reading (Asimov's June)
Apr. 12th, 2008 10:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eorI finished the June Asimov's sometime last week, I forget when exactly. I'm only going to feature two of this month's stories. The remainder were generally pleasant reading, but didn't rock my world. There were a variety of voices and settings, though tilted toward earth.
I was most struck by Felicity Shoulders' "Burgerdroid". I can't tell you much about it because that would spoil it, but I found it plausible, twisted, weird, and sadly realistic.
What "The Hob Carpet" tried to do didn't work for me. Hyperbole in societal design just doesn't work for me. Yes, sometimes it takes a brick upside the head to get people thinking, but being hit with every brick ever made in the entire universe doesn't make people think more. The hyperbole broke the basic feasibility of the society. So was the plot just an excuse for writing about Burroughsesque grand vistas, or were the Burroughsesque grand vistas a cover for a plot and execution that's been done far better?
19. "Asimov's June 2008"
I was most struck by Felicity Shoulders' "Burgerdroid". I can't tell you much about it because that would spoil it, but I found it plausible, twisted, weird, and sadly realistic.
What "The Hob Carpet" tried to do didn't work for me. Hyperbole in societal design just doesn't work for me. Yes, sometimes it takes a brick upside the head to get people thinking, but being hit with every brick ever made in the entire universe doesn't make people think more. The hyperbole broke the basic feasibility of the society. So was the plot just an excuse for writing about Burroughsesque grand vistas, or were the Burroughsesque grand vistas a cover for a plot and execution that's been done far better?
19. "Asimov's June 2008"
