Ms. Hen reviews Constance

Constance

Matthew Fitzsimmons

Planetarium Station, Inc.

2021

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel because it was recommended to her. This is exactly the type of book she likes to read right now. Her taste varies, but now she is into speculative fiction about the near future.

This novel is a little different from other science fiction novels. It's sci-fi, but it's a mystery at the same time. Constance D'Arcy, or Con, is a clone that is attempting to solve her own murder. Con wakes up to find that her clone has been activated, and she has an eighteen month lag, meaning the original Con had not gone is for a refresh for that long, a refresh, meaning a consciousness upload. People who have clones have to go in to get their refresh, in case their clone is activated, they will have most of the same memories as the original.

Con wakes up, and she discovers that she should not have been activated, and people from the lab are after her. She escapes, but she struggles to find out what happened to her. She discovers that she had gotten married in the time she does not remember, and she was missing from Virginia. She goes to find herself, and is shocked by what happens.

This novel has excellent world building. It takes place in the year 2038, which is not too far in the future. Ms. Hen likes to think about what the world will be like in 17 years, but she can't imagine what will happen. Con had been in a band, and her boyfriend had been driving them around in a self-drive car, which means, the passenger drives it themselves, and they got into an accident. Older people like to cling to the old ways, like they do now. Humans can be resistant to change, and that aspect of human nature will not change soon. Even younger people want to stick with things from the past sometimes, because the future and the idea of change can be frightening.

This novel isn't like any other novel Ms. Hen has read. It's a sci-fi novel, and a mystery, and it has some legal shades, about a case about whether a clone is a real person. This novel is also about prejudice, and they way some people treat clones is unpleasant. Is a clone a person? Do they have rights and feelings? Are they like any other human? These questions might have to be answered in the near future.

Ms. Hen read this novel quickly because it was so good. She loved living in this world, with Con, the badass clone. This is also an adventure novel, and Ms. Hen felt herself gripping the book to find out what happened. She adores this book, and would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn what the future might be like, and anyone who wants to think about other types of life, such as clones, and how they might be able to exist in the world alongside humans.