(SF Horror) A tiny spherical gateway into another reality opens in Manhattan, and it causes chaos as it sucks things in and grows. (8,647 words; Time: 28m)
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended
"A Vortal in Midtown," by Ashok K. Banker [bio] (edited by John Joseph Adams), appeared in Lightspeed Magazine issue 90, published on November 1, 2017.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: The black-hole-like “vortal” and the chaos is causes are good material for a story. Susan and Jenny manage to save the city by cooperating and sacrificing their own lives.
Con: The clumsy political message is an annoying distraction that keeps bouncing the reader out of the story.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 90)
Ashok K. Banker Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Con: The clumsy political message is an annoying distraction that keeps bouncing the reader out of the story.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 90)
Ashok K. Banker Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
I'd definitely have to recommend this one. It's a creative example of how living beings would interact with something built of quantum weirdness. Also, as someone who lives in the New York, the description of Manhattan and how it would respond is surprisingly spot on. The so called political message the reviewer references is relevant to the dynamic between the two main characters, so it's not out of the blue. I'd recommend listening to the podcast of it. The narrator is pretty great.
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