Review: Excellent character study and introduction to a master hacker protagonist
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 30, 2011
Good Fences is a 8,700 word short story written by co-authors  Margaret Yang and Harry R. Campion writing as M. H. Mead. Morris has agoraphobia, which means he has panic attacks in public places and social conditions that he perceives to be out of his control. The conflict revolves around Morris' interactions with his unwanted neighbours while trying to pull off a major hacking job in the middle of a blizzard with the power going out. Most of the action takes place in Morris' suburban house in the near future.Good Fences is an excellent character study. Morris is characterized well and the reader gets a good grasp of the severity of his panic attacks. The neighbours and their backgrounds are also fleshed out. The character interactions feel very natural and they're all sympathetic despite their conflict of interests.It's well-written, but I was personally expecting a bit more science fiction to enjoy it as a standalone story. There isn't much that I learned about the world-setting beyond the confines of Morris' home, and it doesn't deal with any SF concepts beyond some futuristic household appliances and familiar hacker-related tropes. However, it is a great introduction to the protagonist, as the co-authors have a novel in the works with this main character.Morris himself is an interesting character because he's the antisocial hacker type taken to the extremes. Whether you'll like him enough to read a full novel about him is quite subjective. Personally, I thought the neighbours were more memorable because they were a set of characters that I haven't seen much of in science fiction. I'd be interested in reading a novel with them as the main characters, especially the young boy.I recommend Good Fences for anyone interested in a character study and a quick read.