Runtime

Written by S. B. Divya

Narrated by Jennifer Aquino

The Minerva Sierra Challenge is a grueling spectacle, the cyborg’s Tour de France.
Rich thrill seekers with corporate sponsorships, extensive support teams, and topof-the-line exoskeletal and internal augmentations pit themselves against the
elements in a daylong race across the Sierra Nevadas.
Marmeg Guinto doesn’t have funding, and she doesn’t have support. She cobbled
her gear together from parts she found in rich people’s garbage and spent the
money her mother wanted her to use for nursing school to enter the race. But the
race is the only chance she has at a better life for herself and her younger
brothers, and she’s ready to risk it all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: May 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9781705099582

S. B. Divya

S. B. Divya is a lover of science, math, fiction, and the Oxford comma. She enjoys subverting expectations and breaking stereotypes whenever she can. In her past, she’s used a telescope to find Orion’s nebula, scuba dived with manta rays, and climbed to the top of a thousand year old stupa. She is the author of Runtime.

Reviews for Runtime

[jdifelice-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this novella! I liked getting to know Marmeg and reading about her journey and the race. I liked the gender exploration and the new concepts of choosing to be gender neutral. The tech was also really cool. I enjoyed how Marmeg was able to get herself through her hardships and her quick thinking. I found the discussion about being natural vs modified very interesting but I wanted more from it. I was hoping for a bit more exploration on that front.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and look forward to more from this author.

[pwaites_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In a future where America’s class system is even more stratified, Marmeg Guinto is determined to run in the Minerva Sierra Challenge, a day-long race across the Sierra Nevada where all the contestants have cybernetic enhancements. But most of the contestants also have the newest gear and corporate sponsorships. Marmeg has none of these. She’s racing in the gear she savaged from rich people’s trash and with the money her mother wants her to use for a nursing program. Racing is her dream, and she’s pinning everything on it. The chance for a better life for her and her brothers depends on her winning the Minerva Sierra Challenge.It’s not a great plan. She’s gambling a lot, when realistically her chances aren’t that good. Then again, who’s she hurting besides herself? It’s money she saved, and if she fails it’s all on her. The main issue was the roadblock I had in connecting with Marmeg. “Follow your dreams” is great in theory, but I’m too cynical to believe it. This is probably more of a “me” issue than a “book” issue.Marmeg lives in a near future with technology obviously more advanced than ours. The rich are able to afford implants in their brains and other body parts to improve their abilities, creating another gap between classes. There’s also societal conflict over reliance on technology, evidenced by a mysterious bunch of transphobic mountain men Marmeg runs into during the race.In this future, there’s a third gender, moots, who seem widely accepted (although not by everyone, as evidenced by the transphobic mountain men). Marmeg wants to “become” a moot… and that’s where I become concerned. Runtime seems to be conflating gender identity with physical bodies, as being a moot means having surgery to remove physical sex characteristics. If Marmeg doesn’t view herself as a man or a woman, why does she need surgery to start referring to herself as such? I don’t know, it just feels iffy to me. If anyone knows of reviews by nonbinary reviewers, I’d appreciate if they sent me links.I think my main problem is that the plot felt so straight forward. There’s a few twists and developments, but it was just never that interesting. Oh, and since I haven’t mentioned it, Runtime‘s a novella, not a full length novel. It’s short enough that I read it in a single evening. While it’s not a story I’m ever going to revisit, others may find more enjoyment in it than me.Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.

[ladycato · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I received a signed copy of this novella from the author during Nebula Weekend.Divya's novella is fine scifi: an underdog tale of a cross-country runner with an exoskeleton built out of scrap parts. Marmeg is a heroine you can truly root for, someone who works with black market goods out of necessity to survive, but keeps her eyes on the prize of college and a better life beyond. The world-building here is really something. This is a future America with frequent body modifications and an unsettling yet realistic caste system; many things are merely implied, and I can't help but want Divya to write more works in this setting. Then there is the race itself, where Marmeg confronts the brutality of nature and her fellow competitors... and everything leads to an ending that is complicated and oh so right.This is a novella to keep in mind when I vote for the Hugos and Nebulas next year.