★☆☆☆☆ Needs Improvement
(Future Fantasy) Something blew all the airlock doors on the Terbius, killing all but a handful of crew. The survivors desperately try to get help from a base, but whatever killed the ship is still active. (11,158 words; Time: 37m)
Recommended By: 👍STomaino+1 (Q&A)
"The Iconoclasma," by Hanuš Seiner [bio] (translated by Julie Novakova, edited by C.C. Finlay), appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction issue 11-12|18, published on October 27, 2018 by Spilogale Inc.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2018.592 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: There’s a reasonable amount of action and tension as Michal’s crew tries to figure out what happened, and then to call for help. Likewise as Sandra tries to design an icon powerful enough to fight the iconoclasma.
Con: The biggest problem with this story is the infodumps. They account for over half the total text of the story. Much of the infodump content isn’t even relevant to the story. And much of it is just bad science. (E.g. people cannot go fast enough on scooters to observe the doppler effect.) Further, the narration is intrusive and there's very little dialogue at all.
The plot seems to be full of holes as well. In particular, once they managed to get a message off, why don't they abandon the ship as fast as possible and let one of the other warships pick them up?
The basic idea of the icons isn’t a bad one, but it is developed so poorly that I never found myself able to suspend disbelief for them.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 11-12|18)
Hanuš Seiner Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
Pro: There’s a reasonable amount of action and tension as Michal’s crew tries to figure out what happened, and then to call for help. Likewise as Sandra tries to design an icon powerful enough to fight the iconoclasma.
Con: The biggest problem with this story is the infodumps. They account for over half the total text of the story. Much of the infodump content isn’t even relevant to the story. And much of it is just bad science. (E.g. people cannot go fast enough on scooters to observe the doppler effect.) Further, the narration is intrusive and there's very little dialogue at all.
The plot seems to be full of holes as well. In particular, once they managed to get a message off, why don't they abandon the ship as fast as possible and let one of the other warships pick them up?
The basic idea of the icons isn’t a bad one, but it is developed so poorly that I never found myself able to suspend disbelief for them.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 11-12|18)
Hanuš Seiner Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
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