The Book Plank

Lock In by John Scalzi, Lock In #1 Fifteen years from now, a new virus sweeps the globe. 95% of those afflicted experience nothing worse than fever and headaches. Four percent suffer acute meningitis, creating the largest medical crisis in history. And one percent find themselves “locked in”—fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus. One per cent doesn't seem like a lot. But in the United States, that's 1.7 million people “locked in”...including the President's wife and daughter. Spurred by grief and the sheer magnitude of the suffering, America undertakes a massive scientific initiative. Nothing can restore the ability to control their own bodies to the locked in. But then two new technologies emerge. One is a virtual-reality environment, “The Agora,” in which the locked-in can interact with other humans, both locked-in and not. The other is the discovery that a few rare individuals have brains that are receptive to being controlled b...

SFF: Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden’s Syndrome by John Scalzi A new near-future science fiction novella by John Scalzi, one of the most popular authors in modern SF. Unlocked traces the medical history behind a virus that will sweep the globe and affect the majority of the world’s population, setting the stage for Lock In , the next major novel by John Scalzi. Last week I kicked off a new feature for the blog the SFF (Short Fiction Friday) and I mentioned that I was looking for recommedations, Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome was recommended to me by Tiemen Zwaan. As you can read from the short synopsis above, Unlocked: An Oral history of Haden's Syndrom is a prequel to John Scalzi's Lock In which will be released later in August, the 14th to be exact. With this short story John Scalzi builds up the framework for Lock In, showing just all what has transpired so far surrounding the Haden's Syndrome.  The first thing that false to note is the...