Sunday, May 5, 2019

The Doing and Undoing of Jacob E. Mwangi, by E. Lily Yu

[Asimov's]
★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention

(SFF) Guaranteed basic income has divided society into Doers and Don’ts. Jacob’s circle of Don’ts spends all their time playing video games, but their harmony is broken when one of them starts dating a doer. (3,680 words; Time: 12m)


"The Doing and Undoing of Jacob E. Mwangi," by (edited by Sheila Williams), appeared in issue 05-06|19, published on by .

Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)

Review: 2019.243 (A Word for Authors)

Pro: It’s the story of how a young slacker with great potential finds something to be passionate about.

It’s quite easy to believe that guaranteed basic income really would generate a class of people content to live comfortable but meagre lives, but it’s nice to think that a good number of them would eventually find something they wanted to do.

Con: The use of a major miracle to set this story up makes it a fantasy, even though every other aspect is near-future SF.

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1 comment (may contain spoilers):

  1. I agree with the rating. This is a much better story than the other story by the author that is also on the Locus Recommended reading list for 2019 works.

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