"Extra Storage"

 Note: the following is an excerpt from a news article from 2152:

 

"Extra Storage" courts controversy.

 

T. S. Jeck's recent holonovel "Extra Storage" had all the signs of what would be a successful novel. It was heavily promoted by its publisher, and it received favorable reviews. However, almost as soon as it came out, it became quickly bogged down by criticism, and the book is now mired in controversy. 

 

The novel follows a young cyborg for a search for meaning in the world. And there was the rub. At first people, objected simply to the author, attacking the author as a "pure" and arguing that no unaugmented could properly write a novel about the life of a cyborg. 

 

While the criticism was first restricted, the criticism grew wider attention when on Thursday, March 2nd, Sammy Geer, a prominent cyborg holoblogger presented a detailed criticism of the novel. Geer argued that the novel was not only offensive due to the author, but that the novel had made a variety of critical research failures. In particular, Geer alleged the novel failed to understand how "originals" cyborgs with implants from a very young age, interacted with "laters" who had their cybernetic implants as early adults.

 

After Geer's criticism, others joined in. Many critics complained that the novel's portrayal of cyborgs being easily hacked played into common anti-cybernetic beliefs. Critics also claimed that scenes failed to accurately depict cyborg culture; in one scene the protagonist is surprised that another cyborg has customized their implants, while critics claimed that the vast majority of cyborgs have customized implants.

 

The book also repeatedly uses the slang term "plants" for implants, a term which hasn't been popular among cyborgs for most of the last twenty years. This lead to some critics to proclaim "We are not human-plant hybrids. We are people with electronic parts."

 

Soon the controversy moved beyond just the cybernetics-rights groups online and holo reviewers. By Wednesday, "Extra Storage" was the third most trending term on the popular interplanetary SolNet, and almost none of the coverage was positive. Jeck's publisher, Holo-Universe, did not respond immediately to the controversy, which further angered cybernetics-rights groups. In a short statement Holo-Universe said that while they understood the concerns, they stood by the author and had worked carefully with the author to ensure the accuracy of the novel.

 

This is not the only recent time that media has been subject to controversy concerning authors from outside minority groups depicting minority groups. Last year, Maurice Stein's written word novel "Journey to Earth" was met by similar controversy. Stein's written word novel, published by Penguin-Hachette-Harper-Macmillan, told the story of a young Martian who has moved to New York City. In this case, Stein himself was from Earth, but he claimed that his repeated visits to Mars had given him a clear understanding of the culture. Martian groups were skeptical, and Penguin-Hachette-Harper-Macmillan canceled a promotional plan to physically send 1500 physical copies to Mars. "Journey to Earth" ultimately sold well, but not nearly as well as the publisher had been expecting. Jeck's novel may share a similar fate.