
(Military SF) Rinthira retired from the Thai military a while back, but her former commander (and ex-lover) has come to call her back to duty. (5,672 words; Time: 18m)
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended
"That Which Stands Tends Toward Free Fall," by Benjanun Sriduangkaew [bio] (edited by Neil Clarke), appeared in Clarkesworld issue 113, published on February 1, 2016.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: The AIs are fairly realistic. Unemotional. Powerful in some ways but limited in others.
Con: The story wanders around and gets very confusing in places. The text on the one hand tells how the AIs destroyed America's infrastructure and yet on the other America is still a huge military threat. Thailand somehow developed AI technology and shared it with Russia, China, and India, but America never developed it up until now. This is a little hard to credit, absent any sort of explanation.
And what was the point of the US invading with a bunch of AI units and no troops? And why is the colonel called "the tyrant" at the start but then treated more like an ordinary soldier? What did any of this really change for Rinthira? The whole thing feels like a hodgepodge rather than an integrated story.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 113)
Benjanun Sriduangkaew Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Con: The story wanders around and gets very confusing in places. The text on the one hand tells how the AIs destroyed America's infrastructure and yet on the other America is still a huge military threat. Thailand somehow developed AI technology and shared it with Russia, China, and India, but America never developed it up until now. This is a little hard to credit, absent any sort of explanation.
And what was the point of the US invading with a bunch of AI units and no troops? And why is the colonel called "the tyrant" at the start but then treated more like an ordinary soldier? What did any of this really change for Rinthira? The whole thing feels like a hodgepodge rather than an integrated story.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 113)
Benjanun Sriduangkaew Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
I thought this one was okay. At least it was comprehensible. Unlike the last story I read by this author.
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