(Space Opera) As a child, Lan learned her family lost their world when a dragon came out of the sun, but now she wants to know the real truth. (3,806 words; Time: 12m)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average
"The Dragon that Flew Out of the Sun," by Aliette De Bodard [bio] (edited by John Joseph Adams), appeared in Cosmic Powers (RSR review), published on April 18, 2017 by Saga Press.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: Lan wants to know “the real truth,” but each additional installment makes it harder and harder to decide who was to blame. By the end, we think Lan has matured enough to realize that her mother told the truth when she said things weren’t so simple.
Vien seems to be a good person at heart. His message to Lan may or may not be the whole truth, but it makes a great deal of sense in context.
And the final video of the wounded star and the slain world puts everything into context.
Con: There’s no action in the story—the entire plot is Lan’s search for truth—and no tension.
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Aliette De Bodard Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Vien seems to be a good person at heart. His message to Lan may or may not be the whole truth, but it makes a great deal of sense in context.
And the final video of the wounded star and the slain world puts everything into context.
Con: There’s no action in the story—the entire plot is Lan’s search for truth—and no tension.
Other Reviews: Search Web, GoodReads.com
Aliette De Bodard Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
This is an interesting entry in her Xuya series but possibly doesn't stand alone so well. It's musing on the nature of truths and when people prefer stories and lies, and that was very well done I thought.
ReplyDeleteI guess the question is whether that sustains a short story well enough to consider recommending it to someone else.
ReplyDeleteThis has been reprinted at Uncanny:
ReplyDeletehttps://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-dragon-that-flew-out-of-the-sun/