Wednesday, November 11, 2015

The Godstone of Venus, by Mike Resnick

Old Venus, 2015; ~15,100 words
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story

Scorpio and Merlin accept a contract as bodyguards for a man and woman seeking the fabulous, priceless Godstone. Except no one else on Venus seems to have ever heard of it. A fun read.

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

Pro: The story is about figuring out what's happening. It's fun watching them try, and the various details of the obstacles they overcome are entertaining as well. The matter-of-fact way that they keep the stone as a souvenir is so in-character it's fun as well.

Con: There isn't a lot of logic operating here. Why does Sapphire bring Quintaro at all? Why doesn't she have a better story for Scorpio? Why did she bother to pay them their money or dicker over the value of the van? Why did the god leave them alive? And if Sapphire could control Quintaro's mind, why couldn't she control Scorpio? Better, why didn't Merlin or Scorpio worry about her doing that?

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