★★★★☆ Short Yet Very Moving
(SF) A mother talks to a scan of her daughter taken just a month before, ah, something happened. It’s a short conversation but it packs quite a punch. (1,307 words; Time: 04m)
"Your Face," by Rachel Swirsky [bio] (edited by Neil Clarke), appeared in Clarkesworld issue 155, published on August 1, 2019.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2019.436 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: The longer the mom talks to the computer, the more the illusion that this is really her daughter breaks down. And yet we learn so much about Abagail and Robin and Abagail’s mom simply through the mom’s struggle to communicate with the program. It’s a key turning point when the mom starts talking about Abagail in third person—accepting the fact that her daughter is gone and that this thing isn’t her.
Con: If this is as expensive as they say, you’d think people would have learned not to pay for them.
Other Reviews: Search Web
Rachel Swirsky Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
Pro: The longer the mom talks to the computer, the more the illusion that this is really her daughter breaks down. And yet we learn so much about Abagail and Robin and Abagail’s mom simply through the mom’s struggle to communicate with the program. It’s a key turning point when the mom starts talking about Abagail in third person—accepting the fact that her daughter is gone and that this thing isn’t her.
Con: If this is as expensive as they say, you’d think people would have learned not to pay for them.
Other Reviews: Search Web
Rachel Swirsky Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
I agree with the comments. 3-stars from me.
ReplyDeleteI didn't quite get it when I was reading it. It was like the daughter was stuck on the day she got this procedure done.