Lou Arrendale, at first seems kind of a quirky introvert but you quickly realize he is a very functioning autistic 35 year old male. Lou is a bioinformatics specialist who has a gift for pattern analysis and an ability to function well in both "normal" and "autistic" worlds. When the pharmaceutical company he works for recommends that all the autistic employees on staff undergo an experimental procedure that will basically alter their brains, his neatly ordered world shatters.
His man group of friends are the autistics from the company but he also has his Wednesday fencing group and the 2 are starting to overflow together. All his life he has been taught "act normal, and you will be normal enough"-something that has enabled him to survive, but as he struggles to decide what to do, the violent behavior of a "normal friend" puts him in danger and rocks his faith in the normal world. He struggles to decide whether the treatment will help or destroy his sense of self. Is autism a disease or just another way of being?
This book is very thought provoking as what would you do if you could be normal and how would you deal with the consequences. This topic is obviously very personal to Moon and it's been interesting as while this book was written over 10 years ago I've been reading new research that discusses this very thing.
I've been a huge fan of Elizabeth Moon since she wrote Sassinak and Generation Warriors with Anne McCaffrey and her Deed of Paksenarrion series. It's probably been 15 years since I've ready anything by her and I just loved this book. She does such a wonderful job combining the personal stories with a sci fi twist.