★★★☆☆ Average
(Multiverse) The narrator pays for a brief visit to an alternate timeline to learn how her life might have been had she married a different man. (6,477 words; Time: 21m)
"All The Difference," by Leah Cypess [bio] (edited by Sheila Williams), appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction issue 01-02|19, published on December 15, 2018 by Penny Publications.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2019.027 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: The nameless narrator is consumed by regrets or else she’d never have been willing to spend a good chunk of change on this adventure. It’s not surprising, then, that we see everything in the alternate reality through the lens of her dissatisfaction with her real life. It’s nice the way hints gradually accumulate that all is not well with this alternate life either, even though superficially it looks better.
It’s a great twist: she does this because she worries that marrying her husband instead of Steve might have been a big mistake, but she learns that she did fine; it's her husband who made a big mistake by marrying her!
It’s a nice ending that she decides not to make a second visit to an alternate reality after all.
Con: There wouldn’t be just a single alternate reality where she married Steve, though; there should be countless different ways her life could have turned out once she’d married him—some better and some worse.
It’s not clear why looking at the old woman made her change her mind.
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Leah Cypess Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Pro: The nameless narrator is consumed by regrets or else she’d never have been willing to spend a good chunk of change on this adventure. It’s not surprising, then, that we see everything in the alternate reality through the lens of her dissatisfaction with her real life. It’s nice the way hints gradually accumulate that all is not well with this alternate life either, even though superficially it looks better.
It’s a great twist: she does this because she worries that marrying her husband instead of Steve might have been a big mistake, but she learns that she did fine; it's her husband who made a big mistake by marrying her!
It’s a nice ending that she decides not to make a second visit to an alternate reality after all.
Con: There wouldn’t be just a single alternate reality where she married Steve, though; there should be countless different ways her life could have turned out once she’d married him—some better and some worse.
It’s not clear why looking at the old woman made her change her mind.
Other Reviews: Search Web
Leah Cypess Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
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