Obliteration, by Robert Reed

[Clarkesworld]

★★★☆☆ Mixed

(Near-Future SF) Kleave’s life is upended when a freak accident disables all three of the archives where he stores copies of his experiences and memories. (4,971 words; Time: 16m)

"Obliteration," by Robert Reed [bio] (edited by Neil Clarke), appeared in Clarkesworld issue 137, published on February 1, 2018.

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

Pro: I liked the logical extension of our dependence on electronic information to an age where even ordinary memories are backed up. I had to laugh at the group of people who’ve rejected memory augmentation but who are plagued by purists who want to give up electricity entirely. And even reading.

And it was nice to learn that he really did have an extra copy of his old memories around, so he didn’t really lose anything, but he did gain an appreciation for what’s really important.

Con: There are serious copyediting problems in this story. Among other things, the narration switches from third to first person at one point. The point of view changes from Kleave to Doobie unexpectedly a few times.

It’s hard to see what Kleave sees in Doobie. The story makes her seem selfish and unsympathetic.

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