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Lightspeed Magazine, April 2014
Lightspeed, April 2014 #47
Novella (eBook exclusive)
"The Autopsy" by Michael Shea (reprint 1980 from Magazine of fantasy & Science Fiction)
Short Stories - Science Fiction
"Codename: Delphi" by Linda Nagata
"Francisca Montoya’s Almanac of Things That Can Kill You" by Shaenon K. Garrity
"Complex God" by Scott Sigler (reprint from 2014 from Robot Uprising)
"Exhalation" by Ted Chiang (reprint 2008 from Eclipse 2)
Short Stories - Fantasy
"Observations About Eggs from the Man Sitting Next to Me on a Flight from Chicago, Illinois to Cedar Rapids, Iowa" by Carmen Maria Machado
"The Day the World Turned Upside Down" by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
"Alsiso" by K. J. Bishop (reprint 2004 from The Alsiso Project)
"The Only Death in the City" by C. J. Cherryh (reprint 1981 from Sunfall)
Novel Excerpts (eBook exclusives)
"After Party" by Daryl Gregory
"Steles of the Sky" by Elizabeth Bear
Bonus Content
"Legend of RoboNinja" by Brooke Bolander
Edited by John Joseph Adams
Cover Art (& Artist Spotlight): Remi Le Capon
Novella (eBook exclusive)
"The Autopsy" by Michael Shea (reprint 1980 from Magazine of fantasy & Science Fiction)
Short Stories - Science Fiction
"Codename: Delphi" by Linda Nagata
"Francisca Montoya’s Almanac of Things That Can Kill You" by Shaenon K. Garrity
"Complex God" by Scott Sigler (reprint from 2014 from Robot Uprising)
"Exhalation" by Ted Chiang (reprint 2008 from Eclipse 2)
Short Stories - Fantasy
"Observations About Eggs from the Man Sitting Next to Me on a Flight from Chicago, Illinois to Cedar Rapids, Iowa" by Carmen Maria Machado
"The Day the World Turned Upside Down" by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
"Alsiso" by K. J. Bishop (reprint 2004 from The Alsiso Project)
"The Only Death in the City" by C. J. Cherryh (reprint 1981 from Sunfall)
Novel Excerpts (eBook exclusives)
"After Party" by Daryl Gregory
"Steles of the Sky" by Elizabeth Bear
Bonus Content
"Legend of RoboNinja" by Brooke Bolander
Edited by John Joseph Adams
Cover Art (& Artist Spotlight): Remi Le Capon
267 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2014
8 people are currently reading
212 people want to read
About the author
John Joseph Adams
367 books984 followersJohn Joseph Adams is the series editor of BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY. He is also the bestselling editor of many other anthologies, such as ROBOT UPRISINGS, DEAD MAN'S HAND, BRAVE NEW WORLDS,WASTELANDS, and THE LIVING DEAD. Recent and forthcoming books include WHAT THE #@&% IS THAT?, OPERATION ARCANA, PRESS START TO PLAY, LOOSED UPON THE WORLD, and THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH (consisting of THE END IS NIGH, THE END IS NOW, and THE END HAS COME). Called “the reigning king of the anthology world” by Barnes & Noble, John is a two-time winner of the Hugo Award (for which he has been nominated nine times), is a seven-time World Fantasy Award finalist, and served as a judge for the 2015 National Book Award. John is also the editor and publisher of the digital magazines LIGHTSPEED and NIGHTMARE, and is a producer for Wired's THE GEEK'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY podcast. You can find him online at www.johnjosephadams.com and on Twitter @JohnJosephAdams.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
July 20, 2015
I had high hopes for this story: it was the one novelette that made it onto the Hugo ballot without the benefit of political group voting, it was a fantasy amidst a lot of traditional space opera stuff, it was a weird literary story about the world turning upside down for no reason. Seriously. I should have loved this.
But NOPE.
It is hard for me to remember reading something that I viscerally disliked as I much as this story.
This is a story, as you may have surmised, about they day when the world turned upside down. There's no explanation for this, which I actually kind of liked. It's just something that happens, and people have to deal with it. Any sort of magic or magical physics explanation for it would have felt dumb.
This is a beautiful premise for a story, and has the potential for all sorts of beautiful imagery, as those who survive the initial flip starting to build rope ladders and ramshackle bridges to move between buildings and climb across the sky.
Unfortunately, we get to experience this scenario with the Toby, the World's Biggest Narcissist. You see, Toby got dumped the day before the world turned upside down. The fact that billions of people and nearly all the world's animals have just died pales in comparison to this deep and profound injustice. As people are desperately trying to get inside to safety, Toby ignores them in order to save his Metaphor Goldfish, which belonged to his ex-girlfriend. Later, in a moment of transcendental badness, he will cry tears into the 7-Up bottle holding the Metaphor Goldfish.
Later, Toby adopts a small child whose mother he abandoned to fall into the atmosphere. He will later happily abandon this small child in turn when she asks to join in the suicide pact of two Old Crone stock characters.
Finally, Toby manages to make his way to his ex-girlfriend's house and present her with The Metaphor Goldfish and becomes enraged when she refuses to date him again despite the fact that he did all this shit she never asked him to do. And then, if you had any doubts remaining that Toby was a dick, he discovers that when his girlfriend broke up with him she moved in with someone else. And worse: he died when the world turned upside down and she has the audacity to be sad about this. He then rages around for a while about how much he hates his girlfriend for no longer "belonging" to him and then goes and swims in a lake not affected by the absence of gravity because of Themes and Metaphors.
tl;dr, this is a story about a giant asshole who decides the rest of the world exists only as a metaphor for his own run-of-the-mill sadness and weird issues with women.
But NOPE.
It is hard for me to remember reading something that I viscerally disliked as I much as this story.
This is a story, as you may have surmised, about they day when the world turned upside down. There's no explanation for this, which I actually kind of liked. It's just something that happens, and people have to deal with it. Any sort of magic or magical physics explanation for it would have felt dumb.
This is a beautiful premise for a story, and has the potential for all sorts of beautiful imagery, as those who survive the initial flip starting to build rope ladders and ramshackle bridges to move between buildings and climb across the sky.
Unfortunately, we get to experience this scenario with the Toby, the World's Biggest Narcissist. You see, Toby got dumped the day before the world turned upside down. The fact that billions of people and nearly all the world's animals have just died pales in comparison to this deep and profound injustice. As people are desperately trying to get inside to safety, Toby ignores them in order to save his Metaphor Goldfish, which belonged to his ex-girlfriend. Later, in a moment of transcendental badness, he will cry tears into the 7-Up bottle holding the Metaphor Goldfish.
Later, Toby adopts a small child whose mother he abandoned to fall into the atmosphere. He will later happily abandon this small child in turn when she asks to join in the suicide pact of two Old Crone stock characters.
Finally, Toby manages to make his way to his ex-girlfriend's house and present her with The Metaphor Goldfish and becomes enraged when she refuses to date him again despite the fact that he did all this shit she never asked him to do. And then, if you had any doubts remaining that Toby was a dick, he discovers that when his girlfriend broke up with him she moved in with someone else. And worse: he died when the world turned upside down and she has the audacity to be sad about this. He then rages around for a while about how much he hates his girlfriend for no longer "belonging" to him and then goes and swims in a lake not affected by the absence of gravity because of Themes and Metaphors.
tl;dr, this is a story about a giant asshole who decides the rest of the world exists only as a metaphor for his own run-of-the-mill sadness and weird issues with women.
May 20, 2015
When I started reading this story, I thought the premise was creative and exciting. The world literally turned upside down! Was it magic? Science gone amuck? Aliens? Magical alien scientists? Brace yourself for disappointment, we never find out. Oh, and the protagonist is an incredible asshole.
It's been awhile since the protagonist of a short piece of fiction made me hate them as much as I did this guy by the end of the story. The world ends, literally the single most traumatic possible event imaginable. No doubt billions are dead. Most of the world's land animals are probably gone. The surviving humans have potential lifespans best counted in days. Does this concern our protagonist? No, he's upset his girlfriend broke up with him. This is almost the only thing he ever talks about. He is self-centered to the point of being almost comically sociopathic. He lets a woman fall to her death so he can save his ex's goldfish, which he hopes to return to her and win her back with. He leaves a tiny child with two insane women who undoubtedly died along with the girl as soon as they were offscreen, all so he can continue on to his girlfriend. When he sees her crying over her dead rebound guy, who was crushed to death in her home in the room next to her when the world ended, he's enraged. Because she doesn't promptly take him back and start humping him (she's hurt her back and broken her kneecap btw), he rushes off in a rage and leaves her behind and probably dies shortly after the story ends.
I. Hate. This. Story. It sucks. The end.
It's been awhile since the protagonist of a short piece of fiction made me hate them as much as I did this guy by the end of the story. The world ends, literally the single most traumatic possible event imaginable. No doubt billions are dead. Most of the world's land animals are probably gone. The surviving humans have potential lifespans best counted in days. Does this concern our protagonist? No, he's upset his girlfriend broke up with him. This is almost the only thing he ever talks about. He is self-centered to the point of being almost comically sociopathic. He lets a woman fall to her death so he can save his ex's goldfish, which he hopes to return to her and win her back with. He leaves a tiny child with two insane women who undoubtedly died along with the girl as soon as they were offscreen, all so he can continue on to his girlfriend. When he sees her crying over her dead rebound guy, who was crushed to death in her home in the room next to her when the world ended, he's enraged. Because she doesn't promptly take him back and start humping him (she's hurt her back and broken her kneecap btw), he rushes off in a rage and leaves her behind and probably dies shortly after the story ends.
I. Hate. This. Story. It sucks. The end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 21, 2017
Read March 2017
This story falls squarely in the weird fiction category. Many people have said the main character is unlikable, but I found his behavior understandable, if not particularly likable. I mean who hasn't wallowed in self-pity after being dumped. It just so happened he was dumped the day before the entire world went to hell.
You can read this story for free at Lightspeed Magazine.
This story falls squarely in the weird fiction category. Many people have said the main character is unlikable, but I found his behavior understandable, if not particularly likable. I mean who hasn't wallowed in self-pity after being dumped. It just so happened he was dumped the day before the entire world went to hell.
You can read this story for free at Lightspeed Magazine.
May 17, 2015
Toby's love of his life tells him they are over as a couple, and his world turns upside down. Hours later, the world literally turns upside down as gravity flips, and Toby finds himself in a dangerous, post-apocalyptic world with the thought of making his way to his ex-girlfriend as his only goal.
When a reader takes on the task of reading a wide variety of new-to-her authors for a task like voting for the Hugos, she is likely to encounter stories that aren't to her taste and wouldn't have been read otherwise. That's where I find myself with Mr. Heuvelt's tale of a lover pining over his unfaithful girlfriend's rejection. I couldn't empathize with a protagonist whose thoughts were more on his breakup rather than focusing on survival needs, and any sympathies I had for the character disappeared when his priority was a goldfish over human life. I can appreciate the author's skill in incorporating the suffering goldfish with Toby's dire situation, but my brain resisted greatly in believing that a fish could survive in a soft drink (I've had many fish that couldn't survive our city's saline water). My brain resisted greatly through most of the reading, as I couldn't envision the reverse of gravity the author intended.
Added: The author did make me think (but probably not in the way he intended), and I satisfied my curiosity about the goldfish:
"just the pH (level of acidity) alone in soda would send a fish into shock and kill it," says Ray Davis, an assistant curator at SeaWorld Orlando in Florida. The pH of soda is between 2 and 4 (quite acidic) and a goldfish needs a pH of about 7 (near neutral) to survive. Plus, the ingredients that make up soda would suffocate a goldfish.
Fish breathe with gills (slits on both sides of a fish's head hidden behind a gill cover). Gills take in dissolved oxygen from water and release carbon dioxide (the same gas that creates soda bubbles) from the body. "If you take a look at what's inside soda, it's very high in carbon dioxide," says Davis. "There's not enough oxygen in there for the fish to breathe." Also, fructose (sugar)--a main soda ingredient--is heavy and leaves a sticky goo on the skin. This would clog gills and prevent life-supporting gases from moving in and out of a fish's body (osmosis). Think CHOKE!!!
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Can+a+g...
P.S. I love the cover art.
May 25, 2021
This was a GREAT issue. I don't think there was one story that wasn't top-notch. My favorite SF stories were Codename: Delphi and Exhalation. My favorite fantasy was The Only Death in the City. The Afterparty excerpt was great and I added the book to my To Read list. As I normally do with collections or SFF magazines, below are my reviews per story. (They roughly align with my status posts, but sometimes I have to trim the statuses to remain within the character limits)
Science Fiction
--
Codename: Delphi - a story almost certainly inspired by the Iraq/Afghanistan wars of the 2000s-2020s where drone operators worked from afar to provide backup to the war effort. In this story, battlefield oversight and command is now a job contracted out. Our protagonist works in a "call center" providing this oversight role and we spend a night with her. It's one of those short stories that is less about character growth or a full story. Instead it's a scene in what could be a much larger narrative. I enjoyed the story quite a bit.
Francisca Montoya's Almanac of Things that Can Kill You - what starts off as a darkly humorous explanation of all the ways humans can die ends up telling the tale of a post-apocalyptic world. It's especially creative for the fact that the story is told through ways of dying that are listed alphabetically.
Complex God - A very interesting take on the emergent AI concept. It also leads to an unexpected twist as our protagonist has their own twist planned as well.
Exhalation - a neat metaphor for what the current scientific thought tells us will happen with out own universe as time passes. It has a bit of that SF Golden Age (1930s-1940s) tone to it and I really enjoy that whenever I find it. 5/5 for this story.
Fantasy
--
Observations about Eggs from the Man Sitting Next to Me on a Flight from Chicago, Illinois to Cedar Rapids, Iowa - very odd sort of fantasy in which you get glimpses of magic or things not quite being what they seem.
The Day the World Turn Upside Down - A fantastical metaphor for a breakup alongside a literal, non-metaphorical breakup. It was a sweet story and a nice read.
Alsiso - An exploration of how memes mutate that was a lot of fun to read. Also seems to maybe overlap a bit with the premise of Small Gods by Terry Pratchett.
The Only Death in the City - Something has happened on Earth and now people are reincarnated and completely remember their past lives. What would this to do life and society? Then our main character is the first newly born in thousands of years (he does not have a past life) - and so a moving story begins. An excellent selection for this fantasy reprint!
Novellas & Author Spotlights
--
The Autopsy - A science fiction horror novella that has a bit of a Lovecraftian bent to the narration. The plot has a few unexpected turns, but they are executed quite well. Reading the first paragraph of the next section of the magazine, an author feature, mentions this story is a classic. It definitely deserves that award.
Mihael Shea: No Form is Eternal- A tribute to Mr. Shea and The Autopsy.
Novel Excerpts
--
Afterparty - An intriguing novel involving (essentially) 3D printed drugs. The character of The Vincent cinched it for me and I added this book to my To Read List (long though it is)
Steles of the Sky - An excerpt from a novel that takes place in a fantasy-tinged Mongol empire. Thanks to having read The Mongoliad I recognized the names as Mongolian immediately. Story seems fascinating. Perhaps I will give the author another shot. (I didn't like the first novel of hers I read)
Non-Fiction
--
Interviews
--
Interview: Darren Aronofsky - An interview about the movie and graphic novel adaptations of Noah.
The Myth of Everyman - An essay on why it was problematic that the entire Noah cast (in the movie) was white. A good, short essay to show someone who doesn't understand the concept of why it's bad that "white" is assumed to be the "default".
Interview: Scott Sigler - Wonder how well Pandemic the book squares with the reality of pandemic in 2020-2021. Man, this is hard to read during COVID.
Artist Gallery/Artist Spotlight: Remi Le Capon - a mix of steampunk and SF images. His description of an ideal art project sounds like The Witcher meets Steampunk.
Author Spotlights
--
Linda Nagata - Looks like I was slightly off in the inspiration. Apparently the short story is providing POV to a character from one of her novels.
Shaenon K. Garrity - About the inspiration for the character in Almanac of Things that can kill you
Scott Sigler - A little more background on Prawatt and where she came from and her motivations in "God Complex"
Ted Chiang - How a Philip K Dick short story was part of the inspiration for "Exhalation!"
Carmen Maria Machado - The origin of the egg story.
Thomas Olde Heuvelt - The author's experience with grief led to the story and its extended metaphor.
Spotlight: KJ Bishop - Discussion on how Alsisso comes from the idea of consumerism as the evolution of theology.
Spotlight: CJ Cherryh - In the discussion of The Only Death I learned that Paris is one of the oldest European cities.
Misc
----
The Legend of RoboNinja - A parody of cyberpunk, complete with unnecessarily complex words. Very fun.
Author Spotlight: RoboNinja - A great parody of the author spotlights.
Science Fiction
--
Codename: Delphi - a story almost certainly inspired by the Iraq/Afghanistan wars of the 2000s-2020s where drone operators worked from afar to provide backup to the war effort. In this story, battlefield oversight and command is now a job contracted out. Our protagonist works in a "call center" providing this oversight role and we spend a night with her. It's one of those short stories that is less about character growth or a full story. Instead it's a scene in what could be a much larger narrative. I enjoyed the story quite a bit.
Francisca Montoya's Almanac of Things that Can Kill You - what starts off as a darkly humorous explanation of all the ways humans can die ends up telling the tale of a post-apocalyptic world. It's especially creative for the fact that the story is told through ways of dying that are listed alphabetically.
Complex God - A very interesting take on the emergent AI concept. It also leads to an unexpected twist as our protagonist has their own twist planned as well.
Exhalation - a neat metaphor for what the current scientific thought tells us will happen with out own universe as time passes. It has a bit of that SF Golden Age (1930s-1940s) tone to it and I really enjoy that whenever I find it. 5/5 for this story.
Fantasy
--
Observations about Eggs from the Man Sitting Next to Me on a Flight from Chicago, Illinois to Cedar Rapids, Iowa - very odd sort of fantasy in which you get glimpses of magic or things not quite being what they seem.
The Day the World Turn Upside Down - A fantastical metaphor for a breakup alongside a literal, non-metaphorical breakup. It was a sweet story and a nice read.
Alsiso - An exploration of how memes mutate that was a lot of fun to read. Also seems to maybe overlap a bit with the premise of Small Gods by Terry Pratchett.
The Only Death in the City - Something has happened on Earth and now people are reincarnated and completely remember their past lives. What would this to do life and society? Then our main character is the first newly born in thousands of years (he does not have a past life) - and so a moving story begins. An excellent selection for this fantasy reprint!
Novellas & Author Spotlights
--
The Autopsy - A science fiction horror novella that has a bit of a Lovecraftian bent to the narration. The plot has a few unexpected turns, but they are executed quite well. Reading the first paragraph of the next section of the magazine, an author feature, mentions this story is a classic. It definitely deserves that award.
Mihael Shea: No Form is Eternal- A tribute to Mr. Shea and The Autopsy.
Novel Excerpts
--
Afterparty - An intriguing novel involving (essentially) 3D printed drugs. The character of The Vincent cinched it for me and I added this book to my To Read List (long though it is)
Steles of the Sky - An excerpt from a novel that takes place in a fantasy-tinged Mongol empire. Thanks to having read The Mongoliad I recognized the names as Mongolian immediately. Story seems fascinating. Perhaps I will give the author another shot. (I didn't like the first novel of hers I read)
Non-Fiction
--
Interviews
--
Interview: Darren Aronofsky - An interview about the movie and graphic novel adaptations of Noah.
The Myth of Everyman - An essay on why it was problematic that the entire Noah cast (in the movie) was white. A good, short essay to show someone who doesn't understand the concept of why it's bad that "white" is assumed to be the "default".
Interview: Scott Sigler - Wonder how well Pandemic the book squares with the reality of pandemic in 2020-2021. Man, this is hard to read during COVID.
Artist Gallery/Artist Spotlight: Remi Le Capon - a mix of steampunk and SF images. His description of an ideal art project sounds like The Witcher meets Steampunk.
Author Spotlights
--
Linda Nagata - Looks like I was slightly off in the inspiration. Apparently the short story is providing POV to a character from one of her novels.
Shaenon K. Garrity - About the inspiration for the character in Almanac of Things that can kill you
Scott Sigler - A little more background on Prawatt and where she came from and her motivations in "God Complex"
Ted Chiang - How a Philip K Dick short story was part of the inspiration for "Exhalation!"
Carmen Maria Machado - The origin of the egg story.
Thomas Olde Heuvelt - The author's experience with grief led to the story and its extended metaphor.
Spotlight: KJ Bishop - Discussion on how Alsisso comes from the idea of consumerism as the evolution of theology.
Spotlight: CJ Cherryh - In the discussion of The Only Death I learned that Paris is one of the oldest European cities.
Misc
----
The Legend of RoboNinja - A parody of cyberpunk, complete with unnecessarily complex words. Very fun.
Author Spotlight: RoboNinja - A great parody of the author spotlights.
October 5, 2025
RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I’m getting ready to read the arc of Thomas Olde Heuvelt’s, Darker Days, and saw that he won a Hugo award for his sci-fi short story, The Day the World Turned Upside Down. It’s in this magazine edition. I enjoyed it. A very interesting concept for a plot. It didn’t WOW me but definitely held my interest.
I’m getting ready to read the arc of Thomas Olde Heuvelt’s, Darker Days, and saw that he won a Hugo award for his sci-fi short story, The Day the World Turned Upside Down. It’s in this magazine edition. I enjoyed it. A very interesting concept for a plot. It didn’t WOW me but definitely held my interest.
January 9, 2016
Oscilante, como a maior parte desse tipo de publicação: revistas não podem acertar em todas, mas trouxeram contos que me cativaram bastante e alguns que me passaram batido, gerando um tal desinteresse. Para alguém que, como eu, está meio desatinado com os contemporâneos, foi bem proveitoso.
Meus favoritos foram:
- "The Only Death in the City", de C. J. Cherryh, cativando-me pelo enredo e proposta, com suas almas sempre reencarnantes e uma sensação não-muito-velada de agonia que me segurou durante o conto inteiro.
- "Observations About Eggs from the Man Sitting Next to Me on a Flight from Chicago, Illinois to Cedar Rapids, Iowa", de Carmen Maria Machado, que me pegou de surpresa por toda a natureza da história, contada de forma inusitada e com resultados engraçadinhos.
- "The Day the World Turned Upside Down", de Thomas Olde Heuvelt, misturando bem a ambientação fantástica com os problemas emocionais do personagem, resultando em uma espécie de metáfora e um encerramento bem legal. Talvez pudesse ser um pouquinho mais curto.
Os que menos gostei foram:
- "Complex God", de Scott Sigler, com sua protagonista insuportável - mesmo que fosse intencional - e final, além de previsível, apresentado de forma um tanto besta.
- "Codename: Delphi", de Linda Nagata, que não propriamente desgostei, mas me fez esperar mais do que me entregou e me deixou com um gosto de "tá, e daí?" ao final da leitura.
No mais, posso até experimentar outra edição dessa revista. Daqui a um tempo.
Meus favoritos foram:
- "The Only Death in the City", de C. J. Cherryh, cativando-me pelo enredo e proposta, com suas almas sempre reencarnantes e uma sensação não-muito-velada de agonia que me segurou durante o conto inteiro.
- "Observations About Eggs from the Man Sitting Next to Me on a Flight from Chicago, Illinois to Cedar Rapids, Iowa", de Carmen Maria Machado, que me pegou de surpresa por toda a natureza da história, contada de forma inusitada e com resultados engraçadinhos.
- "The Day the World Turned Upside Down", de Thomas Olde Heuvelt, misturando bem a ambientação fantástica com os problemas emocionais do personagem, resultando em uma espécie de metáfora e um encerramento bem legal. Talvez pudesse ser um pouquinho mais curto.
Os que menos gostei foram:
- "Complex God", de Scott Sigler, com sua protagonista insuportável - mesmo que fosse intencional - e final, além de previsível, apresentado de forma um tanto besta.
- "Codename: Delphi", de Linda Nagata, que não propriamente desgostei, mas me fez esperar mais do que me entregou e me deixou com um gosto de "tá, e daí?" ao final da leitura.
No mais, posso até experimentar outra edição dessa revista. Daqui a um tempo.
April 1, 2018
Read for the 2015 Hugos (The Day the World Turned Upside Down)
I've now read two stories by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, so I feel pretty comfortable saying that the guy writes stories with really, really weird premises. In this case, I really liked the premise: gravity is no longer working the way it used to, and everything is now upside down. Heuvelt uses this setup as a parallel to the narrator's world being figuratively turned upside down because his girlfriend left him. As a result, the guy is pretty...mopey. He whines and complains a lot. But, honestly, that felt real. Sometimes the guy had something else to do or care about. Those parts of the story were great. The generally surreal feel of the story was appropriate and very well done.
Basically, I liked the setup, the story, the characters, but I had trouble with the scenes where he describes how this guy travels from place to place, now that the ground can't be used. I simply had no idea what he was trying to describe. If those scenes had been better, I probably would have given this story another star.
I've now read two stories by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, so I feel pretty comfortable saying that the guy writes stories with really, really weird premises. In this case, I really liked the premise: gravity is no longer working the way it used to, and everything is now upside down. Heuvelt uses this setup as a parallel to the narrator's world being figuratively turned upside down because his girlfriend left him. As a result, the guy is pretty...mopey. He whines and complains a lot. But, honestly, that felt real. Sometimes the guy had something else to do or care about. Those parts of the story were great. The generally surreal feel of the story was appropriate and very well done.
Basically, I liked the setup, the story, the characters, but I had trouble with the scenes where he describes how this guy travels from place to place, now that the ground can't be used. I simply had no idea what he was trying to describe. If those scenes had been better, I probably would have given this story another star.
June 2, 2014
April's issue of Lightspeed Magazine (yes, I'm behind), while not one of my favorites, still has some worthwhile fiction inside. My favorites from the science fiction side were Codename: Delphi by Linda Nagata, a exciting military sci-fi story about a woman who's job is to control troops remotely (a profession I would never want), and Complex God by Scott Sigler. Complex God is from the recently released Robot Uprising anthology, so you can tell where the story is going, but the author brings the story to its inevitable conclusion in a very creative way. My favorite on the fantasy side was The Only Death in the City by CJ Cherryh, which I found to be lushly written and filled with great worldbuilding. The story focuses on a society where people are constantly reincarnated with full knowledge of all of their previous lives, and the consequences that result. There's also Alsiso by KJ Bishop, an entertaining study of how legends develop over time.
April's issue of Lightspeed is not a must read, but I still considered it to be a worthwhile use of my time.
April's issue of Lightspeed is not a must read, but I still considered it to be a worthwhile use of my time.
July 28, 2015
I'm a little surprised that so many people reacted so viscerally against this novelette due to its unlikeable main character, because that didn't bother me one whit while reading -- he was loathsome, yes, but I don't think I need to sympathise with my protagonists all that much in a story this short. I definitely highlighted a few quotes along the way because I simply found them so funny, in their black humour and sheer assholery and narcissism, that when the entire world has ended and most people are suffering or dead, this guy can't get his head out of his own navel beyond his own man-pain & the concept of trying to win his girlfriend back. I definitely saw the humour in it, and didn't think we were supposed to identify with this guy.
It's surreal, dream-like, more like a fairytale than a grounded story, and I dug it.
It's surreal, dream-like, more like a fairytale than a grounded story, and I dug it.
August 6, 2020
[Review of "The Day The World Turned Upside-Down" by Thomas Olde Heuvelt]
Disappointing. An excellent premise of the world turning upside-down without explanation falls flat by talking instead about a failed love story where the world ends, which I found incredibly boring.
I also didn't understand much of what was going on. Some things didn't make sense, and seemed difficult to place within the context of the story. Being a work of science-fiction, of course you get weird things coming up but at times it was just confusingly annoying to figure out what was happening. It could also have to do with the translation as well.
At least it didn't take long to read. Really surprised it won a Hugo award.
Disappointing. An excellent premise of the world turning upside-down without explanation falls flat by talking instead about a failed love story where the world ends, which I found incredibly boring.
I also didn't understand much of what was going on. Some things didn't make sense, and seemed difficult to place within the context of the story. Being a work of science-fiction, of course you get weird things coming up but at times it was just confusingly annoying to figure out what was happening. It could also have to do with the translation as well.
At least it didn't take long to read. Really surprised it won a Hugo award.
July 13, 2015
Gravity flips. Lots of people and animals die. Official explanation: none. Implied explanation: the main character's "girlfriend" just dumped him. At one point the main character lets someone else die and actually blames his girlfriend for teaching him to be that way. Oh, and apparently his girlfriend was cheating on him. And he talks about her as though she's his property. And he's far more upset about not being able to use his ex for sex than he is about anything else in the story.
The author suggests the story is funny. I think it's more of a day in the life of an MRA.
The author suggests the story is funny. I think it's more of a day in the life of an MRA.
July 25, 2015
I think this is probably the worst story I've read in years. The whole thing felt absurd and not in an interesting way, I think the plot point where the Earth's gravity suddenly and irreversibly reverses to push objects away from the surface might actually have been the most plausible and believable moment in the story. The main character is so obnoxious and self-obsessed that I half-suspect it's meant to be a satire but I'm not sure it is.
May 22, 2015
Part of my Hugo Reading
I found this book incredibly frustrating. The idea of the story is quite original, although pretty implausible, but the first person narrator is such a massively annoying, entitled, unself-reflective bellend that I only read through to the end in the hope that he would get his comeuppance.
Spoiler: he didn't.
I found this book incredibly frustrating. The idea of the story is quite original, although pretty implausible, but the first person narrator is such a massively annoying, entitled, unself-reflective bellend that I only read through to the end in the hope that he would get his comeuppance.
Spoiler: he didn't.
December 28, 2015
This reminded me of last year's The Water That Falls on You From Nowhere. Something truly bizarre and unexplainable happens, but the focus of the story is on the POV character's relationship. This story suffers from an unlikable main character and I had trouble picturing how he got around outside of his house. The second point might have been me not paying attention.
January 6, 2016
A few spoilery thoughts here:
http://ciaracatscifi.blogspot.com/201...
Basically: Hello? Physics...!
http://ciaracatscifi.blogspot.com/201...
Basically: Hello? Physics...!
May 3, 2015
Maybe not a Puppy, but truly awful anyway.
May 16, 2017
Ugh.
This novelette won a Hugo award in 2015, which may be the final nail in the coffin of my respect for the Hugo awards.
One day, "the world turns upside down" - that is, gravity pulls outward toward space, instead of inward toward the earth. This serves as a metaphor for the lovelife our our main character, whose beloved girlfriend has just broken up with him, figuratively turning his world upside down. (Get it??) When he realizes she is still alive and has not been killed or sucked out into space, he goes on an epic journey to bring back her goldfish (it's a SYMBOL of their LOVE). Along the way, he refuses to save a woman in favor of saving the damn fish, then finds her child and carries her along with him until someone else expresses interest in the kid, whereupon he simply hands her over. Once he reaches his ex-girlfriend, he is horrified to realize that despite all the HARD WORK he has done to reach her, and the fact that he is such a NICE GUY with a LIVE GOLDFISH, that's still not enough to make her fall in love with him again. When he realizes this, he leaves her there and goes on his own way, free at last in a world turned upside down.
A sample of the writing:
I hated everything about the selfish, self-absorbed, "nice guy" narrator and this fucking story.
For a better example of this genre with a similar-but-better plot and much better writing, check out Neil Gaiman's The Day the Saucer's Came .
This novelette won a Hugo award in 2015, which may be the final nail in the coffin of my respect for the Hugo awards.
One day, "the world turns upside down" - that is, gravity pulls outward toward space, instead of inward toward the earth. This serves as a metaphor for the lovelife our our main character, whose beloved girlfriend has just broken up with him, figuratively turning his world upside down. (Get it??) When he realizes she is still alive and has not been killed or sucked out into space, he goes on an epic journey to bring back her goldfish (it's a SYMBOL of their LOVE). Along the way, he refuses to save a woman in favor of saving the damn fish, then finds her child and carries her along with him until someone else expresses interest in the kid, whereupon he simply hands her over. Once he reaches his ex-girlfriend, he is horrified to realize that despite all the HARD WORK he has done to reach her, and the fact that he is such a NICE GUY with a LIVE GOLDFISH, that's still not enough to make her fall in love with him again. When he realizes this, he leaves her there and goes on his own way, free at last in a world turned upside down.
A sample of the writing:
I hated everything about the selfish, self-absorbed, "nice guy" narrator and this fucking story.
For a better example of this genre with a similar-but-better plot and much better writing, check out Neil Gaiman's The Day the Saucer's Came .
November 6, 2015
(com links para as histórias disponibilizadas gratuitamente em https://acrisalves.wordpress.com/2015...)
Coordenada por John Joseph Adams (conhecido pela qualidade das antologias que organiza) esta edição da Lightspeed Magazine é dos melhores volumes que li de qualquer revista de ficção especulativa. Entre as re-edições e as novas publicações o nível de qualidade é bastante elevado, fazendo com que eu considere adquirir os restantes números organizados por John Joseph Adams.
Este volume começa com uma história de Linda Nagata, Codename:Delphi, uma história bélica em que uma mulher ajuda a coordenar, à distância, grupos de combate, analisando os dados obtidos por drones na área onde estes grupos se encontram. Coordenando não um, nem dois, mas vários grupos de combate torna-se um trabalho esgotante do qual apetece, por vezes, desistir. Sem ser o meu género de ficção científica, apresenta um cenário pouco distante da realidade actual, centrando na luta emocional de quem coordena estas regras. A história encontra-se disponível gratuitamente no site da Lightspeed Magazine.
Segue-se Francisca Montoya’s Almanac of Things that can kill you de Shaenon K. Garrity, um conto pós-apocalíptico que se apresenta num formato interessante – um misto de almanaque com diário onde quem o escreve lista as coisas que, neste mundo podem matar uma pessoa – nalgumas descreve tratamentos ou probabilidades, salientando aquelas em que, antigamente, antes da queda da civilização, seria raro falecer.
Complex God de Scott Sigler é um excelente conto irónico em que uma cientista, com recurso a pequenos robots espera limpar uma cidade do lixo radioactivo. Estes pequenos robots terão capacidade de aprendizagem e de cooperarem entre si para tarefas mais difíceis (do ponto de vista físico ou intelectual). Sendo a responsável pela solução barata e inovadora, a cientista espera colher os louros das melhores ambientais. Apesar de ter um desenvolvimento algo expectável (entre o título e a capacidade de aprendizagem / pensamento dos robots está-se mesmo a ver o rumo) consegue ser interessante pela forma como se apresenta.
Recentemente Ted Chiang tornou-se um dos meus escritores de ficção científica favoritos. Contos inteligentes com uma grande componente científica ou tecnológica que se desenvolvem logicamente a partir de premissas simples. Este volume tem um conto do autor, Exhalation que, infelizmente já tinha lido na antologia de contos.
O primeiro conto de fantasia é, a meu ver, o mais fraquito. Observations about eggs from the man sitting next to me on a flight from Chicago, Illinois to Cedar Rapids, Iowa de Carmen Maria Machado é exactamente o que o título descreve, observações disconexas sobre ovos, lançadas de forma estranha. Receitas entrelaçadas com conversa e observações fantasiosas sobre estados de um ovo que não existem.
A segunda história é, novamente, excelente, conforme detalhei em entrada própria no blog. The Day the world turned upside down de Thomas Olde Heuvelt centra-se num jovem que tenta encontrar a ex-namorada num mundo em que a gravidade o virou do avesso. Assim, tudo o que se encontrava na fase do planeta e não estava firmemente agarrado ao solo foi cuspido. Safaram-se algumas pessoas que estavam dentro das casas. Conto fantasioso, é interessante pela situação retratada acompanhando um jovem que pouco tem de herói.
Alsiso de K. J. Bishop consegue ser uma história simples mas extraordinária acompanhando a evolução do nome utilizado por um assassino desconhecido que se foi transformando em figura de carnavais e teatros. Figura anónima mas romanceada até à exaustão que passa por períodos de esquecimento apenas para ser reavivada de forma ainda mais rocambolesca.
A próxima história é de C.J. Cherryh, The only death in the city que acompanha uma civilização humana que se terá recolhido às profundezas da terra, escavando novos níveis subterrâneos sempre que surge a necessidade de expansão. Civilização decadente onde não há novas invenções e onde as pessoas renascem recordando as vidas antepassadas, podendo continuá-las. Após centenas de reencarnações os laços criados em vidas anteriores são mais fortes do que as da família e, assim que o bebé consegue falar, afirma a sua proveniência para que possa ser encaminhado para o clã. Neste mundo gasto de ciclos repetitivos, nasce uma nova alma, a única criança que é verdadeiramente criança e que por isso é tratado com condescendência por todos. Uma excelente história fantásticas que cativa quer em ideias, quer em desenvolvimento das mesmas, conseguindo tornar-se inovadora.
The Autopsy de Michael Shea é uma das grandes histórias deste volume, a reedição de um clássico que mistura horror com ficção científica acompanhando um médico legista que está a autopsiar cadáveres que sofreram uma morte misteriosa. Uma história bem longa que vai criando momento e inquietação, enquanto, cadáver atrás de cadáver, o médico se começa a aperceber de algo comum a todos eles. Sem pressas mas premeditado, consegue criar, sem muitos elementos, um cenário de forte horror.
Depois de alguns excertos (que nunca leio) e de entrevistas (que raramente me interessam) segue-se a galeria do artista responsável pela capa, Rémi Le Capon, com arte de vários géneros onde, na maioria, se denota um contraste entre as zonas escuras e difusas e as zonas luminosas de maior detalhe, criando imagens muito centradas nas figuras principais e pouco detalhadas nos cenários. No portfolio encontram alguma das imagens publicadas nesta revista.
Coordenada por John Joseph Adams (conhecido pela qualidade das antologias que organiza) esta edição da Lightspeed Magazine é dos melhores volumes que li de qualquer revista de ficção especulativa. Entre as re-edições e as novas publicações o nível de qualidade é bastante elevado, fazendo com que eu considere adquirir os restantes números organizados por John Joseph Adams.
Este volume começa com uma história de Linda Nagata, Codename:Delphi, uma história bélica em que uma mulher ajuda a coordenar, à distância, grupos de combate, analisando os dados obtidos por drones na área onde estes grupos se encontram. Coordenando não um, nem dois, mas vários grupos de combate torna-se um trabalho esgotante do qual apetece, por vezes, desistir. Sem ser o meu género de ficção científica, apresenta um cenário pouco distante da realidade actual, centrando na luta emocional de quem coordena estas regras. A história encontra-se disponível gratuitamente no site da Lightspeed Magazine.
Segue-se Francisca Montoya’s Almanac of Things that can kill you de Shaenon K. Garrity, um conto pós-apocalíptico que se apresenta num formato interessante – um misto de almanaque com diário onde quem o escreve lista as coisas que, neste mundo podem matar uma pessoa – nalgumas descreve tratamentos ou probabilidades, salientando aquelas em que, antigamente, antes da queda da civilização, seria raro falecer.
Complex God de Scott Sigler é um excelente conto irónico em que uma cientista, com recurso a pequenos robots espera limpar uma cidade do lixo radioactivo. Estes pequenos robots terão capacidade de aprendizagem e de cooperarem entre si para tarefas mais difíceis (do ponto de vista físico ou intelectual). Sendo a responsável pela solução barata e inovadora, a cientista espera colher os louros das melhores ambientais. Apesar de ter um desenvolvimento algo expectável (entre o título e a capacidade de aprendizagem / pensamento dos robots está-se mesmo a ver o rumo) consegue ser interessante pela forma como se apresenta.
Recentemente Ted Chiang tornou-se um dos meus escritores de ficção científica favoritos. Contos inteligentes com uma grande componente científica ou tecnológica que se desenvolvem logicamente a partir de premissas simples. Este volume tem um conto do autor, Exhalation que, infelizmente já tinha lido na antologia de contos.
O primeiro conto de fantasia é, a meu ver, o mais fraquito. Observations about eggs from the man sitting next to me on a flight from Chicago, Illinois to Cedar Rapids, Iowa de Carmen Maria Machado é exactamente o que o título descreve, observações disconexas sobre ovos, lançadas de forma estranha. Receitas entrelaçadas com conversa e observações fantasiosas sobre estados de um ovo que não existem.
A segunda história é, novamente, excelente, conforme detalhei em entrada própria no blog. The Day the world turned upside down de Thomas Olde Heuvelt centra-se num jovem que tenta encontrar a ex-namorada num mundo em que a gravidade o virou do avesso. Assim, tudo o que se encontrava na fase do planeta e não estava firmemente agarrado ao solo foi cuspido. Safaram-se algumas pessoas que estavam dentro das casas. Conto fantasioso, é interessante pela situação retratada acompanhando um jovem que pouco tem de herói.
Alsiso de K. J. Bishop consegue ser uma história simples mas extraordinária acompanhando a evolução do nome utilizado por um assassino desconhecido que se foi transformando em figura de carnavais e teatros. Figura anónima mas romanceada até à exaustão que passa por períodos de esquecimento apenas para ser reavivada de forma ainda mais rocambolesca.
A próxima história é de C.J. Cherryh, The only death in the city que acompanha uma civilização humana que se terá recolhido às profundezas da terra, escavando novos níveis subterrâneos sempre que surge a necessidade de expansão. Civilização decadente onde não há novas invenções e onde as pessoas renascem recordando as vidas antepassadas, podendo continuá-las. Após centenas de reencarnações os laços criados em vidas anteriores são mais fortes do que as da família e, assim que o bebé consegue falar, afirma a sua proveniência para que possa ser encaminhado para o clã. Neste mundo gasto de ciclos repetitivos, nasce uma nova alma, a única criança que é verdadeiramente criança e que por isso é tratado com condescendência por todos. Uma excelente história fantásticas que cativa quer em ideias, quer em desenvolvimento das mesmas, conseguindo tornar-se inovadora.
The Autopsy de Michael Shea é uma das grandes histórias deste volume, a reedição de um clássico que mistura horror com ficção científica acompanhando um médico legista que está a autopsiar cadáveres que sofreram uma morte misteriosa. Uma história bem longa que vai criando momento e inquietação, enquanto, cadáver atrás de cadáver, o médico se começa a aperceber de algo comum a todos eles. Sem pressas mas premeditado, consegue criar, sem muitos elementos, um cenário de forte horror.
Depois de alguns excertos (que nunca leio) e de entrevistas (que raramente me interessam) segue-se a galeria do artista responsável pela capa, Rémi Le Capon, com arte de vários géneros onde, na maioria, se denota um contraste entre as zonas escuras e difusas e as zonas luminosas de maior detalhe, criando imagens muito centradas nas figuras principais e pouco detalhadas nos cenários. No portfolio encontram alguma das imagens publicadas nesta revista.
October 6, 2019
The Day The World Turned Upside Down
August 2, 2021
Good anthology.
January 29, 2016
Great premise for a story. Exactly the kind of unusual setting I like to see in stories. The writing is poetic and beautiful (huge props to the translator, Lia Belt). And at only 26 pages, this can be read in a single 20-minute sitting.
So why three stars?
For one, there's not much for plot aside from the world turning upside down. Do we get to see how the survivors adapt to this new reality? Maybe see some fighting and greed before rebuilding a new type of civilization? Do any characters aside from the protagonist matter or have any goals of their own? Nope, nope, and nope.
I know that's a lot to ask for a short novelette, but some kind of hints that something else was going on in the world besides the main character's selfish journey would have been nice. Instead, we're treated to the tale of a man trying to get back to his ex-girlfriend in the hope that she will take him back.
All in all, the writing alone made me enjoy this story. There were parts where I would pause and reflect on the descriptions. However, for a Hugo award winner, the story was lacking in the extreme. If it didn't have the award, I probably would have quit halfway through, and that's not a good sign for a 26-page story.
So why three stars?
For one, there's not much for plot aside from the world turning upside down. Do we get to see how the survivors adapt to this new reality? Maybe see some fighting and greed before rebuilding a new type of civilization? Do any characters aside from the protagonist matter or have any goals of their own? Nope, nope, and nope.
I know that's a lot to ask for a short novelette, but some kind of hints that something else was going on in the world besides the main character's selfish journey would have been nice. Instead, we're treated to the tale of a man trying to get back to his ex-girlfriend in the hope that she will take him back.
All in all, the writing alone made me enjoy this story. There were parts where I would pause and reflect on the descriptions. However, for a Hugo award winner, the story was lacking in the extreme. If it didn't have the award, I probably would have quit halfway through, and that's not a good sign for a 26-page story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 10, 2014
This was another good issue overall, the reprints all being new to me at least. The novella, "The Autopsy", is a mixture of horror, fantasy, and science fiction genres. It is quite successful in shifting away from the reader's expectations on how the story should go, and it actually reads more like two stories connected together. In that respect I am confused on why the story is thought to work better as is, rather than being considerably shorter. The ending is powerful enough to leave you pleased no matter how you felt about the first half.
I enjoyed most of the science fiction short stories in the issue, with the exception of the opening story by Nagata (mostly because military SF is just not my thing). Garrity's piece is an amusing and lighter approach to the apocalyptic genre, and a sort of poke at cliched tropes of the subgenre. Both Sigler and Chiang's stories were inventive and thought provoking while entertaining.
Again I found myself surprised to not connect with any of the fantasy stories. I wouldn't say they are badly written at all, just not my preferences. The styles of the Cherryh reprint stories and Machado's were particularly not flavors I appreciate.
I enjoyed most of the science fiction short stories in the issue, with the exception of the opening story by Nagata (mostly because military SF is just not my thing). Garrity's piece is an amusing and lighter approach to the apocalyptic genre, and a sort of poke at cliched tropes of the subgenre. Both Sigler and Chiang's stories were inventive and thought provoking while entertaining.
Again I found myself surprised to not connect with any of the fantasy stories. I wouldn't say they are badly written at all, just not my preferences. The styles of the Cherryh reprint stories and Machado's were particularly not flavors I appreciate.
August 23, 2015
This is quite simply one of the worst things I have ever read; poorly-written and utterly nonsensical. I wanted the moronic, spineless protagonist to simply die. Quickly. It was almost palpably painful to read the entire thing. After a while it became like a car crash; fascinating yet horrific.
This is writing that a junior-high student would have been too ashamed to submit to his teachers.
There is NOTHING about this piece of garbage which I can recommend except not ever reading it and preferably never mentioning its existence again. The only thing "sci-fi" about it is pondering how any "sci-fi fans" could even say this qualifies as such without their heads exploding, Scanners-style.
The fact that it won a Hugo should turn every thinking human's stomach... which explains why those who voted for it did...
This is writing that a junior-high student would have been too ashamed to submit to his teachers.
There is NOTHING about this piece of garbage which I can recommend except not ever reading it and preferably never mentioning its existence again. The only thing "sci-fi" about it is pondering how any "sci-fi fans" could even say this qualifies as such without their heads exploding, Scanners-style.
The fact that it won a Hugo should turn every thinking human's stomach... which explains why those who voted for it did...
December 19, 2016
There is a fact about magazines: you know you will like some of the stories, and you know you won't like some of the stories.
You're not buying the latest book of your favourite writer, you did not mean to read something which you knew in advance you'd probably like - in fact what you want is an effortless way to find some new favourite writers, and this way you only have to go through some other stories which you don't give a damn!
So what's the fair score for a magazine?
Not all the stories in this edition would be 4-stars imho but there are definetely a few which were ok to read and two which I loved and will have me looking for more of their authors. So I would say this is a success.
Btw the two stories I loved were "Francisca Montoya’s Almanac of Things That Can Kill You" by Shaenon K. Garrity and "The Only Death in the City" by C. J. Cherryh.
In case anyone cares.
You're not buying the latest book of your favourite writer, you did not mean to read something which you knew in advance you'd probably like - in fact what you want is an effortless way to find some new favourite writers, and this way you only have to go through some other stories which you don't give a damn!
So what's the fair score for a magazine?
Not all the stories in this edition would be 4-stars imho but there are definetely a few which were ok to read and two which I loved and will have me looking for more of their authors. So I would say this is a success.
Btw the two stories I loved were "Francisca Montoya’s Almanac of Things That Can Kill You" by Shaenon K. Garrity and "The Only Death in the City" by C. J. Cherryh.
In case anyone cares.
June 20, 2015
2015 Hugo Novelette Nominee.
This story begins with a heavy-handed metaphor: the world literally turns upside down after a young man's girlfriend dumps him. No explanation for the gravity reversal is given, but that's not what really bothered me. The protagonist was just a jerk who obsessed over his ex while billions died, a jerk who let people die in order to save his goldfish (actually, the goldfish's story arc was much more interesting than the man's). This could have been an instant classic if it had instead concentrated on the mind-expanding idea of gravity turned upside down.
This is Heuvelt's third Hugo nomination in three years. This is the best of the three, but I cannot understand his popularity. My guess is that he has benefited from special-interest balloting.
This story begins with a heavy-handed metaphor: the world literally turns upside down after a young man's girlfriend dumps him. No explanation for the gravity reversal is given, but that's not what really bothered me. The protagonist was just a jerk who obsessed over his ex while billions died, a jerk who let people die in order to save his goldfish (actually, the goldfish's story arc was much more interesting than the man's). This could have been an instant classic if it had instead concentrated on the mind-expanding idea of gravity turned upside down.
This is Heuvelt's third Hugo nomination in three years. This is the best of the three, but I cannot understand his popularity. My guess is that he has benefited from special-interest balloting.
October 30, 2015
Part of a small quest this year to read all of the Hugo-nominated novelettes, in spite of the controversy. This was the winner, but...
I found this story very surreal. The end of the world, or at least the reversal of gravity, with no explanation. Why doesn't the atmosphere drain away? Why don't the rivers and oceans drift into the sky? They do, when one of the characters thinks to ask. Why do the networks go down? Why is any of this happening, really? The speculative element (the sudden reversal of gravity) isn't anything more than a metaphor for the emotional state of the young man who's just been dumped by the woman he considers the love of his life. The translation keeps beauty in the writing, but I don't really see why this needed to be a Fantasy story to cover the emotions.
I found this story very surreal. The end of the world, or at least the reversal of gravity, with no explanation. Why doesn't the atmosphere drain away? Why don't the rivers and oceans drift into the sky? They do, when one of the characters thinks to ask. Why do the networks go down? Why is any of this happening, really? The speculative element (the sudden reversal of gravity) isn't anything more than a metaphor for the emotional state of the young man who's just been dumped by the woman he considers the love of his life. The translation keeps beauty in the writing, but I don't really see why this needed to be a Fantasy story to cover the emotions.
June 21, 2015
The non-slate story from the 2015 Hugos Novelette category. It had significantly better writing than the other four stories, so all credit to the author and the translator for that. I liked the premise of the story and I really liked the balance between serious and almost whimsical as the story went on. I think the subject matter was well suited to the length, which was notable as well. However, there was a moment where the protagonist expressed such a cliched piece of sexist thought that it really threw me.
Originally reviewed as part of a larger post at Subversive Reader
Originally reviewed as part of a larger post at Subversive Reader
October 13, 2015
"The Day the World Turned Upside Down" is an extended metaphor about a whiney young man whose girlfriend leaves him right before the eponymous disaster strikes. The whiney young man (Toby) then embarks across the upside-down world to find Sophie, the girlfriend in question, and to return her goldfish, Bubbles. The metaphor is well done, the writing (translating?) fine, and the story is really only let down by the impossibility with having any sympathy whatsoever with Toby.
June 23, 2015
I feel like this definitely owes something to "The Water that falls on you from nowhere" - which isn't necessarily a bad thing, it did win a Hugo after all, but it doesn't quite make itself different enough. I didn't like the main character, which isn't a problem necessarily, although I think we are meant to sympathise and I just couldn't do that. Better than the other Hugo nominees in the category buuuuut still not really Hugo material.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews