★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended
(Far-Future SF) A boy and a girl meet in the far future in a world so strange to us it’s barely comprehensible. (2,956 words; Time: 09m)
This story compares itself to “Day Million,” by Frederick Pohl, so you might want to read that first.
"Body Drift," by Cynthia Ward (edited by Trevor Quachri), appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact issue 11-12|18, published on October 18, 2018 by Penny Publications.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2018.577 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: This updates Day Million a bit, expanding the famous “the girl was a boy” line quite a bit and introducing modern cyber-technology. It also doesn’t put an exact date on it.
Aside: If Day 1 of the Christian Era is Friday, March 25, 1 AD, then Day Million is Friday, February 17, 2739 AD. (Computed using the Julian Date Converter at the US Naval Observatory.)
Con: Before reading this piece, I reread "Day Million." Pohl’s story portrayed a very alien future, but it was all more-or-less plausible. He never spouted nonsense like “they’re compatible across more than eleven million dimensions” or “everyone can send a subroutine to participate.” This heavy use of technobabble takes all the fun out of "Body Drift," and it gets dull fast.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 11-12|18)
Cynthia Ward Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
Pro: This updates Day Million a bit, expanding the famous “the girl was a boy” line quite a bit and introducing modern cyber-technology. It also doesn’t put an exact date on it.
Aside: If Day 1 of the Christian Era is Friday, March 25, 1 AD, then Day Million is Friday, February 17, 2739 AD. (Computed using the Julian Date Converter at the US Naval Observatory.)
Con: Before reading this piece, I reread "Day Million." Pohl’s story portrayed a very alien future, but it was all more-or-less plausible. He never spouted nonsense like “they’re compatible across more than eleven million dimensions” or “everyone can send a subroutine to participate.” This heavy use of technobabble takes all the fun out of "Body Drift," and it gets dull fast.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 11-12|18)
Cynthia Ward Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
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