Hella, David Gerrold
Hella, David Gerrold
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Hella

Author: David Gerrold

Narrator: Travis Baldree

Unabridged: 13 hr 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/16/2020


Synopsis

Hella is a planet where everything is oversized—especially the ambitions of the colonists.

The trees are mile-high, the dinosaur herds are huge, and the weather is extreme—so extreme, the colonists have to migrate twice a year to escape the blistering heat of summer and the atmosphere-freezing cold of winter.

Kyle is a neuro-atypical young man, emotionally challenged, but with an implant that gives him real-time access to the colony's computer network, making him a very misunderstood savant. When an overburdened starship arrives, he becomes the link between the established colonists and the refugees from a ravaged Earth.

The Hella colony is barely self-sufficient. Can it stand the strain of a thousand new arrivals, bringing with them the same kinds of problems they thought they were fleeing?

Despite the dangers to himself and his family, Kyle is in the middle of everything—in possession of the most dangerous secret of all. Will he be caught in a growing political conspiracy? Will his reawakened emotions overwhelm his rationality? Or will he be able to use his unique ability to prevent disaster?

About David Gerrold

David Gerrold has been writing professionally for half a century. He created the tribbles for Star Trek and the Sleestaks for Land of the Lost. His most famous novel is The Man Who Folded Himself. His semi-autobiographical tale of his son's adoption, The Martian Child, won both the Hugo and the Nebula awards, and was the basis for the 2007 movie starring John Cusack and Amanda Peet.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Justine on January 01, 2025

There are lots of interesting elements here, like the exciting colony world of Hella, and the social structure that has evolved past where we are now in terms of gender and sexuality, but still feels a pull toward old ways of thinking about hierarchy and individualism. The main conflict in the story......more

Goodreads review by Lisa on June 22, 2020

3.5 stars. Hella is a hella big place. It’s a large planet where, due to lower gravity as compared to Earth, living things grow to crazy huge size. And there are dinosaurs. And they’re HELLA gigantic. Herbivorous leviathans migrate across the plains, slowly stomping over everything in their path, and......more

Goodreads review by Starshadow on February 04, 2020

Got this as advance copy. I plunged into the story headlong, barely coming up for air. Written from first-person narrative (hard to maintain for most authors) , the protagonist is a teenager with unique problems- and skills. He was born on Hella, yet Earth is in his very genes. Hella has its own eco......more

Goodreads review by Billie's Not So Secret Diary on June 08, 2021

I've had this book on my want-to-read list since last year, but it was a disappointment! A major disappointment. The cover. Everything the blurb said, alien planet, colonists, big creatures, and big challenges to stay alive, the adventure I thought I would fall into. But I didn't. I will own up to it......more

Goodreads review by Tammy on June 15, 2020

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.The nitty-gritty: Big ideas, big dinos and lots of thoughtful commentary, Hella was an odd combination of quick thrills, fascinating facts and ve......more