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willdrown's review
4.0
A short story about choice, morality, "sins of our fathers", and the long-asked question of "do needs of many outweight the lives of few?"
tl;dr at Overall, as always
Two planets float "nearby" (you know, the space "nearby", the "actually far apart" kind). One is seemingly calm, while the other boils with conflict as its citizens decide that everybody is equal, but some are more equal than others. As debates and new issues emerge, the planet is getting more and more dangerous and unpleasant for the unlucky few deemed responsible for the things done by their ancestors.
Egan is at his best writing the world in which the story is set, as he recounts the old days through propaganda from a hateful character or describes a sabotaging mission that one of the characters undertakes. For such a short story "FTEH" certainly packs a hefty amount of information on the technology and the planets, sometimes even in favor of the emotional development of the people at the tale's core. It was hard to become fully sympathetic towards some characters and not always easy to care about others. The attachment does come eventually, but getting there is not always 100% engaging.
The decision to make the story non-linear seems appropriate, used not as a way to create artificial suspense and insert cliffhangers, but rather to paint a backdrop of past deeds that colour our perception of the "current" events.
Some curious concepts were presented, my favourite probably being the "tattoos", which were a clever twist on some classic imagery and stood out as inventive and fresh, giving some life to a plotline that could have been less interesting in the hands of someone less skilled.
My biggest gripe is that the ending conflict could probably be a little more fleshed out, giving us more information on the people and pushing the reader to pick a side. But, hey, perhaps Egan specifically avoided this to make the decision seem cold and emotionally-removed, forcing one to evaluate the situation not as a caring human, but as a pragmatic mind. In any case, this is a minor setback in a good story.
Overall, a compelling, short tale about mistakes and decisions and how they affect us and those around us, set in a surprisingly fleshed-out world.
I received an ARC of this title from the publisher via Netgalley
tl;dr at Overall, as always
Two planets float "nearby" (you know, the space "nearby", the "actually far apart" kind). One is seemingly calm, while the other boils with conflict as its citizens decide that everybody is equal, but some are more equal than others. As debates and new issues emerge, the planet is getting more and more dangerous and unpleasant for the unlucky few deemed responsible for the things done by their ancestors.
Egan is at his best writing the world in which the story is set, as he recounts the old days through propaganda from a hateful character or describes a sabotaging mission that one of the characters undertakes. For such a short story "FTEH" certainly packs a hefty amount of information on the technology and the planets, sometimes even in favor of the emotional development of the people at the tale's core. It was hard to become fully sympathetic towards some characters and not always easy to care about others. The attachment does come eventually, but getting there is not always 100% engaging.
The decision to make the story non-linear seems appropriate, used not as a way to create artificial suspense and insert cliffhangers, but rather to paint a backdrop of past deeds that colour our perception of the "current" events.
Some curious concepts were presented, my favourite probably being the "tattoos", which were a clever twist on some classic imagery and stood out as inventive and fresh, giving some life to a plotline that could have been less interesting in the hands of someone less skilled.
My biggest gripe is that the ending conflict could probably be a little more fleshed out, giving us more information on the people and pushing the reader to pick a side. But, hey, perhaps Egan specifically avoided this to make the decision seem cold and emotionally-removed, forcing one to evaluate the situation not as a caring human, but as a pragmatic mind. In any case, this is a minor setback in a good story.
Overall, a compelling, short tale about mistakes and decisions and how they affect us and those around us, set in a surprisingly fleshed-out world.
I received an ARC of this title from the publisher via Netgalley
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