An interplanetary forms faces a ethical quandary in Erin K. Wagner’s An Unnatural Life, a novella that prioritizes considerate questions over dramatic plot points. An Unnatural Life makes a speciality of answering precisely one query: Who, or what, is responsible of murder? Aiya, a attorney residing on Europa, one in every of Jupiter’s moons, takes the case of an android named 812-three, who has been convicted of killing a human worker. Were 812-three human, the case could actually had been classified a mistrial and could be accountable for attraction. Aiya takes at the function of representing him, making use of for attraction on his behalf despite the fact that androids do now no longer have identical rights below the regulation on Europa.

Wagner shall we the tale unfold in a passive, third-individual voice, developing an environment greater harking back to nonfiction and biography than technology fiction. Events play out as though a impartial birthday birthday celebration have been simply analyzing the mind of Aiya, or frivolously dictating her actions. As a result, no ethical query or quandary is resolved or responded via way of means of the narrative; the reader is left to contemplate those questions themselves.

This documentarian voice lets in Wagner to color with the comb of a journalist, depicting occasions actually and factually. Feelings of disgust, worry or suspense withinside the reader are neutralized in desire of considerate inquiry measured with affordable skepticism. Similar to maximum nonfiction explorations of contemporary-day occasions, An Unnatural Life eschews a normal, tidy finishing for one this is greater realistic. While Aiya’s emotional and social adventure is actually now no longer uneventful, Wagner’s nihilistic take at the kingdom of humanity does now no longer depart room for a good deal to alternate via way of means of the quit of the tale.

Perhaps because of its placement past the asteroid belt, or its totally icy nature, Europa serves as an tremendous backdrop for Wagner’s stoic and bloodless novella. While Mars or Venus may also attraction to the uninitiated, Europa has usually had a enormously alien, otherworldly feel. The preference of placing additionally helps a likely setup for a sequel: a sequence of short, first-individual radio logs that report an explorer’s adventure into the unknown regions of Europa. This subplot offers the novella an exciting cadence because it bounces the reader among suspenseful exploration and court docket politicking, on occasion in the area of paragraphs.

An Unnatural Life will attraction to the logician inside its audience, people who need to relaxed up and don't forget a gently difficult ethical and moral quandary.