Saturday, November 16, 2019

Operation Spring Dawn, by Mo Xiong

[Clarkesworld]
★☆☆☆☆

(Post Apocalypse) The Great Freeze has left the Earth almost lifeless for 20,000 years, but robots have awakened a genetically modified human to start a warming process—if they can figure out how to. (12,290 words; Time: 40m)


"," by (edited by Neil Clarke), appeared in issue 158, published on .

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

Review: 2019.638 (A Word for Authors)

Pro: This story is loaded with interesting ideas. The organic/electronic hybrids, the uploaded minds that kept researching, etc. For long stretches, there’s enough action to hold one’s interest. And the goal of the protagonist is clear from the very start.

Con: What ruins it is the persistent infodumps and the unnatural dialogue, both of which get really bad in the last 1/3 of the story.

Beyond that, lots of things break suspension of disbelief. E.g. Little Snow doesn’t act at all like an eight-year-old. And focusing heat on one location wouldn’t cause a chain reaction of melting across the globe.

Also, if the Earth were cooling, we’d just increase greenhouse gasses to counteract it. Halons would make a far bigger difference than anything discussed in the story.

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