The novella “Home Is the Hangman” by Roger Zelazny was published for the first time in 1975. It won the Hugo and Nebula Awards as the best novella of the year.
A sentient android, technically called a telefactor, was programmed by its creators to make it totally autonomous in its space exploration missions. The result was too good and the telefactor went off on its own and disappeared into space. Years later, its space capsule returns to Earth and a short time later one of its creators is killed.
Determining whether the telefactor has returned to Earth to kill its creators is crucial. Regardless of the results, finding it is absolutely a priority but it’s an extremely delicate investigation. The assignment is entrusted to a person who has experience in the field of technology to the point of being able to keep his identity out of the Central Data Bank and to use false identities.
In a novella, Roger Zelazny puts more themes than can be found in many full-fledged novels. In the plot, there’s an intertwining of stories of the Hangman, as the telefactor who returns to Earth years after disappearing into space is called, and the narrator, whose true identity remains secret in a world where a global computer system keeps track of all human activities.
The author takes up the classic theme of the robot that rebels against its creators to develop it in a way that is far from obvious. When the Hangman’s space capsule returns to Earth and a short time later one of its creators is killed, it’s all too easy to think that the android has returned to kill its creators. The developments include the possible motives behind that violent act and a number of ethical and moral considerations related to the creation of a sentient life form and the nature of life. These are themes that have been developed in later works, not just literary ones, over the following decades.
The part of the story concerning the human protagonist anticipates cyberpunk in some ways. The idea of a society characterized by mass surveillance had already been used but Roger Zelazny develops it in the stories of the anthology “My Name is Legion” on a technological basis, with a global computer system that collects information on all human activities. The human protagonist, whose real name is never mentioned, participated in the creation of that system but manages to evade that surveillance and at the same time creates fictitious identities he uses for the very special and very delicate jobs that he agrees to do. 25 years after the publication of this novella, the TV show “Person of Interest” made its debut with a protagonist who has very similar characteristics.
The story is based in some cases on some coincidences that seem unlikely. It’s the only criticism I feel like making to a novella that offers food for thought on various topics. A few decades after its publication, “Home Is the Hangman” develops some themes that are even more important today and for this reason, I recommend reading it.
