★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended
(SF Adventure) Shandi works at the L5 point helping rich people emigrate from a dying Earth to a distant paradise planet. She’s determined to make the trip herself, though, and bring her family with her—rules or no rules. (8,587 words; Time: 28m)
"The Walk to Distant Suns," by Matthew Kressel [bio] and Mercurio D. Rivera [bio] (edited by Trevor Quachri), appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact issue 03-04|19, published on February 15, 2019 by Penny Publications.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2019.106 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: Much of the story is about Shandi’s descent into evil. Even at the start we see her making fun of emigrants based on their race. Then she hacks the system to let her and her parents travel for free. Then she endangers the whole project just to get a seven-day delay.
So it’s somewhat satisfying that she didn’t quite get what she bargained for. The “paradise planet” is actually worse than Earth; you can’t even go outside without a spacesuit. She’s separated from her parents forever, and her sister may never fully recover from the transfer.
Sadly, but predictably, she starts plotting to destroy the wormhole forever.
Con: Shandi’s such an awful person it’s hard to enjoy reading about her. The corporation is a cardboard villain, but not enough to justify her behavior.
The story defies disbelief at every turn. A society that could manipulate the kind of power needed to operate that wormhole could just use it to clean up the Earth itself; travelling to the TRAPPIST system is pointless. How could the AI know two of the stowaways were too old and yet be unable in general to stop stowaways? And, of course, how could this corporate conspiracy go undiscovered for so long?
Other Reviews: Search Web
Matthew Kressel Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Mercurio D. Rivera Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Pro: Much of the story is about Shandi’s descent into evil. Even at the start we see her making fun of emigrants based on their race. Then she hacks the system to let her and her parents travel for free. Then she endangers the whole project just to get a seven-day delay.
So it’s somewhat satisfying that she didn’t quite get what she bargained for. The “paradise planet” is actually worse than Earth; you can’t even go outside without a spacesuit. She’s separated from her parents forever, and her sister may never fully recover from the transfer.
Sadly, but predictably, she starts plotting to destroy the wormhole forever.
Con: Shandi’s such an awful person it’s hard to enjoy reading about her. The corporation is a cardboard villain, but not enough to justify her behavior.
The story defies disbelief at every turn. A society that could manipulate the kind of power needed to operate that wormhole could just use it to clean up the Earth itself; travelling to the TRAPPIST system is pointless. How could the AI know two of the stowaways were too old and yet be unable in general to stop stowaways? And, of course, how could this corporate conspiracy go undiscovered for so long?
Other Reviews: Search Web
Matthew Kressel Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Mercurio D. Rivera Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
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