Tuesday, October 13, 2015

And You Shall Know Her By The Trail Of Dead, by Brooke Bolander

Read this issue
Rhye a bitter ex-supersoldier, fights to rescue Rack, her hacker partner in crime, after the criminals they're working for kill Rack's body while his mind is in cyberspace. (11,123 words; Time: 37m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average
Recommended By: RHorton:5 Nebula Readers Hugo KTB

"," by (edited by John Joseph Adams), appeared in issue 57, published on .

Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)

Pro: The question of whether Rhye can save Rack hangs over the story from start to finish. This adds a good bit of tension and also adds poignancy to every revelation that Rhye actually does care about Rack. The narration and dialogue are good, albeit rather vulgar.

Con: The whole idea that you can solve a software problem by shooting guns in a simulation is rather silly. Moving a mind from one body to another is also a little hard to buy.

Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 57)
Brooke Bolander Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline

Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.

3 comments (may contain spoilers):

  1. I'd bump this to a 4 myself, and it's good to see a novelette length from Lightspeed. Your cons are valid but are also standard cyberpunk fare, although I'd question whether we needed a standard cyberpunk story in 2015, but it's very well done and I liked the protagonist despite her being rather abrasive (and impressively sweary!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To give it a 4, I'd want to see more depth to the story. More moving pieces that unexpectedly came together at the end. Or small things that turned out to be important. Or something to make the characters come alive. I didn't really see anything special here. Did I miss something?

      Delete
  2. I rate this a 4, recommended. I really liked the style and writing of the story. Maybe it would be more impressive done as a film or graphic novel. :-)

    ReplyDelete