Interrupt by Jeff Carlson
16 Dec 2013, 9:38 am
Has anybody read the sci fi book Interrupt by Jeff Carlson?
http://io9.com/read-an-excerpt-from-jef ... -899833984
It is based on the Neanderthal theory of autism (discussed a lot on WP). In the book, solar flares affect everybody's brain. NTs turn into Cro Magnons and autistic people all turn into Neanderthals. A few NTs not exposed to the solar flares (inside bunkers or deep in concrete builfings) remain modern NTs instead of Cro Magnons and the story revolves around them. The author is quite clearly an NT since it is all written from the NT point of view and is very much Us versus Them. So that aspect can be annoying.
The interesting part is when he writes from the Neanderthal point of view. The author has clearly spent a lot of time on the internet and works in the things he has(probably) read on autism websites (possibly WP, who knows?). He works in how some autistic people communicate better by singing than speaking (which has been discussed on WP) by having the Neanderthals sing to each other. He also works in Intense World Theory by saying that the Neanderthals of the past needed hyperacute senses to pick tiny details out of a barren Ice Age Europe landscape but that this debilittates Neanderthals/autistics of the present. He also has the autistic people called LFA before the solar flare become the most succesful Neanderthals. In one scene the Neanderthals beat an Aspie to death because they consider him "half breed". Some parts of the book do feel like Revenge of the Classic Autists.
Pros:
Uses the Neanderthal Theory of Autism as a plot device which I think is the first time I've seen that done in a novel. Also weaves in Intense World Theory and other tidbits that seem gleaned from autism boards.
Cons:
Is written squarely from an NT point of view in that it is Us Vs Them and the Them are Neanderthals/Autists.
The book excerpt in the link is from the start of the book which opens with a Neanderthals vs. Cro Magnons scene set in the Paleolithic past. In that scene, you don't yet know that the DNA from the Neanderthals will be reawakened in future autists and the DNA from Cro Magnons will be reawakened in future NTs.
