Aya is a farmer who grows realms of galaxies, skilled in finding and pruning the sick and malignant. (6,434 words; Time: 21m)
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended
"The Garden Beyond Her Infinite Skies," by Matthew Kressel [bio] (edited by Neil Clarke), appeared in Clarkesworld issue 104, published on May 1, 2015.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: This story is best read as pure fantasy that simply happens to use familiar words like "galaxies" and "quarks." Read that way, it's a decent tale of Aya's realization that their tradition might be wrong and of how she grew bold enough to stand up for herself.
Con: Any story that uses terms like "galaxies" and "quarks" is going to be judged as hard SF. By that standard, it fails miserably. In scientific terms, it's just thousands of words of nonsense. Even trying to give it the best chance we could, our suspension of disbelief failed at every mention of "quarks," "mesons," "gamma rays," and (worst of all) "ultraviolet milk."
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 104)
Matthew Kressel Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Con: Any story that uses terms like "galaxies" and "quarks" is going to be judged as hard SF. By that standard, it fails miserably. In scientific terms, it's just thousands of words of nonsense. Even trying to give it the best chance we could, our suspension of disbelief failed at every mention of "quarks," "mesons," "gamma rays," and (worst of all) "ultraviolet milk."
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 104)
Matthew Kressel Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
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