IDs: Bisexual, Sapphic, Terminal Illness, Chronic Illness

Author IDs: Queer 

CWs: Systemic ableism, attempted genocide, war, violence, death, non-consensual medical testing, depiction of mining accident

Architects of Memory’s protagonist, Ash, is a bisexual, terminally ill “salvager” for the Aurora corporation. The novel is set in a future where, after climate change irrevocably damaged the Earth, large corporations colonized space. In order to have access to healthcare, education, money, etc, people must be “citizens” of one of these corporations. While some people are born citizens, most work as indentured servants for a certain number of years in order to be eligible for citizenship. Ash is a former member of the Wellspring corporation on Bittersweet, a mining planet. She mined celestium, an essential mineral for spacecraft technology. Celestium is also toxic, and after long-term exposure, causes terminal illness. Ash is terminally ill with celestium sickness after exposure in a mining accident that killed her fiancé. However, she hides her illness from Aurora, her new corporation, in order to avoid accruing medical debt for treatment. If she accrues more debt, it will be longer until she is a citizen. Her treatment is incredibly expensive, and with the cost of it, she will accrue more than she could ever pay off before she dies. Instead, she hides her illness entirely, hoping that she can make citizen before she dies. 

Ash’s experience of illness and disability mirror those of queer crips in our reality. Ash has to be cautious about who she discloses her status to, as anyone that she shares her status with could “out” her to the corporation. This is relatable to many queer people, trans people, and/or disabled people. We are constantly having to navigate how much to share with people, and what dangers may arise if we do share those parts of our identity. There are some particular similarities between Ash’s experience and HIV+ people in the queer community. They must also be cautious of how and if they disclose their status, and how disclosing that may impact their relationships with friends, partners, co-workers, and medical professionals. 

Ash is constantly risking her health and safety in order to pay off her debt. She is given the option to work towards healthcare through labor or through experimental medical testing. As the novel progresses, we learn that Ash’s illness is not what she thought, and that she is a result of a non-consensual medical test done by her corporation. The choices that Ash must make between healthcare and her other rights emulate many choices that queer disabled people face in the now, as well as many others from marginalized communities. Further, the lack of consideration for her body, her rights, and her safety emphasize the ways that capitalism values money over all, even in space. Osbourne’s vision of the future doesn’t feel far from the late-stage capitalist hellscape of the present, and Ace Ratcliff’s assessment that “our fantasy worlds are reflective of the inaccessibility that occurs in our real world society” ("Why Are Spaces" 5) feels all the more true. 

Discussion Questions

1. How are capitalism, labor, war, and disability connected in this novel? What do these connections mean in the larger context of the novel? Of our reality?

2. What is this novel saying about death, dying, and terminal illness? (through Ash, through the Vai, etc)

3. How do you feel about Ash and Kate’s choice at the end of the novel? Would you have felt differently if they had made that choice at the beginning of the novel? What has changed? 

4. What is the meaning of Ash’s connection to the Vai?