(Hard SF) Jingru Lee researches animal life on Earth-IX, and she wants to understand the strange “thermal flashes” that randomly cook plants and animals in scattered locations. (6,951 words; Time: 23m)
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended
"The Awakening of Insects," by Bobby Sun [bio] (edited by Diana Pho), published on April 26, 2017 by Tor.com.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: Jingru does get to the bottom of it, so the story definitely has a plot.
Con: It defies disbelief at every turn, most seriously in that researchers would never deliberately put themselves in that sort of dangers--particularly when probes and sensors would have done just as well. Likewise, the “A new phenomenon heretofore unknown to human science” is such a poor explanation one cannot imagine any real scientist saying it. They always try to describe how it fits into the existing framework.
The "I may not come back" speech was painfully unnatural.
The early part of the story is plagued by infodumps, which explain all sorts of things that are of no relevance to the story.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 04/26/17)
Bobby Sun Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Con: It defies disbelief at every turn, most seriously in that researchers would never deliberately put themselves in that sort of dangers--particularly when probes and sensors would have done just as well. Likewise, the “A new phenomenon heretofore unknown to human science” is such a poor explanation one cannot imagine any real scientist saying it. They always try to describe how it fits into the existing framework.
The "I may not come back" speech was painfully unnatural.
The early part of the story is plagued by infodumps, which explain all sorts of things that are of no relevance to the story.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 04/26/17)
Bobby Sun Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
Yawn! "If we make it out of here alive, we can write a paper!" Didn't for one second think they wouldn't make it or care if they did. Also, seemed like the first chapter of something.
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