Review: Fans and non-fans of Partials will enjoy Isolation
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 21, 2012
Of all the Novella / Novelette size stories I have read recently, Isolation is one of the better ones. Isolation is a prequel of sorts to Partials, centred around the actions of Theta-class Partial Heron (who we met at the end of Partials). Set during the Isolation War, we get alternating chapters between the infiltration of / battle with the Chinese army, and birth / training of new Partials.The birth / training scenes provide some fascinating background knowledge and eventually insight into how the Partials tick, while infiltration / battle scenes shows how the Isolation War planted the seeds of self worth within the Partials - the realisation that they should be treated better than just tools in a human war for resources.Heron is probably the best developed character in the Partials Sequence so far, and like all of Wells' best developed characters, it probably has something to do with her non-standard brain. John Cleaver is sociopathic, Michael Shipman is schizophrenic, and Heron has been designed without an empathy module (which I guess makes her the Partial version of a sociopath). Wells just has a way of giving these characters strong conflict arcs with "normal" humanity, getting them to realise they aren't normal, forcing them to try and be normal, and then watching what happens as they try to come to terms with not being normal and accept who they are.Fans of Partials will love Isolation. For people who were luke-warm on Partials but really enjoy Wells' other work (like me), I think you will enjoy this story much more than Partials. For those who haven't read Partials... I think things are pretty well explained and there aren't too many little in-jokes so there is a good chance you will enjoy it.