Beggars in Spain
By Nancy Kress

A bad cover, but a short, interesting and readable book. Don't get me started about book covers ...

This award-winning novella is set in the near future; a future that might as well be today given how familiar it is. Genetic engineering is now capable of changing and improving many aspects of us, and not just the physical traits of height, strength or looks. A discovery has led to the capability of modifying the coding that relates to sleep and this leads to the birth of people who do not need to sleep at all.

The sleepless turn out to have a big advantage over those of us who spend so much of our lives in bed. They can do a lot with all the extra time: learn, practice new skills, make money. This advantage leads to worldly success but also jealousy, and eventually increasing antagonism. As history shows, humanity usually doesn't appreciate a group of people "better" than us, even if they are decent, moral, law abiding citizens. The novella follows the lead character and her "sleepless" group through a world that starts to turn against people like her.

This was a short and quick read (100 pages) but well told. A very believable tale told without unnecessary drama or excitement and better for that. The book has easily seen flaws if you think about it but nothing glaring to put one off the main point. The novella has been expanded into a full novel and there are also sequels, and I might check them out at some point, but as a satisfying tale, the short version is one I would be happy to rest at.