Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the novella's release on September 22, 2020 in exchange for a potential review. I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the novella.
Sweet Harmony by Claire North:
Sweet Harmony is a new SF (and arguably horror) novella by SF/F author Claire North, who has in the past written a bunch of interesting concept SF/F stories. I'd read one of her works before, The Sudden Appearance of Hope, and was not as high on it as others - it had one really interesting idea that it explored well, but muddled it all in the end by trying to mesh it with some other less explored ideas. Sweet Harmony is similarly a concept themed story and since I was given an advance copy by the publisher, I figured I'd try it out.
And well, Sweet Harmony is fine - it explores an interesting idea: a future where people can use nanobots to alter their body's appearance and features - not just the obvious physical ones, but altering ones libido, making it so you never stop smiling (for women of course), making it so you don't need to brush your teeth, etc. - but the companies that offer those nanobots require monthly payments and god help you if you go into debt. It then takes this idea and grafts it to the very real expectations society places upon women, and that men place upon women, to oft horrifying effect. It's a melding of ideas that will become quite predictable early on in this novella to any reader, but North does take the plot in some different horrifying directions by the end - but well...even then it felt almost like there wasn't enough in the concept for a full novella.
More after the Jump:
Quick Plot Summary: When Harmony Meads went to college, she expected it was for her to have the experience college was for - to lose her virginity and to have fun. But her attempt at doing so introduced her to "upgrades", nano programs she could use to adjust her body: to prevent pregnancy or STDs, to make her beautiful, to improve her libido, to give her a perfect smile (or make her always smile), etc. Of course, to pay for such programs, one must pay a fee every month and soon Harmony is paying more and more of her salary - and more than that really - on her nanos.
But as Harmony grows up in this world, and finds her desirability both personally and professionally dependent upon these nanos, she faces firsthand the rough reality of what happens when it all comes tumbling down.....
Thoughts: I tried not to spoil anything in the plot summary, but this novella shows its card quite early, jumping back in time really to show how Harmony got where she is in the present to form whatever surprises it can pull. As I mentioned above the jump, it melds together two concepts: First, the very real world concept that women are forced to alter themselves for others - mainly men - for both professional and personal reasons, even if it means doing so beyond their own wants. Second, the idea that one can - for a monthly fee of course - use nanomachines to actually alter one's body beyond makeup and styling - even to the extent of an "upgrade" that makes a woman constantly smile (guess who suggests that one!) - but of course, if you default on your monthly payments....your nanos get forcibly shut off, with possibly disastrous consequences.
Through these concepts, Harmony finds herself with an abusive boyfriend and an abusive workplace, and unable to see the mother who actually cares for her and wants the best for her (upgrades or no). The story essentially goes in a horror direction by showing a woman torn apart by the interplay of these concepts as Harmony makes increasingly bad decisions since she can't let go of them....even after she takes one major stand midway through, she just can't. And well, it kinda works and is just a bit terrifying...except that it takes honestly a bit too long for everything to play out (even for this being a novella) with Harmony's route to getting to the present day being mostly predictable up to a point. Which just made reading this feel a bit exhausting instead of horrifying for the first half of it, weakening the effect.
In short, Sweet Harmony is a strong melding of concepts into a horrifying reality, but it takes a bit too long on a predictable path to get there. Recommended with that warning.
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