Review by Karl Verhoven

Birdie Doran is part of a crew terraforming a new world employed by a company with the not at all sinister slogan of “Terracorp for Life. Life for Terracorp.” The small crew routinely enter into a form of induced sleep during which learning can be via osmosis, but which can also produce hallucinogenic dreams. Dropping out of the state can be a disorienting experience, and that’s when we first meet Birdie. The few workers are accompanied by Station, a conversational AI entity switching between the forms of various animals.

A crisis develops when Birdie and her fellow worker Heck take the unusual step of leaving their controlled environment to explore the icy planet surface and discover a facility resembling theirs. Is what happens from that point planned or mere coincidence?

Although Second Shift is at heart a science-fiction story, Kit Anderson has no interest in the traditional action aspects of such features, indicated by Station being far removed from the usual AI menace populating SF features. They’re a system of constant positive reinforcement. The ideas and possibilities are a greater attraction for Anderson, as is exploring themes of isolation and repetition and how they might affect people. She’s very good at creating the mood of boredom and at dropping in existential questions in passing. At one point Birdie is asked how they ended up on the planet, and no answer is given.

Readers are intended to ask their own questions alongside the cast. The most obvious would be whether everything we see is just an artificially generated experience during sleep. Heck is given more to questioning than Birdie, wondering if Terracorp still actually exists or whether they’re remnants of a long forgotten mission, and Anderson increases suspicion via the inclusion of Terracorp memos.

A playful creative instinct explores possibilities, not least artificial fantasy sequences, until the truth is slowly revealed. Considering the distanced presentation of small sequences, Anderson eventually surprises with emotional intensity and contemplation of the individual prisons we construct for ourselves. It makes Second Shift a thoughtful and individual exploration for anyone looking for a more personal SF story.