The Nothing Within, by Andy Giesler

In the prologue at the beginning of The Nothing Within, by Andy Giesler, we see two characters fighting over a terrible decision. It’s not clear until later what that decision is: nullifying all of the advanced nanotechnology in the world. (And it’s not until much later that we find out why those characters made that decision.) Centuries later, a woman named Root tells the story of her life to a group of young children. So much has changed for a society that, these days, is still not allowed to develop any kind of technology beyond 1700s-level. Stories are the only way to pass on knowledge…but it appears that those stories haven’t always told the truth.

Young Root has always been on the outs with her village of Surecreek. She was born blind, which folks have been able to get used to. The bigger problems are that she asks too many questions and is too willing to push the boundaries. She loves going over the village wall to explore. She loves to practice the Shepard’s Dance (martial arts). She really wants to know more about the super-powered Shepards and the monstrous chimerae that haunt the World That Is. Still, she manages to stay just within the bounds of acceptable behavior for years until it appears that she’s either going to develop her own super powers or that she might turn into a monster.

While Root tries to figure out what to do with herself, we get chapters from the diary of an Amish woman who is dealing with the fall out from the decision to turn off all the tech. Being Amish, Ruth herself doesn’t have much truck with advanced technology. But because the Amish seem to be the only people who know how to get along without, Ruth’s community becomes a target for “strays” who want food and shelter and for the strays who want to take over and create a little empire for themselves.

I was less interested in the lost technology or the event that created a dystopia. The Nothing Inside doesn’t dwell too much on this; a lot of the tech remains mysterious. This is a good idea, given how glutted the bookstores are with dystopias. Being the story-obsessed person that I am, I was hooked by the way that Ruth’s story became Root’s mythology. I loved seeing how a society created itself from Amish plainness, a new origin story, and lots and lots of time. The fact that all of this is wrapped around one of my favorite kick-ass, funny female characters I’ve seen in a while. I really, really liked Root. I loved sitting at her metaphorical feet, listening to her adventures.