Curated. I found this a nice, short touching story. I like that it grounds out one of the relatively archetypical concept into an evocative story. I like that the six-and-a-half-year-old’s monologue is pretty accurate to six-and-a-half-year-old-monologues. And like all the little ways the girl accurately describes things grownups are going through while being oblivious to them. This particular paragraph hits:
I told Mommy that when the hedonium shockwave hits I’m going to have candy for dinner and a mermaid toy, and then she put her forehead against my forehead for a really long time and didn’t say anything and I tried to squirm away and she wouldn’t let me and it kind of hurt.
I now sort of want to see an anthology where each chapter is another relatively-Schelling[1]-LWish-hard-scifi-concept, with each written in a very different style.
[1] I’d take an anthology of arbitrary concepts, but, by “Schelling” I mean something like “one of the more plausible attractor states for the universe to end up in.” i.e. hedonium is a relatively simple concept that not every alien species would think of, but, seems more common than paperclips or whatever. (Succession felt somewhat similar to me)
Curated. I found this a nice, short touching story. I like that it grounds out one of the relatively archetypical concept into an evocative story. I like that the six-and-a-half-year-old’s monologue is pretty accurate to six-and-a-half-year-old-monologues. And like all the little ways the girl accurately describes things grownups are going through while being oblivious to them. This particular paragraph hits:
I now sort of want to see an anthology where each chapter is another relatively-Schelling[1]-LWish-hard-scifi-concept, with each written in a very different style.
[1] I’d take an anthology of arbitrary concepts, but, by “Schelling” I mean something like “one of the more plausible attractor states for the universe to end up in.” i.e. hedonium is a relatively simple concept that not every alien species would think of, but, seems more common than paperclips or whatever. (Succession felt somewhat similar to me)