The Only Harmless Great Thing is a 2018 alternate history story by Brooke Bolander, exploring the conjunction of Topsy the Elephant and the Radium Girls scandal. It was published by Tor.com.
The title is taken from John Donne's 1612 poem The Progress of the Soul, and is his description of an elephant.Elephants, and Remembering the Worst of History in The Only Harmless Great Thing, by Alisdair Stuart, at Barnes & Noble; published January 24, 2018; retrieved July 5, 2019
Synopsis In a world where sign language communication with elephants became possible in the 1880s, but they were still considered animals for several decades more, US Radium has purchased several (including Topsy) to replace their litigious human employees, because elephants can tolerate higher doses of radiation. Decades in the future, a scientist tries to persuade the elephant community to allow themselves to become long-term nuclear waste warning messages.
Origins Bolander has described the story as the result of having read a Twitter poll in which Helena Bell asked which of several options she should write about next; two of the options were "elephants" and "radium poisoning".The Big Idea: Brooke Bolander, by Brooke Bolander, at Whatever.Scalzi.com; published January 25, 2018; retrieved July 5, 2019
Release The story, which is approximately 90 to 100 pages, was first released in the US as first edition by Tom Doherty Associates as a Tor.com Book. A paperback and ebook were published in Jan 2018, and it was edited by Marco Paliermi. Will Staehle provided cover design work to these.
Reception Kirkus Reviews found it to be "rich (and) poetic", and observed that its "commentary around workers' rights, animal rights, and women’s rights" produces "a work grounded in injustice and outrage" which "never feels preachy", but also noted that Bolander's "gorgeous and vigorous" prose can hinder readability, as can the "frequent scene shifts".THE ONLY HARMLESS GREAT THING, reviewed at Kirkus Reviews; published November 15, 2017; retrieved July 5, 2019 Publishers Weekly considered it to be "disjointed" and "hard to follow", with little "plot or (...) emotional hook", but nonetheless stated that Bolander's "lyrical writing is pleasant".The Only Harmless Great Thing, reviewed at Publishers Weekly, published December 11, 2017; retrieved July 5, 2019
Awards Year Award Category Result . 2018 Nebula Award Novelette 2019 British Fantasy Award Novella Hugo Award Novelette Locus Award Novelette Shirley Jackson Award Novella Theodore Sturgeon Award — World Fantasy Award Novella
References
External links Fire, Phantoms, and What Didn’t Make it into The Only Harmless Great Thing, story fragments which Bolander wrote but ultimately did not use