''Beggars in Spain'' is a 1993
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
novel by American writer
Nancy Kress
Nancy Anne Kress (born January 20, 1948) is an American science fiction writer. She began writing in 1976 but has achieved her greatest notice since the publication of her Hugo- and Nebula-winning 1991 novella ''Beggars in Spain'', which became a ...
. It was originally published as a
novella
A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...
with the same title in ''
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine
''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publication ...
'' and as a limited edition paperback by
Axolotl Press in 1991. Kress expanded it, adding three additional parts to the novel, and eventually two sequels, ''
Beggars and Choosers'' (1994) and ''
Beggars Ride'' (1996). It is held to be an important work, and is often hailed for its predictions of
emerging technologies
Emerging technologies are technologies whose development, practical applications, or both are still largely unrealized. These technologies are generally new but also include older technologies finding new applications. Emerging technologies ar ...
and society.
The original
novella
A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...
won the
Hugo Award
The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...
and
Nebula Award
The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...
. The novel was also nominated for both the
Hugo Award
The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...
and the
Nebula Award
The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...
, but did not win.
Plot introduction
''Beggars in Spain'' and its sequels take place in a future where
genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...
has become a reality, and society and culture face the consequences of genetic modifications (genemods), particularly in the United States. The story revolves around the existence of the "Sleepless": individuals genetically modified to not need sleep, who have greater potential for intelligence and accomplishment than ordinary humans, called "Sleepers".
The world of ''Beggars in Spain'' is also powered by
cold fusion
Cold fusion is a hypothesized type of nuclear reaction that would occur at, or near, room temperature. It would contrast starkly with the "hot" fusion that is known to take place naturally within stars and artificially in hydrogen bombs and p ...
, named "Y-energy" after its pioneer Kenzo Yagai. Yagai also founded "Yagaiism", a moral worldview Kress based on
Objectivism
Objectivism is a philosophical system developed by Russian Americans, Russian-American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand. She described it as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with prod ...
, in which
dignity
Dignity is the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically. It is of significance in morality, ethics, law and politics as an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inalienable ...
is solely the product of what a person can achieve through his or her own efforts, and the
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...
is the basis of society. As a corollary, the weak and unproductive are not owed anything.
The novel's title comes from its primary moral question, as presented by character Tony Indivino: what do productive and responsible members of society owe the "
beggar
Begging (also panhandling) is the practice of imploring others to grant a favor, often a gift of money, with little or no expectation of reciprocation. A person doing such is called a beggar or panhandler. Beggars may operate in public place ...
s in Spain", the unproductive masses who have nothing to offer except need? This is underscored by the rift between the Sleepers and the Sleepless; the Sleepless are superior in mind and body, and easily capable of outperforming their normal cousins. All men are ''not'' created equal. Where, then, is the line between equality and excellence? How far should any superior minority hold themselves back for fear of engendering feelings of inadequacy in their inferiors?—especially if this minority is not hated and feared, but rather the elite? This question is explored, but not elaborated on by the novel.
Nancy Kress has explained that the book, and the trilogy generally, grapples with the conflicting principles of
Ayn Rand
Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;, . Most sources transliterate her given name as either ''Alisa'' or ''Alissa''. , 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and p ...
on one hand and
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...
's picture of communist-like community on the other.
Plot summary
Book I (the original novella)
Leisha Camden, born in 2008, is the twenty-first human being to have the genemod for sleeplessness. She is the daughter of one of Yagai's most noted sponsors, financier Roger Camden, who felt he had wasted far too much of his life in sleep, and his wife Elizabeth Camden, an Englishwoman who wanted a normal child. Sleeplessness confers a number of secondary benefits—higher IQ and a sunnier disposition most notably, as well as 50% more productive time (vs the time the unmodified spend asleep); Sleepless not only don't need sleep, they ''cannot'' sleep (though they can be knocked unconscious).
By the age of fifteen Leisha has become a part of the community of Sleepless, few though there are in the world; she, like all of them, is several grades ahead of her age; the oldest, Kevin Baker, has already become the most wealthy computer software designer since Bill Gates at the age of 16 (in 2020). The first she meets, Richard Keller, becomes her lover; the others become friends and confidants. Two, however, trouble her. One is Tony Indivino, whose mother had problems adjusting to his Sleepless ways and forced him to live as a "Sleeper." Tony advocates a banding-together of all Sleepless in a sort of socio-economic fortress. He predicts that the Sleepers will soon begin to discriminate against Sleepless, and is quickly proved right: a Sleepless athlete is barred from the Olympics, for instance, because her 16-hour practice days are impossible for other competitors to compete with. Likewise some cities forbid Sleepless from running "24-hour" convenience stores. Tony is eventually jailed (for illegal actions on behalf of the Sleepless community), though not before attracting the attention of Jennifer Sharifi, the other person who makes Leisha nervous. The Sleepless daughter of a movie star and an Arab oil tycoon, Jennifer's money purchases land in upstate
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
(
Cattaraugus County
Cattaraugus County (locally known as Catt County) is a county in Western New York, with one side bordering Pennsylvania. As of the United States 2020 census, the population was 77,042. The county seat is Little Valley. The county was created ...
, specifically) to create a Sleepless-only community known as Sanctuary. Finally, Leisha faces rocky relations with her twin sister Alice. By sheer chance, Elizabeth conceived a natural daughter at the same time Leisha was implanted
in vitro
''In vitro'' (meaning in glass, or ''in the glass'') studies are performed with microorganisms, cells, or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called "test-tube experiments", these studies in biology an ...
, resulting in
fraternal twin
Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...
s, only one of whom is Sleepless. Alice is constantly in her sister's shadow: "Whatever was yours was yours, and whatever wasn't yours was yours, too. That's the way Daddy set it up. The way he hard-wired it into our genes."
When Leisha is approaching her
bar exam
A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction.
Australia
Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associa ...
s at the age of 22, her father dies of old age. On the drive home from the funeral, Leisha's surrogate mother Susan Melling (not only Roger Camden's second wife, but the genetic researcher who devised Sleeplessness) reports some startling news. Bernie Kuhn, a Sleepless in Seattle, has died due to a road accident at the age of 17. Autopsy reveals every one of his organs is in pristine condition. Evidently Sleeplessness unlocks a heretofore-unknown cell regeneration system. The bottom line is that Sleepless will not physically age. Their estimated lifespan is totally unknown. They might be immortal.
Leisha passes her exams, but shortly thereafter she is informed by Richard that various acts of prejudice and violence against Sleepless have culminated in the murder of Tony Indivino by fellow inmates. The Sleepless have no choice but to retreat to Sanctuary. However, Leisha is sent out on one last errand of mercy: a Sleepless child, Stella Bevington, is being abused by her parents. Alice turns the tables by masterminding and almost singlehandedly carrying out the kidnapping, not only saving both Leisha and Stella but proving that even the most privileged and elite can be beggars too. Leisha is left with the revelation that trade is not linear, but rather an ecology, and that today's beggar may be tomorrow's savior.
Book II (2051)
The book opens on Jordan Watrous, Alice's son (born 2025), an employee at a We-Sleep factory. The "We-Sleep" movement is an attempt by founder Calvin Hawke to rejuvenate working-class pride by buying and selling only products made by Sleepers; despite the fact that the products themselves are often shoddy and over-priced, revenues have been lucrative. He shepherds his aunt Leisha on a tour of the factory; afterwards she meets with Hawke to "rail against stupidity;" since America is founded on the premise that all men should be ''treated'' equally, encouraging class hatred will only lead to destruction.
Leisha then receives an unusual client at her law firm: a genetic researcher, Dr. Adam Walcott, who claims to have discovered a post-partum
gene therapy
Gene therapy is a medical field which focuses on the genetic modification of cells to produce a therapeutic effect or the treatment of disease by repairing or reconstructing defective genetic material. The first attempt at modifying human DN ...
to turn Sleepers into Sleepless. Unfortunately for him, his research has been stolen from the safe-deposit box in which he left it; even worse, his patents have already been filed ... In the name of Sanctuary, Incorporated. Thankfully, the research is incomplete, but evidently Sanctuary is concerned about keeping its edge. Leisha asks Susan Melling to attempt to complete it and determine its legitimacy.
Leisha also discovers that Sanctuary Council leader-for-life Jennifer Sharifi has decided to institute a loyalty oath, in which all Sleepless swear to place the needs of Sanctuary above their own. Jennifer has always been convinced of the need to protect her people from the Sleepers, but her husband, Richard Keller, has his own reservations about the paranoid atmosphere his children are being fostered in. He doesn't think his wife is capable of murder, though ... Until Jennifer is indicted for the murder, via sabotage and destruction of his vehicle (a We-Sleep scooter), of Dr. Walcott's primary research partner.
''The People vs. Jennifer Fatima Sharifi'' is a circus. Though the sabotage was clearly performed by a Sleepless, a piece of jewelry that serves as Sanctuary's equivalent of a garage-door opener was found on the scene, which no Sleepless would be sloppy enough to leave behind. Meanwhile, Leisha's life is slowly unraveling: Sanctuary has voted in the oath of solidarity and, furthermore, voted to ban Leisha for life; her partner Kevin Baker chooses to take the oath and abandon her; Stella Bevington, the closest thing she has to a daughter, is considering the same; and Susan is dying of an incurable brain condition. Fortunately, Alice comes to save the day, knowing (evidently through twin
ESP
ESP most commonly refers to:
* Extrasensory perception, a paranormal ability
ESP may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment Music
* ESP Guitars, a manufacturer of electric guitars
* E.S. Posthumus, an independent music group formed in 2000, ...
) that her sister needs her; Stella confesses that the pendant is hers, which was stolen from her at a party; and Susan discovers that Walcott's research is a sham, completely infeasible. With that information, Leisha now knows who has orchestrated the entire campaign: Calvin Hawke. He stole the pendant from Stella at a house-warming party Alice threw; he propagated the research, which he knew to be false, hoping that Sanctuary would react as it did; and, for reasons that remain unspecified, he had Walcott's assistant killed. The volume ends with Leisha on retreat with Susan and Alice, and Jennifer informing her children that she will keep them safe: Sanctuary is moving into space.
Book III (2075)
In the year of America's tricentennial, all is placid. America has re-stratified itself into a three-tiered society. At the bottom are the "Livers," an under-educated but well-fed 80% of the population who enjoy a life of leisure. Above them (or below them) are the "donkeys," the genemod white-collar force who run the infrastructure and are elected into office by the Livers, earning votes via
bread and circuses
"Bread and circuses" (or bread and games; from Latin: ''panem et circenses'') is a metonymic phrase referring to superficial appeasement. It is attributed to Juvenal, a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE, and is used c ...
. Finally, the Sleepless are the source of just about all technological, genetic and scientific advances.
Two new faces swiftly turn the tables. One arrives at Leisha's Susan Melling Foundation in
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
, a ten-year-old Liver named Drew Arlen. He is intent on enrolling in the Foundation, which (in Leisha's words) "asks beggars why they're beggars and provides funding for those who want to be something else." Drew has charisma and a harmless nature, but runs afoul of Eric Bevington-Watrous, second son of Jordan and Stella; a fistfight between the two leaves Drew paralyzed from the waist down. Attending various private schools, Drew finds a flair for artistic expression, but consistently fails or flunks out of each of them; by nineteen he has becomes a delinquent. Eric forces him into an experimental therapy in which the pathways between the
limbic system
The limbic system, also known as the paleomammalian cortex, is a set of brain structures located on both sides of the thalamus, immediately beneath the medial temporal lobe of the cerebrum primarily in the forebrain.Schacter, Daniel L. 2012. ''Ps ...
and the
neocortex
The neocortex, also called the neopallium, isocortex, or the six-layered cortex, is a set of layers of the mammalian cerebral cortex involved in higher-order brain functions such as sensory perception, cognition, generation of motor commands, sp ...
are strengthened, supposedly forcing the brain to cope with its more primitive, bestial nature. In Drew, the treatment backfires, and he gains access to a sort of genetic
collective unconscious
Collective unconscious (german: kollektives Unbewusstes) refers to the unconscious mind and shared mental concepts. It is generally associated with idealism and was coined by Carl Jung. According to Jung, the human collective unconscious is populat ...
, which he perceives in visual terms (in the
next book, in which Arlen is a first-person narrator, he constantly describes people, things, concepts and emotions as having shape, texture, color and so on). Drew learns to project these shapes in holographic form and becomes the Lucid Dreamer, a performance artist who places his viewers in a waking dream, the contents of which are determined by the holograms.
The other new face is born at Sanctuary Orbital: Miranda Serena Sharifi, the first of the "Superbrights." Her genemods cause her brain to operate at three or four times the speed of a standard Sleepless, at the cost of muscle control (she and all the other Supers, including her brother Tony, twitch, jerk and vibrate with "manic vitality"). Within the first few years of Miri's life, it becomes clear that she and all the other Supers think differently than do normal Sleepless; their thoughts take the form of "strings," which are entire piles of data arranged in geometric shapes and involving analogy and cross-reference. Her growth is set against a Sanctuary becoming even more careful and even more suspicious of the earth-bound Sleeper haters. Five children have been conceived that, through
regression to the mean
In statistics, regression toward the mean (also called reversion to the mean, and reversion to mediocrity) is the fact that if one sample of a random variable is extreme, the next sampling of the same random variable is likely to be closer to it ...
, lack the dominant Sleeplessness gene, and Jennifer is obsessed with declaring Sanctuary independent of America. To that end, Sharifi Enterprises begins research into an airborne, instantly-fatal
biological weapon
A biological agent (also called bio-agent, biological threat agent, biological warfare agent, biological weapon, or bioweapon) is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, fungus, or toxin that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterroris ...
which can be used as a deterrent.
Book IV (2091)
In 2080 the United States loses its exclusive patents on Y-energy, leading to a massive economic depression. In October 2091, a new sliding-scale tax package is proposed to take advantage of the huge revenues going to Sanctuary Inc. and all associated businesses, which are, after all, incorporated in America. (To be specific, Sanctuary Inc. will be taxed a staggering ''92%'' of total income.) With this in mind, Jennifer and the Sanctuary Council prepare to bid for their independence.
Miri starts the volume with a trauma: her beloved younger brother Tony receives neural injury in a playground accident. Regardless of the total damage to his person and faculties, he will doubtless need to sleep for at least a portion of the day. Miri flies into a rage when Jennifer reminds her of Sanctuary's Yagaiist, community-first philosophy, and must be sedated; when she wakes, she is told that Tony has died of his injuries. Regardless, she and the other Supers band together for defense, recognizing that the Sleepless of Sanctuary have become so nervous of outsiders that even the Supers, created by the community and to serve it, constitute a threat due to their sheer alienness. Miri names the group "the Beggars."
Miri's thought-strings—indeed, the thought-strings of every Super—have had structural flaws from the beginning, gaps where information ought to go that they don't have. Miri rectifies this gap when she is introduced to one of Drew Arlen's Lucid Dreaming concerts; the ability to tap into their unconscious allows the Supers to make a number of technological, medical and conceptual breakthroughs, including allowing Miri to cure the twitching and stuttering. The Beggars decide to install defensive overrides throughout Sanctuary's systems so that they can take over if necessary, discovering in the process the Sharifi Enterprises bioweapon. Packets of the organism have been secreted in several cities across the United States and it can be deployed at the touch of a button.
On 1 January 2092 Sanctuary declares independence from the United States of America. The
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...
decides to wait until non-payment of taxes on January 15 and then seize the orbital as collateral, but before then Sanctuary demonstrates its bioweapon on a cattle-ranching space station purchased solely for the purpose (all human tenants were evicted prior to the demonstration). The stand-off is averted when Miri and the Beggars use their overrides to force Sanctuary to stand down. Jennifer refuses Miri's offer to surrender in exchange for immunity to the rest of the Council, proving that "all of Sanctuary's political philosophy ... comes down to
ennifer'spersonal needs."
The novel ends with Miri and the Superbrights moving to the Susan Melling Foundation complex in New Mexico, and Leisha deciding to act as the counsel for the defense in Jennifer Sharifi's trial. There are, after all, no ''permanent'' beggars in Spain.
Translations
*
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
: "'", 1997, Heyne Verlag, Munich,
*
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
: "'" ("Spanish beggars"), 1997,
*
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
: "'", 1997, Bolsillo Byblos,
*
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
: "'", 1996, Prószyński i S-ka,
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beggars In Spain
1993 science fiction novels
Hugo Award for Best Novella winning works
Postcyberpunk novels
Works originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction
Nebula Award for Best Novella-winning works
Hard science fiction
Biological weapons in popular culture
Genetic engineering in fiction
Works by Nancy Kress