It is easy to make judgments about people based on stereotypes, generalities, and who you think they are afterjust a few observations. Whether we want to admit it or not, we do it all the time. Sometimes this can be a positive, helping us develop empathy for people we don’t know all that well, but unfortunately it is much easier to do the opposite and jump to negative conclusions, possibly because it protects us from being disappointed by others. Sometimes, though, we end up cheating ourselves out of relationships with good people. We also sometimes allow ourselves to be shoved into other people’s images of us, defining ourselves by what is reflected in their eyes. The young adult science fiction novel The Diabolic by Susan Kincaid shows how important it is that we grow into who we are meant to become rather than allowing others to determine what we are.
Nemesis, the main character, is a Diabolic, which means she is a humanoid teenageer who has been genetically and physically engineered to be a bodyguard and companion for Sidonia, the daughter of a galactic senator. It is not supposed to be in her nature to have any emotions other than those that promote her devotion to Sidonia, therefore she is willing to do anything necessary to protect her, whether that means killing someone in cold blood or sacrificing herself. As the story opens, we learn that Diabolics have been outlawed and ordered destroyed, but the family chose to discreetly disobey that command. When the Senator, Sidonia’s father, angers the Emperor and he summons Sidonia to his starship as a consequence of that, they fear for her life and decide to disguise Nemesis and instead send her as an imposter.
As a Diabolic, Nemesis is not expected to care for anyone other than the one to whom she is bonded, but as she travels through deep space and arrives at the Emperor’s starship, she slowly begins to emerge as a person in her own right-- one with feelings, morals, and desires that are surprisingly human. She experiences situation after situation that push her to grow, explore, and sometimes become increasingly uncomfortable with her newly developing self-image. It is somewhat ironic that a creature designed to be physically dominating and emotionally almost indestructable is in the end actually just the opposite. This very human side of her personality becomes pivotal as the book reaches its climax and conclusion.
Nemesis was put into a tough place. She essentially lost the person who was her very reason for living, had multiple layers of social norms to suddenly learn with no assistance while simultaneously attempting to blend in better than a chameleon, and had to decipher layers of intrigue and deceit few humans could successfully navigate. Like almost every human teenage female on Earth, she swung wildly back and forth between self-confidence and self-doubt, selfishness and self-sacrifice. Many times throughout the story, she doubted her worthiness to be where she was, and she constantly second-guessed herself because of the role she was “created” to play vs. how she was actually living life. Even though her situation was far removed from what we would define as normal, her thoughts about emotion and self-image would fit into almost any high school in America.
Nemesis may not have technically been fully human, but her emotional experiences are things that can be related to by many different audiences. It is a rare person who never feels self-conscious when interacting with others or who never second-guesses decisions based upon what others might think. Nemesis is a good example of allowing yourself to be who you are and to change into who you are meant to be, regardless of whether or not others agree with or approve of your decisions, making The Diabolic a worthwhile read, particularly for fans of science fiction and dystopian novels.
Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Also, I read this and posted the review on Amazon in November but somehow neglected to cross-post. Darn!
No comments:
Post a Comment