Hella

I finished the Book Hella and found it to be a good read. It is a hard science type of book, with an humans settling and adapting to a new world. The larger part of the story is the exploration of human themes of government and community. The placement of the story on a non-Earth planet allows the exploration of these themes in a simpler setting then found on a large population planet like our home world. Although the themes of profit before stewardship resonate with our times, the settlers show have the maturity and tools humans should have in the future for dealing with the problems that occur.


The story of Hella is about a planet settled by humans that is still in the early stages. The world has a higher oxygen level in the atmosphere which leads to larger plants and animals. This led to the world getting named Hella for how hella bigger everything grows.

The main character of the story is Kyle, a young person who is almost a teenager by Earth years. He has a syndrome that causes problems with social interactions so he also has a computer implant, which provides him tips for dealing with other people. In spite of the implant, Kyle has problems with getting misunderstood or bullied, especially by Marley, the daughter of a councilor of the settlers. Captain Skyler, Kyle’s mom and his older brother Jamie all look out for him and in spite of not quite fitting in, he finds a place in the Hella.

When a ship approaches with more settlers, Kyle becomes a guide for them before they land. He creates films that explain life on Hella, and shows the variety of animals, and plants they will find in their new home. He gains respects of the colonists on Hella and creates a job for himself in creating tutorials about Hella.

However, not everyone has the same goals for how Hella. Most of the settlers feels that they should proceed slowly and work to avoid mistakes that occurred during the exploration and settlement of Earth. Others feel they should expand as quickly as possible and are willing to do whatever it takes, including murder, to achieve their goals of putting profit and power first.

When a few of the new settlers land, they bring an advanced artificial intelligence Harley with them. Kyle makes friends with the young people from the ship and Harley. As Administrator Layton works to consolidate his power and eliminate his opposition, Kyle and his new friends work with others to oppose the power grab.

Many interesting parallels in the story with current world events and written with a focus on young people finding out that they can act to change things when the adults aren’t always able to intervene in time. There is some discussion of gender that may make some uncomfortable at this point in time. However, there are young people that I suspect would appreciate the mention of gender fluidity and that they aren’t alone in their differences. Since the syndrome Kyle has is most likely based on autism, the gender fluidity fits in with that mindset, based on current reporting from many older people who are on the spectrum.

On a personal note, I did feel discomfort with how Kyle is portrayed. The authors has reported that the character was based on autism but was not meant to be defined in only that way. However, since the outward symptoms mimic autism, there is a strong feel that Kyle is autistic. I have direct experience with autism and have done research on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The research has included reports from adults on the spectrum and their experiences in life.

The portrayal of Kyle showed him fitting in with society due to a computer implant, which implies that the syndrome is viewed as a disability to be overcome by the individual. Researchers are finding there are differences in the brains of autistic people when compared to non-autistic people which cause communication issues. However, when autistic/neurodivergent people talk with other autistic people, the problems are not apparent. Since neurodivergent people are not the majority in our cultures, they are normally the person expected to compensate in communications. This can lead to issues with anxiety and depression, which do not appear to be present in Kyle. His demeanor appears to be one of comfort with his culture, yet, the reactions of others around him appear to point to expectations that he compensate to meet their communication expectations.

Based on the time setting of the story I would hope that there would be a better understanding of these issues that would lead to others, outside of family, working to better interact with the neurodivergent. Something like viewing the communications like a American communicating with a Japanese person. They might share a language such as English but both would have a different background and viewpoint of the world that could lead to misunderstanding and miscommunication. I believe it is this disconnect that led to the portrayal feeling off for myself. Kyle is portrayed as a mostly healthy individual yet the people around him have behaviors that indicate they may treat him partly as broken. Based on personal experience it does not feel like the mental health and disability would be displayed in this way.

One other point, based on the colony size and the current estimated of neurodivergent within a population, I would expect there to be more people with syndromes within the colony. Perhaps Mr. Gerrold will explore this in a future book so that Kyle has others like him and share in his type of experiences.

All in all, I enjoyed the story and I suspect the portrayal of Kyle will slip past most people and appear as a sympathetic portrayal of autism. In the end Kyle is viewed as part of the community and those who bully him are finally dealt with so that he won’t be bullied by them again. With the current view point of autistic people, adding another positive portrayal can help others to understand that world a bit more. Thank you Mr. Gerrold for another good book.