He, She and It

An absorbing and compelling read. It was absolutely incredible to see my culture on the pages of a science fiction novel set in the future; each sly reference tickled me and the use of the Golem of Prague legend as allegory was effective. I especially liked that certain references or terms were not spelled out for the reader, at least not right away or in so many terms - the reader is simply expected to be literate in Jewish culture, religion, and history.

I enjoyed that each character was complex, that the sympathetic characters were not actually always sympathetic, but rather had their own warts. It would have been easy for an author to make Shira Shipman a Mary Sue, but no - Shira is prickly, more than a bit self-centred, and anxious. I suspect Malkah was a bit of an avatar for the author, but this is actually fun for the reader.

Since the book was published in 1991, there are a few bits of terminology that haven't aged well - the use of the word “autistic” is an example. It comes up a few times and betrays the author's belief (at that time) that autistic people are incapable of emotion or expression, and have minimal quality of life. This isn't a theme of the book, so it doesn't mean I won't recommend this title, but it jumped out at me as a reader in 2021.