(Far Future SF) Mia marks her birthdays as powers of 7, which gives her lots of time to work out her issues with her mother. (5,864 words; Time: 19m)
Rating: ★★★★☆ Recommended
Recommended By: GDozois:4 JStrahanRead an interview with the author about this story.
"Seven Birthdays," by Ken Liu [bio] (edited by Jonathan Strahan), appeared in Bridging Infinity (RSR review), published on October 20, 2016 by Solaris.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: At the individual, human level, the story is about Mia's attempt to make peace with her mother. The ending is heartwarming because, after all that time, Mia finally has the right words--and they're noble, inspiring words.
At the large-scale level, it's a great description of human evolution and transformation into a galaxy-spanning civilization--if civilization is even the right word for something so grand.
Con: There's little action and no tension in the story, which mostly consists of a recitation of events that transpired.
Other Reviews: Search Web, GoodReads.com
Ken Liu Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB
At the large-scale level, it's a great description of human evolution and transformation into a galaxy-spanning civilization--if civilization is even the right word for something so grand.
Con: There's little action and no tension in the story, which mostly consists of a recitation of events that transpired.
Other Reviews: Search Web, GoodReads.com
Ken Liu Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB
I agree with RSR's ★★★★ rating. Classic hard SF with scope that spans the galaxy and blew my mind. :-) Marking birthdays by powers of seven was a cool way to stretch out the timeline while keeping the same character. I'm withholding one ★ because the ending didn't quite match the journey in its impact.
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