For anyone who enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time,
this book is narrated in the first person by Lou, an autistic young man
trying to cope with who he is. He works for a high-tech IT company in
code-breaking, due to his extraordinarily developed pattern-finding skills.
The company offers him the chance to "be normal" - to follow an experimental medication programme it is hoped will cure autism. The book develops Lou from a rather strange character into one the reader empathises with to the point where it is he who seems "normal" and our everyday world which is strange, with all its unspoken messages and things we take for granted. It is billed on the sleeve as a "near-future thriller", but has a lot to say about finding out who we are and how we fit into our society. I thought it well researched and written and I found it very useful in understanding and relating to my eldest, who has a touch of Aspergers'.

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This book is now out on a ring, which is now closed.

Ring members (current reader is in bold):

• Detailista (Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom)
• Vespa (Weymouth, Dorset, United Kingdom)
• VauxhallCrosser (London, England, United Kingdom)
• Herrgirl (Harrow, Greater London, United Kingdom)
• ChelseaGirl (Faringdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom)
• Wilksie (Sheffield, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom)
• Aubriel (Sheffield, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom)
• Cayenne-UK (Southampton, Hampshire, United Kingdom)
• MellowDaisy (Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, United Kingdom)
• LyzzyBee (Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom)
• Matth3w (Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom)
• SunflowerGirl (Pocklington, East Yorkshire, United Kingdom)
• SpaceCadetlv426 (Hull, East Yorkshire, United Kingdom)
• YowlYY (Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom)
• Spike1972 (Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom)
• Moondreamer (Sandhurst, Berkshire, United Kingdom)

I loved this book, thank you so much for putting this out on a ring La Fontaine!

I have bought a copy of this for permanent collection.

I loved the motif of light and dark as a thread on which to hang Lou's thoughts about time and relationships. Some of the words in this theme were so beautiful and profound.

At over 400 pages this is a really well developed story but doesn't feel 'heavy' though I thought it might have benefited from being 100 pages shorter to give it more pace.

The descriptions of fencing gave a vivid sense of the dance that takes place between two people competing.

One of my favourite reads this year.

Arrived safely this morning. I will get to this book later in the week hopefully.

Wow this is possibly the most powerful book I have read all year. With the cahracter of Lou Arrendale, Elizabeth Moon offers one of the clearest explanations of what it is like to be autistic that I have ever seen.
I found myself wondering what we would do if my son was offered a treatment to cure his autism. Would we take it? Initial maternal instinct says if it makes his life easier then yes of course we would.....but then Aspergers is what makes my son the person he is, I love my son unconditionally, therefore I do not want him to change so the answer is no. It is other people who have a problem with him, so maybe they should be the ones to change.
I will be buying a copy to pass round my family and friends in the hope that it will help them to gain a little insight into the way my son's brain works.
Now passing on to the next reader

That was a close one, I was throwing out a pile of papers when I spotted one of those "you have a package waiting at the post office" leaflets, which had been cleverly hidden, and we don't even have a cat or small child. The date on it was last week, and it suggested that they only keep parcels for a week. Hurrying down to the collection office, I was pleasantly surprised to find this book, also enclosed, a very nice and friendly card from the previous ring member (thanks vespa) and some contraband :). The book has a quote of "absolutely compelling" on the front cover by one of my favourite authors, Greg Bear, so I'll trust in his judgement, and I'll post another entry when I've read it. Really looking forward to this one.

Received some time ago as part of a ring and I think I forgot to journal it back then. I have recently finished it and enjoyed it immenselty, despite a slight anti-climax. I was troubled from the beginning by my imagination filling in Kevin Spacey's face as that of the main protagonist, Lou. I don't know why, I like him as an actor, and think he would do the role justice if there were ever a film made of this book. But I won't hold my breath, it's not a very "Hollywood" story, although I think it wouldn't be too bad to make, so if there are any financial backers out there, I'm willing to direct. All-in-all a very worthwhile read.

What joy! Two books arrived this morning and one yesterday, so now I have to decide the order in which I read them. Thanks for sending this on, VauxhallCrosser, and also for the mini Winnie, he's sweet!

One of the best things about Book Crossing is that it introduces you to books you would never have considered. I don't read sci-fi or fantasy, so the title and cover illustration would have made me pass it over. Thank you, laFontaine, for giving me the opportunity to read this wonderful book.

I understand that the author has an autistic son and here she has given us a clear insight into the mind of a functioning autistic adult. For Lou the world of "normal" people is a place that is sometimes orderly and understandable and at other times, confusing and duplicitous. He is a meticulous observer and his thoughts on why people do what they do made me smile in sympathy. His observations of people, their behaviour and life in general are so logical that at times I seriously wondered who was the "abnormal" one!

There is some science fiction in the book, in the medical science involved. But mostly this is the empathetic story of how Lou, who is "different" has learned to live and function in the "normal" world.

I'll pass this on to chelseagirl when I see her next week, as she won't be ready to read it for a few days.

The was passed on to me by my Mum at my rather fantastic hen weekend - thank you :0) Really looking forward to reading it.

Wow, what a fantastic book! It took a while to get used to Lou's stilted way of talking, but I loved that the author wrote it from his perspective, in his personal style. There were times when Lou's understanding of the world really made me wonder who is "normal" as there are so many oddities that we accept as being okay, that logically don't make any sense at all. I found the ending a little sad (but won't give anything away) but most shocking was the idea that Lou and his friends - who were all functioning perfectly well in society - should ever be asked to change. Very sad.

I'll pass this on to the next person asap. Many thanks for giving me the chance to read this unusual novel.

Arrived this morning, thank you chelseagirl :-)
I have a couple of ring books to go first but I'm looking forward to reading this as soon as possible.

This book has been on my wish list for a while and I had heard good things about it but I found it very disappointing. I thought the basic theme - should we ‘cure’ autistic people if we had the chance - was poorly thought through.
Lou and his friends were all very highly functioning on the autistic spectrum, they would probably be classed as having Asperger’s Syndrome. I wish society accepted people with Aspergers rather better of course – they are just a little ‘different’ and I’m all for accepting people who don’t quite conform to what is expected. But what about autistics who can’t communicate, can’t cross a road, have to be supervised every moment of their lives, are a danger to themselves and others? Should we cure them?
The author doesn’t come close to thinking about this and I found it very annoying that she lumps all autistic people into one easy grouping, Aspergers, writes about them as if they were all the same and completely ignores most of the terrible problems that many autistics face. Anyone reading this book would think that all autistic people were as capable as Lou.
I know that people with Aspergers can have autistic traits that can be desirable and useful to them and others but they still have to live in our society. I don’t know how old Elizabeth Moon’s autistic son is, but it is easy, while someone lives with their parents and are supervised and helped, to say that autism is part of their personality and shouldn’t be changed. At least the author realises that once out in the real world, even Aspergers is frightening, socially isolating and dangerous. People with Aspergers don’t want to be isolated and very much want to understand social cues. No-one would want to wipe out an autistic’s personality but why would we not want a ‘cure’ that would help them cope?
I love my son deeply and unconditionally too but wish he could be helped to live a life that was safer and happier.

Sending on to Aubriel tomorrow.

Found on my mat yesterday morning. Many thanks :-)

Like a few of the other journallers for this book, I also have an autistic son and it really did have me thinking. I liked the presentation of an ASD person, very often I find many are quite stereotyped or unrealistic. I actually like they didn't label these people aspergers as my son has a high functioning diagnosis, but not Aspergers and it seems to be assumed if you are not an Aspie then you must be on the low function end of the spectrum and I don't like sweeping generalisations - I'm awkward like that ;-)

The big issue was that of a 'cure'. It is such a complicated issue and I know a very contentious issue. I used to know many adult autistics that were happy to be autistic and showed disdain for those who held up neurotypical as the prescribed for ideal. My own opinions are far more confused and this book does not change any of that, though I also liked the change in Lou that by curing autism we essentially destroy the person as the two are intertwining and that is a very high price to pay. However, I do wonder if the ultimate ending was an attempt to be all things to all people.

Posted off to Cayenne this afternoon.

I received this by post from Aubriel at the weekend. I'll get to it asap.

What a wonderful book. I finished this a few days ago, and I haven't stopped thinking about it since. It raises so many questions about what is normal or not-normal, and what could be considered acceptable in society. Not to mention the ethical issues, and the questionable ethics sometimes found in large corporations.

This is a sci-fi novel, although there isn't a laser pistol, robot or other stereotypical sci-fi cliche in sight. But the precept of the story couldn't exist unless it had a futuristic (ie sci-fi) setting. This would be an excellent book to present to sci-fi haters to show them how the genre can used.

This is one of those books that I wanted to share with others. My Wife and my Daughter would especially enjoy it, but alas other people on the ring are waiting for it and as I have had it a while, off it goes to MellowDaisy!

Stop Press: detailista has kindly sent us a new copy of the book for my family to read. It can be found here : Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon

This arrived today, thank you to Cayenne-UK for sending it to me and to LaFontaine for starting the ring. I have got quite a few ring books before this one but I'm trying very hard to get through them as quickly as possible so hopefully it shouldn't be long before I pass this on.

Firstly I have to say sorry for holding on to this for a fair amount of time!

It did take me a little while to get round to reading this book but once I started it I finished it within a week (which is quick considering other stuff I had on)! I found it very easy to read and really felt for Lou. I felt as though I understood him and I have to say that I didn't want him to have the treatment and change, although that is only my opinion and I won't spoil it for other people by saying what actually happened. Overall I enjoyed the story and feel like it has given me an insight into understanding autism.

I have PMed LyzzyBee and will send this on as soon as I have an address.

Received today - of course, along with another bookring. But I should get to it within the week.

This is the 1,001st book I've caught - eeps!

What a wonderful book - like many of you, I would not have picked it up in a bookshop and I was even a bit doubtful when it came out of the envelope! But I read all your comments and that helped a lot.

First of all - the Aspergers/autism thing - I think a lot of the jargon now includes "on the autistic spectrum" rather than autistic vs aspergers, so I think it is reflecting that, taken on into the future (that would surely have been discussed on the groups she used for her research). Also to reply to wilksie, there *were* more classically autistic people mentioned - the manager's brother Jeremy, for one, and other people Lou thought about. I think the idea was that they were at one point able to bring classic autistics "up" to asperger level, and that babies born at that point were "cured" altogether.

Anyway, I loved the book - one of my best reads of the year, if not ever. I am so grateful for being on the ring and getting to read it! I thought it was very moving, I found myself shouting at the book, and crying (in my office at break time - great!) at times. Wonderful!

Passing on to matth3w now, who has been champing at the bit to read it but must finish our other together-read first!

RELEASE NOTES:

Controlled release in the house to Matth3w, so the JE's reflect real life!

Note: Have PM'd Moondreamer for next address 03/09/06 (I'm the one with the brown paper and labels!)

Have been passed this by LyzzyBee. Just started it but hope to have it finished relatively quickly.

Sorry - LyzzyBee again. PM'd Moondreamer - she is a bit swamped with bookrings at the moment so she would like to move to the end - LaFontaine, would you be able to rearrange the list?

Have PM'd sunflowergirl today to check she wants it next.
Update: sunflowergirl is happy to have it and confirms the address I have for her is correct. I will make release notes when we send it on.

Matt is still reading it.

Well I finished this one really quickly. First book in as long as I can remember that I've actually got up early so I can read it before starting work etc.

Very interesting premise, the near future setting works very well. I also thought the characters were very well realised - all the autistic people are sensitively portrayed and I've definitely come across bosses like Crenshaw in my time!

I don't really want to say much more for fear of spoiling it for others suffice to say that if you like near future fiction which isn't all cyberpunk then you should enjoy this one very much.

RELEASE NOTES:

Posting to sunflowergirl this afternoon

Note that the book was getting a bit soft and fluffy around the corners, spine, and cover edges, so I've taken it upon myself to go all round it with some magic tape so it won't deteriorate further- it's got a way to go before it goes home. Hope you don't mind me patching it up a bit!

I've just got home and found this book waiting for me, thanks lyzzybee for sending it. I've got a couple of books to read ahead of it but I shouldn't be too long getting to it. I'll journal again when I've finished it.

I still haven't had chance to read this book so I've passed it on to spacecadetlv426. I may read it quickly after him but I thought I'd better get it passed on for now. Thanks anyway for letting me join this ring.

I forgot all about journalling this when my girlfriend passed it on to me. Sorry about that. I'm about a third of the way through the book but am so busy at uni that I'm just not going to have time to read much in the next few weeks. Sunflowergirl is also bogged down with college work. So, we're going to PM the next person on the list and send it on as soon as we can. Thanks for letting us join this ring though, we both appreciated it.

My mum very kindly took this to the Post Office for me this morning so the book should arrive with its next reader very soon.

The book has just arrived :) Thanks for mailing it, and the timing couldn't have been more appropriate, as I didn't return home until this weekend.
I noticed that both sunflowergirl and spacecadetlv426 haven't read i.e. finished reading this, so shall I send it back to you guys once I am finished with it?
I am currently midway through another book, so this one shall be my next read.

Wow, this has been through a few hands :O)

Well, now it's safely in mine, so it'll join Mt Toobie, but hopefully for not too long.

I should've done this JE a little while ago to say I've started this book. I'm a few chapters in now.

I'm a bit late doing this JE, sorry.

I enjoyed this book a lot, and identified quite well with the characters. I especially liked finding out how Lou and the other "Autists" thought and acted. The "bad guy" was a bit predictable - though I don't know if the author really meant it to be anything other than obvious - and I felt the ending a little hurried. This could be explained easily if there's a sequel to this book. I haven't tried to find out, but I don't know of one.

I'm awaiting an address for Moondreamer, but I'm not sure if PMs are getting through, so I'll try again today.

Hoping to get this into the post today..

Thanks, Spike1972 - it's arrived safely. (In theory!) I have a few free days ahead of me, so hope to read it then.