Sorrel’s Reviews > Exhalation > Status Update

The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling: i really dug the style of a fictional journalistic essay in this one. i appreciate the thinkpiece of "what if your shitty parent was Wrong and their Truth was a lie they told themselves" ending in an optimistic way. but I haven't been through therapy for nothing, so i agree w the fictional child's therapist: u need to live w it smh

The Great Silence: beautiful theme with a solid explanation and backstory provided by the end notes

Dacey's Patent Automatic Nanny: liked it quite well, and it fit the strange views of Victorians and children and machinery. same vibe as Woyzeck

The Lifecycle of Software Objects: i'm a puddle of emotions

What's Expected Of Us: classic scifi in the sense that it takes a phenomenon from our times (new tech becoming available that rapidly changes society and human interaction) and examines that scenario with tech that's currently not (yet?) available. v enjoyable read, i felt like i savoured every sentence

Exhalation: oh my god. ohhh my god. i love how he constructs these short stories and how - at some point - feel something click inside your brain and you truly GET the setting and the people now. this was an amazing read.

the alchemist's gate: refreshing take on wormholes. you don't need them to be in some far corner of the galaxy, they can just pop up in Cairo or Baghdad