In anticipation of the August 2014 release of his novel, Lock In, John Scalzi has released a prequel novella that covers the rise of the epidemic which is the cause of the condition for which the novel is named.

Fifteen years in our future a virus arises worldwide that causes minor symptoms in most cases, but in extreme cases causes victims to be “locked in”.  Those experiencing this reaction to the virus are alert and aware but are unable to communicate or function in any meaningful way, they are trapped within a no longer fully functional body.

Unlocked is told in the form of interviews from doctors, scientists, politicians, journalists and regular people who were affected by Haden’s Syndrome and/or played a significant role in the world’s response to and investigation of the disease and its most devastating effects.

Unlocked is a story with an unsettling air of plausibility that examines a broad spectrum of the history of this virus in a way that feels intimate and personal.  It is a story filled with characters that are easy to relate to–they are us–and as such it overcomes a criticism often leveled at short stories, which is that there is no character development.

In Unlocked John Scalzi employs a fascinating storytelling device that engages the reader, and along the way he takes the story in an unexpected direction that will leave readers anticipating the summer release of Lock In.

For those used to John Scalzi’s space-centric science fiction, Unlocked offers an alternative from these stories both in its subject manner and its presentation.  The novella reads like the printed manuscript from a professionally edited documentary; it provides alternating viewpoints between a number of characters in a way that serves to keep the story’s pace brisk and engaging.  Scalzi’s prose is tight, unburdened by the  “he said”/ “she said” format of dialogue that is standard for most fiction.  The people interviewed in Unlocked are responding directly to the unseen/unheard interviewer, in a sense, and this manifests as a highly effective way to unveil the tragedy of this sudden epidemic and the response it generates.

In subject manner this story eschews the science fictional elements readers are used to in John Scalzi’s award-winning fiction, instead using a near-future setting to tell a story that feels less like a piece of genre fiction…at least up to a point.  I went into this novella with preconceived ideas based on the descriptions available for John Scalzi’s upcoming novel.  Those preconceptions served to put me in the right head space to engage quickly with the story while leaving me unprepared for the twist, for lack of a better way to describe it, that John Scalzi employs.  I won’t spoil it for you other than to say that I felt like Scalzi was channeling the spirit of Isaac Asimov, though in a very contemporary sense.

The way in which Unlocked progresses surprises in a very pleasing way for fans of science fiction that exists in a realm of plausibility, and it is an accessible story for any reader in that it exists in a world of familiar technology, politics, journalism…as you read the novella  you are left with the potentially terrifying sense that this type of epidemic could very well occur.  Perhaps the only “fictional” element of the story is the swift and sweeping governmental response, which itself is neatly set up by events that occur with the person for which the syndrome is named.  The political situations in the novel are certainly relevant to our current times and will, I imagine, provoke different reactions in different readers, and yet there was no place where I felt that John Scalzi was making commentary on the current political climate.  Unlocked isn’t a story meant to frighten the reader in order to open them up for a series of moral platitudes.  It is simply (and I use that term ironically, understanding that a great deal of work goes into writing, editing and publishing stories) a really good story, and one that will leave you both satisfied and yearning for more.

Mercifully we do not have long to wait.  Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden’s Syndrome is available free on the Tor.com website.  It can also be purchase for $1.99 on the Kindle or Nook.  And Subterranean Press will be releasing a print version of the novella which can be preordered here.  The ebook versions contain the opening of the novel Lock In, however that has also been released for free reading on the Tor.com website with a new chapter released every week for the next few weeks.

Unlocked proves that John Scalzi has some exciting stuff for us in the very near future.  If you haven’t read his work, now is the time to do so, and the price for your efforts is merely your time. It will be time well spent.  For those of you who are already fans of John Scalzi’s fiction, I trust you will enjoy this departure from the Old Man’s War universe.  John Scalzi knows how to structure a good story, and that knowledge is on display in Unlocked.

The accompanying art for Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden’s Syndrome is by artist Richie Pope. Irene Gallo has commissioned his work for Tor.com short stories in the past, and you can see examples of these illustrations and others on the artist’s website.