Book Review: Hella by David Gerrold

Title: Hella
By: David Gerrold
Genre: Sci-fi
Pages: 448
Release Date: June 16th, 2020
Publisher: DAW
Rating: ★★★★★

Summary from Goodreads:

A master of science fiction introduces a world where everything is large and the problems of survival even larger in this exciting new novel.

Hella is a planet where everything is oversized—especially the ambitions of the colonists.

The trees are mile-high, the dinosaur herds are huge, and the weather is extreme—so extreme, the colonists have to migrate twice a year to escape the blistering heat of summer and the atmosphere-freezing cold of winter.

Kyle is a neuro-atypical young man, emotionally challenged, but with an implant that gives him real-time access to the colony’s computer network, making him a very misunderstood savant. When an overburdened starship arrives, he becomes the link between the established colonists and the refugees from a ravaged Earth.

The Hella colony is barely self-sufficient. Can it stand the strain of a thousand new arrivals, bringing with them the same kinds of problems they thought they were fleeing?

Despite the dangers to himself and his family, Kyle is in the middle of everything—in possession of the most dangerous secret of all. Will he be caught in a growing political conspiracy? Will his reawakened emotions overwhelm his rationality? Or will he be able to use his unique ability to prevent disaster?

Review:
A fantastic ride through space. I loved this book. It's been a while since I've read a scifi that kept my attention from cover to cover. I think what really made this story was the main characters undefined autism traits. He was different, but familiar. I think we all struggle to fit in, and this story really brought out how society struggles to be perfect, but what we really need is to embrace difference. 

The thrilling mystery of the unknown and the who done it, was intriguing. I also enjoyed the world building. A good scifi relies on the world around it since the familiar is somewhat unknown. This world was new and exciting, a wonderful but scary place that sucked me in and spit me back out.

I can't say enough about how much I loved this story.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

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