
★★★★☆ Recommended
(Climate Change) On the edge of the ruined land, village people worship Orcas as gods. Unbeliever Kelb is up to something, and Adze tries to help him because she loves him. (6,200 words; Time: 20m)
Recommended By: πNClarke+2 πRSR+1 (Q&A)
"Last Gods," by Sam J. Miller [bio] (edited by Jonathan Strahan), appeared in Drowned Worlds (RSR review), published on July 12, 2016 by Solaris.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2016.078 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: Miller makes his miserable future world very real. He does a good job of putting us into the mind of his handicapped heroine as well. The plot is complete, if twisted. She sets out to help Kelb, but she ends up deciding to kill him. He sets out to destroy people's faith in the gods, but the only faith he shatters is hers.
That's why she kills him. Not because he stole so much food that people would starve. Not because he originally planned to sell her into slavery. But because those pictures destroyed her faith.
Con: It's a victory of ignorance over knowledge, and that's hard to applaud.
Other Reviews: Search Web, GoodReads.com
Sam J. Miller Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
Pro: Miller makes his miserable future world very real. He does a good job of putting us into the mind of his handicapped heroine as well. The plot is complete, if twisted. She sets out to help Kelb, but she ends up deciding to kill him. He sets out to destroy people's faith in the gods, but the only faith he shatters is hers.
That's why she kills him. Not because he stole so much food that people would starve. Not because he originally planned to sell her into slavery. But because those pictures destroyed her faith.
Con: It's a victory of ignorance over knowledge, and that's hard to applaud.
Other Reviews: Search Web, GoodReads.com
Sam J. Miller Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
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