Showing posts with label Garrett Ashley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Garrett Ashley. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Friday, October 7, 2016
The Salesman, by Garrett Ashley
(SF Robot) In 2064 Oklahoma, teenage Ed finds a damaged robot and tries to figure out how to return it. (4,886 words; Time: 16m)
Rating: ★★★☆☆, Average
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Riding the Waves of Leviathan, by Garrett Ashley
Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, December 2015; 6,970 words
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story
In the near future, a teen-age boy's world is turned upside down when a giant monster starts hauntings the beaches in his town.
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story
In the near future, a teen-age boy's world is turned upside down when a giant monster starts hauntings the beaches in his town.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: He starts off waning to ride the wave, and he ends up doing it and living to tell the tale.
Under the surface, though, this appears to be a very different sort of story. Leviathan is an image from the Bible, and Elijah is a prophet, so the writer really does seem to be trying to tell us something. The description of the beast sounds like something out of Revelation.
Friendless, feeling abandoned by his parents, the narrator dwells on the idea of killing himself, so perhaps that's what leviathan really represents. Tim's board shattering clearly represents resolution. He doesn't want to die, and he's ready to put Tim and Apollo beach behind him for good.
Con: Symbol or no symbol, the ending seems hopelessly confused. We're not sure what injury he sustained or why Elijah needed to rescue him. The girls play very little role in the story, and the one sexual scene seems pointless. The last paragraph's jump from the past to the present feels very awkward.
Under the surface, though, this appears to be a very different sort of story. Leviathan is an image from the Bible, and Elijah is a prophet, so the writer really does seem to be trying to tell us something. The description of the beast sounds like something out of Revelation.
Friendless, feeling abandoned by his parents, the narrator dwells on the idea of killing himself, so perhaps that's what leviathan really represents. Tim's board shattering clearly represents resolution. He doesn't want to die, and he's ready to put Tim and Apollo beach behind him for good.
Con: Symbol or no symbol, the ending seems hopelessly confused. We're not sure what injury he sustained or why Elijah needed to rescue him. The girls play very little role in the story, and the one sexual scene seems pointless. The last paragraph's jump from the past to the present feels very awkward.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)