(Tamil Historical Clockwork Fantasy) A mother tells her children the story of a famous Tamil king who was a clockwork mechanism. (9,314 words; Time: 31m)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average
"World of the Three," by Shweta Narayan [bio] (edited by John Joseph Adams), appeared in Lightspeed Magazine issue 85, published on June 1, 2017.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: The setting, south India around 400 AD, is colorful and exotic. The introduction of clockwork automata makes it even more so.
The story about Nakkiran rescuing Vikramaditya is the most compelling.
Con: This is a tale, so it doesn’t have a plot. That is, none of the characters has any particular goal that drives the story; things just happen for no particular reason.
Only a few of the events are actually interesting. For the most part, reading this is a long, dull slog.
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Shweta Narayan Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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The story about Nakkiran rescuing Vikramaditya is the most compelling.
Con: This is a tale, so it doesn’t have a plot. That is, none of the characters has any particular goal that drives the story; things just happen for no particular reason.
Only a few of the events are actually interesting. For the most part, reading this is a long, dull slog.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 85)
Shweta Narayan Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
I liked the idea of the mechanicals being able to move their heartsprings into different bodies of different genders. But the story itself was just a series of sketches meandering one into the next.
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