Thursday, October 22, 2015

Ulenge Prime, by Chuck Rothman

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, January/February 2015; ~3,700 words
Rating: 1, Needs improvement

Fifty years from now, an African dictator faces revolution owing to the cost of his space program.

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

The worst problem with this story is the "head hopping." The narrator's point of view jumps from character to character in the same scene. There's a lot of telling instead of showing. There isn't really much of a story here either; the background is told entirely as an infodump. The characters aren't appealing either. Ifana is almost completely passive, so she's not much of a focus character, while Ulenge is such a caricature that it's hard to feel anything for him--hate or otherwise. 

No comments (may contain spoilers):

Post a Comment (comment policy)