Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Debtless, by Chen Qiufan

[Clarkesworld]
★★★☆☆

(SF Horror) In the future, people with too much debt can opt to work as asteroid miners until it’s repaid. Their memories are partly erased, but one guy is starting to remember a few things, and they’re not good. (16,475 words; Time: 54m)


"," by (translated by Blake Stone-Banks, edited by Neil Clarke), appeared in issue 163, published on .

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

Review: 2020.202 (A Word for Authors)

Pro: Square Head’s efforts to save his friends and to try to figure out what’s really happening on the mining base add both human interest and suspense. The more he learns, the worse things look, until he finally finds what he’s looking for.

This story seems to be inspired by the 2009 movie, Moon,” although all the particulars are different.

Con: The ending goes off the deep end, and much of it degenerates into infodumps. By the time Jue gets to Earth, the story is really over, and everything that happens there is anticlimactic.

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Chen Qiufan Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline

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