★★★☆☆
(Generation Ship) Zarah notices that one of the other kids in school is struggling with the steady increase in sulfur in the ship’s atmosphere, and she’s determined to help him. (2,439 words; Time: 08m)
"Aboard the Mithridates," by Sean Vivier [bio] (edited by Trevor Quachri), appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact issue 07-08|20, published on June 18, 2020 by Penny Publications.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2020.332 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: It’s a nice description of life on a generation ship. There really are organisms on Earth that tolerate very high levels of sulfur, so it’s plausible that people could too, given the right engineering.
It’s a nice touch that a mithridate is an antidote to poison.
Con: I find it hard to believe that adults would be so unsympathetic to a child who struggled to adapt. I find it even harder to believe that they’d blame the child and not the adults who were supposed to be helping him adapt.
Finally, it would have made a lot more sense to have a sulfur-free part of the ship for those who couldn’t adapt, with the restriction that anyone who had to live there couldn’t have children.
Other Reviews: Search Web
Sean Vivier Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Pro: It’s a nice description of life on a generation ship. There really are organisms on Earth that tolerate very high levels of sulfur, so it’s plausible that people could too, given the right engineering.
It’s a nice touch that a mithridate is an antidote to poison.
Con: I find it hard to believe that adults would be so unsympathetic to a child who struggled to adapt. I find it even harder to believe that they’d blame the child and not the adults who were supposed to be helping him adapt.
Finally, it would have made a lot more sense to have a sulfur-free part of the ship for those who couldn’t adapt, with the restriction that anyone who had to live there couldn’t have children.
Other Reviews: Search Web
Sean Vivier Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
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