''Half Life'' is the 2006 debut novel of American writer and artist Shelley Jackson. The novel presupposes an

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

in which the

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

resulted in a genetic preponderance of conjoined twins, who eventually become a minority subculture.

Overview

The book tells the story of a disenchanted

conjoined twin Conjoined twins – sometimes popularly referred to as Siamese twins – are twins joined ''in utero''. A very rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 49,000 births to 1 in 189,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence ...

named Nora Olney who plots to have her twin murdered.

Reception

''Half Life'' received mixed-to-positive reviews; ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' called it "brilliant and funny,"Braiker, Brian
"Two Times a Lady"

, 2006-08-16. Retrieved on 2007-08-01. and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', while praising Jackson's ambition as "truly glorious," added that "All this razzle-dazzle, all the allusions, ndthe narrative loop-de-loops eta bit busy."D'Erasmo, Stacey.
"My Sister and Me"

, 2006-08-13. Retrieved on 2007-08-01. It won the 2006 James Tiptree, Jr. Award for science fiction and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

References

2006 American novels American alternate history novels Fictional conjoined twins James Tiptree Jr. Award-winning works HarperCollins books 2006 debut novels {{2000s-ah-novel-stub