didn’t experience the same physical reality and where they must artificially augment their surroundings to make them livable. Holly is horrified to discover what the world is really like, but it seems unlikely that she didn’t already know this, especially when she mentioned at the beginning that she was so excited to touch real clay. Sanderson and Kowal could have convinced me to believe in this world, but they didn’t manage it in this short novel.Also unlikely were some of the actions Holly took to try to track down her Original. It involved a lot of guesswork, bad logic, silly strategies by both the Original and the cloned versions of Holly, and even literal rolling of dice. This was the part of the story that I had the most trouble with.However, The Original is action-packed and ends with a twist that totally surprised me. Overall, despite seriously straining my willingness to believe, I have to say that The Original was entertaining all the way through.So far, this novella is available only in audio format from Recorded Books. Julia Whelan’s narration is terrific. Too bad the producers included the occasional annoying and unnecessary sound effects.

If at all possible, I suggest you try to carve out about three hours of “me time” and listen to this immersive audiobook in one session. I usually hate sound effects, but on this audiobook, it’s much less intrusive. The sound effects add to the immersion. Your “me time” needed will depend on your listening speed—for me, a bit over two hours at ~1.5 speed. I was carried on by Julia Whelan’s narration, and I ignored my usual questions, my ‘druthers, plot holes, etc.I thoroughly enjoyed Ms. Whelan’s narration of this novella by Brandon Sanderson and Mary Robinette Kowal. The authors have created a unique, ultra-futuristic—but not quite ne plus ultra—world where technology provides what each person wants to see, hear, feel, touch, and live in their world. I enjoyed the future-tech, nanotech, AIs, and experiencing the weirdness of characters living “a perfect life,” interacting with perfect people, etc.If I’d read this on Kindle, it’d be 4 stars. BUT Julia Whelan allowed me to forget all the nits that I usually pick. So it’s 5 stars. Please note that I tend to rate audiobooks higher than Kindle versions.TRIGGERS: Social liberalism, gender fluidity, universal income, free healthcare, etc. Gun violence, physical violence, blood, bombings, etc.