★★★☆☆ Average
(Dystopia) While one man spends all his income on dreams, another works hard creating those dreams. (4,628 words; Time: 15m)
"Tick-Tock," by Xia Jia [bio] (translated by Emily Jin, edited by Neil Clarke), appeared in Clarkesworld issue 152, published on May 1, 2019.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2019.291 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: It’s an interesting notion that the “people” creating your dreams are really avatars of yourself—little intelligent creatures forced into slavery. Creatures who might want freedom—and revenge.
I had not seen the method for counting to twelve on one hand described in the story, but apparently it's common in Asia.
Con: The story has no dialogue and essentially no character development.
The translation is pretty good, but it needed one final editing pass to fix obvious errors like “The lights in the cinema gradually dims.”
Other Reviews: Search Web
Xia Jia Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Pro: It’s an interesting notion that the “people” creating your dreams are really avatars of yourself—little intelligent creatures forced into slavery. Creatures who might want freedom—and revenge.
I had not seen the method for counting to twelve on one hand described in the story, but apparently it's common in Asia.
Con: The story has no dialogue and essentially no character development.
The translation is pretty good, but it needed one final editing pass to fix obvious errors like “The lights in the cinema gradually dims.”
Other Reviews: Search Web
Xia Jia Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
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