Reading Tomorrow

“A Billion Eves” (novella) by Robert Reed
“Biodad” (short story) by Kit Reed
Asimov’s Science Fiction, Oct/Nov 2006

Two authors named Reed, two stories that have a less than flattering view of fatherhood.

In “A Billion Eves,” a device makes it possible to punch holes in the quantum fabric of reality, resulting in the colonization of countless parallel Earths. On one of those Earths, a young girl starts to question the civilization that has resulted from centuries of colonization, and looks hard at the world that humanity has found itself upon.

Although I’ve seen the name of the ridiculously prolific Robert Reed on at least half the sci-fi magazines I’ve bought over the last decade, this is the first of his stories I’ve actually read all the way through. I’ve been missing out, it seems, ’cause I liked this novella a lot.  The worldbuilding was excellent, with the ramifications of a nifty premise (the colonization of parallel worlds) thought through pretty thoroughly from both a logistical and a social standpoint. My long-standing soft spot for colonization stories might be making me biased, though; I suppose if I was being really objective I would have more of a problem with the way an entire world’s culture is centered around a single technological innovation. But the measure of a good story is how entertaining it is, and Reed does a good job with the storytelling and the end result is definitely entertaining. His main character is memorable (a girl unusually cranky for her age) and the plot is full of events that are interesting in a variety of ways, from visceral action to unfolding intellectual mysteries (including a really cool sequence told in flashback through a book).  I sure won’t be ignoring Robert Reed’s stories in the future.

On the other hand, I’m not 100% sure what Kit Reed’s “Biodad” is doing in Asimov’s at all. A short story about two young twins, the result of an in vitro fertilization, and what their mother does when she locates their biological father. It’s certainly creepy, as befits Kit Reed’s pedigree as a horror writer, and the kids’ observations as the story progresses paint them as reasonably intelligent and interesting characters. But given the story’s short length and nature as a horror (or at least thriller) tale, it should come as no surprise that its effectiveness rests upon a twist at the end. That twist, I suppose, brings in a science-fictional idea of a sort, but it’s subtle, and since horror isn’t really my thing, I can’t say “Biodad” did a whole lot for me.

Both stories portray human mating behavior in a pretty cynical light, but to differing effects. In “A Billion Eves,” that dim view is an interesting outgrowth of the colonization process — since people and supplies can only be sent to new worlds in relatively small quantities, men are raised to be fathers and multiple marriages are desired if not commonplace. Given the unpleasantly patriarchal tone this takes on, I was reminded in no small way of Warren Jeffs, the Fundamentalist LDS “prophet” currently on trial for his polygamist practices.  On the other hand, “Biodad”’s cynicism is less interesting, and wound up reminding me of nothing so much as the 1997 Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode “Ted.” Which I suppose ruins the ending a bit, but trust me, you’re not missing anything.

Next up: Looks like “The Machine Stops.” Edwardian sci-fi, woo!