★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended
(SF Adventure) The narrator operates a shield station at the tip of South America that protects us from comets. He operates it alone, so it upsets his world when a woman arrives to share the station with him. (4,713 words; Time: 15m)
"What the South Wind Whispers," by H. Pueyo [bio] (edited by Neil Clarke), appeared in Clarkesworld issue 146, published on November 1, 2018.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2018.606 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: There’s a lot of potential in a story of two neuroatypical people trying to learn to work together in a place safe from the rest of the world but not from each other.
Con: Too many things in the story defy belief.
A magic shield for comets that we developed just in time, considering that a single comet impact would be comparable to the impact that killed the dinosaurs. (Although it’s not true that “the whole planet would burst into flames.”) Given that, every segment of the shield must hold; no breeches could ever be allowed.
Such a critical task would not be entrusted to a single man, particularly an eccentric one. Nor would it be so easy to turn it off.
If the AI can run the shield while he sleeps, why is he needed at all? And why did the AI malfunction this way? If it did things like this at other stations (as Lola implies) they’d have all been shut down ASAP.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 146)
H. Pueyo Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Pro: There’s a lot of potential in a story of two neuroatypical people trying to learn to work together in a place safe from the rest of the world but not from each other.
Con: Too many things in the story defy belief.
A magic shield for comets that we developed just in time, considering that a single comet impact would be comparable to the impact that killed the dinosaurs. (Although it’s not true that “the whole planet would burst into flames.”) Given that, every segment of the shield must hold; no breeches could ever be allowed.
Such a critical task would not be entrusted to a single man, particularly an eccentric one. Nor would it be so easy to turn it off.
If the AI can run the shield while he sleeps, why is he needed at all? And why did the AI malfunction this way? If it did things like this at other stations (as Lola implies) they’d have all been shut down ASAP.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 146)
H. Pueyo Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
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