Re: Stories of Your Life

Some believe that different languages change the way you perceive the world. In “Stories of Your Life”, by Ted Chiang, an alien language can change your perceptions even more profoundly. You can tell something is up from the beginning: Your father is about to ask me the question…. “Do you want to make a baby?”

Re: Entropy in 606 Words

When I spotted “Entropy in 606 Words,” by Derek Zumsteg, my first thought was, It’s the toothbrush guy! Despite the complicated subtitle (“A Fictional Exploration of Current Thinking on Localized Entropic Models and Possible Associated Unexpected Phenomena”), the first line is simple enough: Tom wake up more dumb. Bonk head on bed.

Re: The Dyslexicon

Here’s another bit of silliness. “The Dyslexicon,” by Carl Frederick is almost too silly for words. That’s must be why it turns words inside out, mixes them, and shuffles them about. Filled with all sorts of wordplay, from spoonerism to bad puns, the story presents a conversation between a dyslectic robot interview with the Head […]

Hugo 2009 roundup

Well, I’ve read all of the Hugo nominees that I’m going to. I managed the first chapter of Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross, and kept putting off returning to it. The perky tone of Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi is exactly the kind of YA that punts me right out. Then I ran out of […]

Re: True Names

Filled with computronium, parity checkers, references to running hot or slow, and sockpuppets, “True Names“, by Cory Doctorow & Benjamin Rosenbaum is a breakneck story about the struggles of numerous instances of personalities fighting in various levels of reality over love, power, and–what else?–suzeranity over the universe. Beebe is a chaotic civilization of personalities. They […]

Re: The Tear

Ian McDonald makes difficult reading. I had to machete my way through Brasyl and it took me three tries to read “The Tear.” It’s a dense story, filled interesting ideas and beautiful language on a grand scale. There’s so many peoples and places and worlds and universes, it’s just too much to take in at […]

Re: Truth

I was totally suckered me in by the sense of mystery in Robert Reed’s “Truth“. The mystery is at first embodied in a prisoner the narrator is watching in preparation for interrogating him. Ramiro, if that’s his real name, is endlessly intriguing: his effortless smiles, his persistent attempts to engage his guards in conversation, and […]

Re: The Erdmann Nexus

“The Erdmann Nexus,” by Nancy Kress has the trademark detailed descriptions and well-drawn characters, but I have a problem with its One Impossible Thing. The story opens with a slightly confusing passage about a spaceship that’s not the spaceship Dr. Erdmann imagines it to be. Then we actually meet Dr. Henry Erdmann, a physicist retired […]

Re: The Gambler

In “The Gambler,” by Paolo Balcigulpi, Ong is a Laotian who fled a despotic regime. His father was an idealist who believed in Thoreau, civil disobedience, and publishing broadsheets denouncing Laotian politics. His mother was a realist who escaped with Ong after his father was arrested. Now Ong is in LA, working for Milestone Media—a […]

Re: As Their Eyes Touched God

“As Their Eyes Touched God,” by Robin Gillespie is a great example of the impact a piece of short fiction can have. The story sneaks up on you with a couple sitting on the roof of their apartment building. Something’s going on. As it unfolds, you slowly understand how awful it is and how beautiful. […]