Bounty

What a fantastic read! I was enthralled by this particular novella, and its almost Shakespearian dialogue. Cole met a number of people who spoke in soliloquies, which allowed the reader to learn a lot about a character or situation in a very short amount of time. The writing felt very approachable, which allowed me to take the place of Cole during certain portions of the text. Although Cole was somewhat predictable in his choosing to do the illogical thing in every given situation, it did not distract from the story's overall plot. For instance, after Ned Ventor rescued Cole from an unpleasant slavery experience, I half-expected him to at least make it back to Ventor's ranch for a little while before running off, but I soon realized that would make too much sense and wouldn't provide a very exciting plot line for the story, so I was not at all surprised when he ran away after escaping from the boat. I think this novella does a great job of capturing the human element of both the Flawed and the Normals: while there are some normals who are brutal and violent towards Flaweds, the majority of them feel bad for them, but see no way of changing the current system. I found this to be very realistic, because in many circumstances where one group of people is supposed to hate another, they really don't. It is just difficult to change the prevailing system or change the mindsets of those who do hate.

If there is more to this story, I would really love to read it because it is well-written and exciting, in my opinion. I enjoy stories written from the perspective of a first-person narrator because they allow me to more effectively connect with the events that take place within the prose. I took away some interesting insights from this novella, including the power of mission, no matter how vague that mission may be. Cole knew that he wanted to reach Connie, and suffered immensely in order to get to her, but upon reaching her, realized that he didn't exactly know what to do next. His mission of reaching her was so strong that when he finally did reach her, he felt the desire to go off on another mission because he felt comfortable about Connie's situation. Mission is a very powerful force, and I like the realism used to portray Cole's character in this story: he does not pretend to be an exceedingly manly or moral man, he is just a guy who wants to make sure his sister is okay. This is represented well after he falls off the train and is beaten into slavery by Chick Krennup, selling out the doctor who took off his bracelet, and denouncing Connie as a slut. Ultimately, this situational practicality really resonated with me and left me feeling satisfied with the story upon completion of the reading.