Spectrum SF #4 | ||||||||||
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A review by Steven H Silver
Many new parents have to find ways of dealing with the encroachment of an infant into their lives. The loss of privacy
and personal time can be devastating. Many authors have dealt with these issues by writing stories about their
frustrations and problems, such as Harry Turtledove's "Crybaby." Mary Soon Lee, identified as a new mother in the
introduction, seems to have come up with her own solution with "Pause Time," in which a new technology allows a parent
to place her infant into a sort of suspended animation in order to regain time taken by the infant. Although Pauline
doesn't want to pause her baby, she eventually finds herself giving in to the temptation to regain some of her personal
time. The ability to pause children as needed is symptomatic of the egocentric nature of the society, which Pauline
is forced to accept despite her desire to be more traditional.
Keith Roberts, the author of Pavane, died in September last year.
"Virtual Reality," a story in his Kaeti series, graces the fourth issue of Spectrum SF. Roberts
successfully manages to capture the flighty conversational style of Norma, Kaeti's daughter, as she flits from topic to
topic with her Belgian friend Sabine. Although they come into contact with Thomas, who is playing with a virtual reality
helmet, the real virtual reality of the story is the world which Norma creates for herself and her friend, based on her
understanding of the world around her.
"The Ultimate Sacrifice" is set on the world of Tarterus, a mere 15 years before the planet's sun is supposed to
go nova. Eric Brown's story tells of a filmmaker who visits the planet, not to make a documentary about the last years
of the world, but rather to try to find any traces of her brother who was supposed to have died on Tarterus three years
earlier. Her journey is something of a travelogue of the planet, focusing on the primitive beliefs espoused by the
former European settlers of the jungle world.
Steven H Silver is one of the founders and judges for the Sidewise Award for Alternate History. He sits on concoms for Windycon, Chicon 2000 and Clavius in 2001 and is co-chair of Picnicon 1998. Steven will be serving as the Programming Chairman for Chicon 2000. In addition to maintaining several bibliographies and the Harry Turtledove website, Steven is trying to get his short stories published and has recently finished his first novel. He lives at home with his wife and 3200 books. He is available for convention panels. |
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