Monday, September 30, 2019

The Winds and Persecutions of the Sky, by Robert Minto

[Interzone]
★★★★☆ A nice little adventure

(Post-Apocalypse) Sib fears the dangerous world outside the skyscraper, but when his best friend goes missing out there, he has to try to rescue him. (5,601 words; Time: 18m)


"The Winds and Persecutions of the Sky," by (edited by Andy Cox), appeared in issue 283, published on by .

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

Review: 2019.535 (A Word for Authors)

Pro: The story tells two tales: in the present, we follow Sib’s journey outside the skyscraper (with Trader’s help) to find what happened to Malmo. In the past, we get the story of how Sib and Malmo struggled their whole lives to succeed in the highly restrictive world of the skyscraper and how Malmo acquired an unhealthy interest in the world outside.

Sib’s love for his friend clearly trumps his love for the sterile, regimented world of the skyscraper, but Malmo asks a lot of him. It’s not a big surprise when he chooses to head back with Trader.

Trader’s story mirror’s Malmo’s. She’s tired of the world outside and wants to find a way to move in. It’s a credit to the realism of the story that, in fact, there does seem to be a way she could move into one of the upper levels.

Sib seems to realize that Malmo and Trader both suffer from “the grass is always greener on the other side” fallacy, but from that he concludes that he could choose either side, and, in that case, he’d rather be with Malmo.

Con: The story doesn’t have much excitement or emotion to it.

Given how open the system is, I can’t figure out why the skyscraper people bother to teach lies about the outside world to their children. What’s the point?

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