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A review by mikewhiteman
Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 130 by Lavie Tidhar, Zhang Ran, Andy Dudak, Fran Wilde, Matt Jones, Neil Clarke, Robert Reed, Nicole Kornher-Stace, Bo Balder, Joe Haldeman, Chris Urie, Rich Larson
2.0
An Age Of Ice - Zhang Ran **
Comfortable tale of cryogenic freezing in near-future China. Touches upon issues of the frozen being awoken, now younger physically than their children, mostly leading to a simple point about people missing out on living life when freezing is easily available.
Travelers - Rich Larson **
Rushes through a familiar story of a woman being woken up early during a space voyage and finding out why. Never establishes much tension, although the whiny self-justifications of the man also woken ring reasonably true.
The Significance Of Significance - Robert Reed ***
Imagines the consequences of finding out the universe is a small-scale simulation, and further that each individual person is proved to be their own miniature universe. Deals with the solipsism - almost nihilism - following this discovery in one woman, although the growth and lessons learned are more mundane "the world doesn't revolve around you" type, but the literalisation of these ideas keeps it interesting enough.
The Bridgegroom - Bo Balder ***
A striking central idea, the young man taken away from his life studying medicine in a post-collapse world to guard a sentient bridge, but the plot feels rushed again and the resolution weightless.
Last Chance - Nicole Kornher-Stace **
This could have done a lot more with using the child's POV as the daughter of a torturer, but descends into standard post-apocalyptic slaves and slavers wandering through the wastes and scavenging for old tech.
Forever Bound - Joe Haldeman *
In the same world as Forever Peace, conscripts are "jacked" together to link their consciousnesses and control remote humanoid soldiers. There is a war, because there is always a war, but there isn't anything to it and people falling immediately in love and having SF sex while "jacked in" (flying! in space!) is about the most boring use of one.
The Oracle - Lavie Tidhar ***
Juxtaposes the period leading up to the initial creation and spread of AIs with the future Joining of a young woman with one in order to become an Oracle. The world created is the main draw, a lush and contemporary vision of the reasonably near future, with a line drawn neatly from those formative days to the fully developed and all-encompassing Conversation.
Comfortable tale of cryogenic freezing in near-future China. Touches upon issues of the frozen being awoken, now younger physically than their children, mostly leading to a simple point about people missing out on living life when freezing is easily available.
Travelers - Rich Larson **
Rushes through a familiar story of a woman being woken up early during a space voyage and finding out why. Never establishes much tension, although the whiny self-justifications of the man also woken ring reasonably true.
The Significance Of Significance - Robert Reed ***
Imagines the consequences of finding out the universe is a small-scale simulation, and further that each individual person is proved to be their own miniature universe. Deals with the solipsism - almost nihilism - following this discovery in one woman, although the growth and lessons learned are more mundane "the world doesn't revolve around you" type, but the literalisation of these ideas keeps it interesting enough.
The Bridgegroom - Bo Balder ***
A striking central idea, the young man taken away from his life studying medicine in a post-collapse world to guard a sentient bridge, but the plot feels rushed again and the resolution weightless.
Last Chance - Nicole Kornher-Stace **
This could have done a lot more with using the child's POV as the daughter of a torturer, but descends into standard post-apocalyptic slaves and slavers wandering through the wastes and scavenging for old tech.
Forever Bound - Joe Haldeman *
In the same world as Forever Peace, conscripts are "jacked" together to link their consciousnesses and control remote humanoid soldiers. There is a war, because there is always a war, but there isn't anything to it and people falling immediately in love and having SF sex while "jacked in" (flying! in space!) is about the most boring use of one.
The Oracle - Lavie Tidhar ***
Juxtaposes the period leading up to the initial creation and spread of AIs with the future Joining of a young woman with one in order to become an Oracle. The world created is the main draw, a lush and contemporary vision of the reasonably near future, with a line drawn neatly from those formative days to the fully developed and all-encompassing Conversation.