The Electric Forest

Tanith Lee 1979 Buy from Amazon.com

Magdala is ugly, in a society of perfect bodies and beautiful people, she is the only one born hideously deformed. The story opens with Magdala’s everyday life, encountering a stream of thoughtless, automatic insults and snubs from strangers and co-workers, we learn of Magdala’s bleak existence and her few joys.

When Magdala is offered the chance to become beautiful, through transferring her consciousness to a new body, her entire life changes. But it is not a fairytale, and she is now under the control of the sadistic and mysterious scientist, Claudio. Her own deformed body must be kept alive, if it dies, so does she. So every few days she must tend to it in it’s tank, forced to deal with it in disgust.

Tanith Lee’s ability to create a character as complex as Magdala is a trademark of her fiction. The emotions and reactions of Magdala as we first see her, deformed and hopeless, then beautiful but powerless, are described realistically and with empathy. Even though she is now able to mingle with the beautiful and the rich, she can never forget her own body waiting, and Claudio’s control over it.

This story twists and turns, and each revelation causes new developments in Magdala’s personality and her relationship with Claudio. The reasons for his strange experiment prove to be far more than purely scientific and his motives cause Magdala to question her attitude toward him.

This is a short but interesting work that draws you in to the main character’s life and mind, and although it is very enjoyable it is also quite disturbing.