Thursday, June 1, 2017

Narrative Disorder, by Malka Older

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(Near-Future SF) Mishima is a spy who suffers from narrative disorder. This causes her to see everything that happens as if it were part of an organized story. (7,104 words; Time: 23m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

This story is set in the world of the author’s novel, Infomocracy and will make more sense if you read that first, although it’s not strictly necessary.

"," by (edited by Brian J. White), appeared in issue 05|2017, published on .

Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)

Pro: The best part of about the story is the hilarity of the way “narrative disorder” works. The whole concept is beautifully encapsulated in this one sentence: “Her third-year teacher became suspicious after overhearing her retell a five-minute trip to the bathroom as an epic saga with two subplots and an unexpected denouement (minor sink malfunction).”

The background is interesting for the most part, and the core plot about defeating the thugs on the boat is interesting as well.

Con: The story is mostly background, there’s no resolution to anything but the core plot, and the core plot (defeating the thugs on the boat) is very, very thin.

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1 comment (may contain spoilers):

  1. Having read Infomocracy, I enjoyed seeing more of Mishima. But the info on narrative disorder and how she's dealt with it did overwhelm the actual story somewhat.

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