Volatile Memory fulfills the “purple” square on CBR17 bingo.
Generally speaking, I don’t consider myself a sci-fi reader, but Volatile Memory kept coming across my feeds because it’s sapphic and I finally gave into the promo, and I’m glad I did because this ended up being a really interesting story. I’d put it in the same conversations as books like Automatic Noodle and The Stars Too Fondly for the ways it explores transness and gender through presentation as well as whether memories make a person or if a body makes a person.
This novella is especially interesting in how it is told in second-person, although technically maybe it’s first-person? HAWK is the perspective character, but she is talking to Willa as if Willa is the reader, and I really like how that created the story and the closeness it brings the reader. There are several iterations of individuality, from Willa’s choices to change her body despite corporation standards to how tightly Willa and HAWK are woven together when she puts the mask on. Willa’s story especially was really powerful because she went against all kind of societal and family pressures so she could be true to herself and her identity. The lengths she went to to ensure all her records showed her as a woman and erased her previous name and identity markers was really compelling and I’m sure relatable to many other trans people.
I’m very excited to read the sequel and I’ll be interested to see others’ thoughts about this book. Volatile Memory is so queer and trans and angry in all the best ways. This was a very interesting story and I really enjoyed the perspective choices, as well as how things were revealed and themes were explored. I love this current trend of queer scifi exploring what makes a person a person and not just a collection of data, as well as the power of having our bodies reflect our self as we wish to be seen and understood.