EP616: My Generations Shall Praise

[eytanz]

Escape Pod 616: My Generations Shall Praise

AUTHOR : Samantha Henderson
NARRATOR : Alethea Kontis
HOST: Divya Breed

---

The woman on the other side of the glass must be very rich and very sick. I study her face, looking for any kind of resemblance. If I’m a Jarndyce candidate, we must be related. It’s the only way she could ride my brain.

She’s a predator. I recognize my own kind.

Mrs. Helena McGraw is studying me too. The side of her mouth quirks up, twisting her face out of true. “Great-grandmother Toohey,” she says, a little too smug.

Never knew my great-grandmother, but I do a quick calculation. That makes us second cousins. Helena’s lucky, me ripe for picking on death row. Only this low-hanging peach has some say in what’s going to happen to her. Not much: a choice of deaths. But how I choose means everything to her.

Listen to this week’s Escape Pod!

[Katzentatzen]

I was not expecting this at all. Underprivileged bodies being a generation ship for a single consciousness over the centuries is a concept that makes me queasy, for sure. I was also fascinated by the the sociopathic protagonist's though processes, her blatant assertion that she didn't love anything, but her nausea and final actions betraying that she does, in her way.

[CryptoMe]

I loved this story. Great subtle handling of several moral quandaries. Loved the ending, even if I did see it coming as soon as the MC asked about what would happen if she died before the transfer. Well done.

[Jen]

I loved, loved, loved this one and I am surprised there are so few comments. The insight into the mind of a murderer was fascinating and the narration was excellent. The protagonist is undeniably a despicable person, but by the end I had started to empathize with her a bit. I particularly liked the way in which her crime (the one she was caught for, at least) was not described outright, just suggested, and how this was nonetheless enough to get an idea of the horrible things she did.

[Dangskippy]

OMGD this was my favorite! I hung to every word. I loved this story so much.

[Ichneumon]

I think the discussions of immortality were interesting in this story. I liked that she had to choose between herself and her biological line, weighing the pros and cons. I think her suicide at the end was as much to spite her cousin as it was to help her daughter, though. I thought her decision to murder her own daughter was a terrific twist, but was glad she couldn't go through with it.
I enjoyed the calculating thought process, but she must not be as smart as she thinks she is, or she wouldn't have been caught in the first place.