Mr. Ward

SRC wks 4&5:

The past two weeks I have not really read a book per se.  What I have read is Year’s Best SF 13.  Real science fiction fans know that some of the genre’s best write short stories and this series mines all the mags and solicits original entries to find the gems.  Since there are 25 stories here, I thought I’d review one I didn’t like and two I did.

“Baby Doll” by Johanna Sinisalo.  I was a tad worried when the first story in the book had such a negative effect on me.  It’s not that this translated from the Finnish tale is poorly written; it’s the subject matter that got me.  Set in a not-too-distant future, this is a cautionary tale about kids growing up too fast via the sexualization of young girls in the media and the real world results.  I think it disturbed me because I can imagine it happening in my lifetime.  It did not make the wait for my delayed flight any more pleasant.

“Objective Impermeability in a Closed System” by William Shunn.  Hector Baratoux has always knows his daughter was not actually his.  After the death of his ex-wife, he is saddened by the fact that they don’t have a real relationship.  How do you fix that?  Build a time machine and change the starting point.

“Third Person” by Tony Ballantyne.  Hey, it’s a futuristic war story hiding it’s real purpose; discussing the best point of view for writing fiction.  What’s not for a lifelong geek/English teacher to like?!

Honorable Mention; the poem “They Came from the Future” by Robyn Hitchcock.  Yes, that Robyn Hitchcock.

I hope this qualifies for the Summer Reading Club.