The fourth annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4) has advanced to the semifinals, where my team’s two semifinalists will join four others in one of the competition’s two semifinal groups, each of which will be read by multiple judging teams in order to select a top three to advance to the finals. I closed my personal reading for the round with Bisection by Sheila Jenné. 

Bisection starts on a cold, dry planet populated by people whose brain hemispheres are so thoroughly separated as to create two separate people sharing single bodies, with hyper-rational lefts handling school, work, and big decisions while the emotional rights distract themselves with leisure. But the discovery of an alien expedition sends the two leads—a scientist and her tagalong right—on an adventure far beyond their home planet, one that sees them fighting for the lives of new friends while also examining the cracks in their own society. 

Obviously, brains are complicated, and I assume without further research that separating into a rational and an emotional side is an oversimplification. But it’s a sufficiently interesting premise that I was happy to suspend my disbelief on this and a few other classic sci-fi shortcuts like automatic translators and disease-fighting bracelets. 

And once disbelief is suspended, Bisection is an easy book to sink into. Both leads are endearing, and though it’s easy to see the ways in which their stereotypes will ultimately be challenged, it’s still an enjoyable journey that brings them to a point that’s profound to the characters involved and satisfying for the reader. The aliens bring in enough danger to keep the tension high and prevent the plot from sagging in the middle stages, and the questions about the origin of the leads’ species provides a fascinating subplot that’s wonderfully paced and that ultimately dovetails nicely with the main plot. 

But as someone who loves first contact, I realized pretty early that the aliens wouldn’t be the selling point here. For all that they eat bugs and require warm, humid environments, their perspective feels quite human in most respects. That’s not so much a deal-breaker as just an area the novel chooses not to fully explore, but it’s a place where readers should set their expectations in advance: aliens are vital to the plot, but this isn’t a weird aliens book. 

A bit more of a negative is the tendency of the villains to make elementary mistakes. Several times during the course of the story, it feels like they have everything they need to prevail, but there’s always some sort of basic oversight that gets the protagonists back in play. It makes some of the mid-book plot developments feel a bit perfunctory and robs the narrative of some tension. While the smooth writing style prevents the book from dragging, and it pulls back together for a quality ending, it’s a missed opportunity to ratchet up the intensity. 

Overall, Bisection offers a fascinating premise, endearing leads, and an entertaining plot. It may not be hard to see exactly which societal assumptions will be questioned, but it’s still a lot of fun watching the characters’ eyes begin to open. The danger doesn’t always feel quite as heightened as it probably should, and it’s not a book that’s interested in digging too deeply into truly alien psychology, but it’s a good read that’s clearly earned its place in the semifinals. 

Recommended if you like: space opera, multiple characters in one head, hidden backstories, breaking down social barriers. 

Can I use it for Bingo? It’s hard mode for Self-Published and Stranger in a Strange Land and also fits Hidden Gem and Down with the System.

Overall rating: 14 of Tar Vol’s 20. Four stars on Goodreads.

SPSFC score: 7/10 for my personal score. The official team score will be determined in concert with my teammates.