(SF Adventure Pastiche) In which we learn of a hitherto-undisclosed fifth voyage of Lemuel Gulliver, to a place called “Chicago” in 2022, and of the marvelous things that happened there. (14,298 words; Time: 47m)
Rating: ★★★★☆ Entertaining and Satisfying
"My Fifth and Most Exotic Voyage," by Edward M. Lerner [bio] (edited by Trevor Quachri), appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact issue 09-10|17, published on August 17, 2017 by Penny Publications.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: The author gets Swift’s voice pretty well, and the result is consistently entertaining. “A door that could read? This University of Chicago knew folly to shame even the men of the academy.”
We know from the start that Gulliver doesn’t care for the company of other people. At the end, we find him happily alone on an island, neatly getting around the problem that he couldn’t return home, and thus giving him what he truly wanted from the start. Bravo!
Con: The notion that the "time machine" actually takes you into alternate reality and just happened to hit one where Gulliver's travels was real is quite a stretch.
Gulliver grasps “OK Google” too quickly. How’d he know to say “restore global view?”
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 09-10|17)
Edward M. Lerner Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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We know from the start that Gulliver doesn’t care for the company of other people. At the end, we find him happily alone on an island, neatly getting around the problem that he couldn’t return home, and thus giving him what he truly wanted from the start. Bravo!
Con: The notion that the "time machine" actually takes you into alternate reality and just happened to hit one where Gulliver's travels was real is quite a stretch.
Gulliver grasps “OK Google” too quickly. How’d he know to say “restore global view?”
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 09-10|17)
Edward M. Lerner Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
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