Here's another installment of my weekly feature whereby I review what I've just read in the realm of short science fiction. This feature goes far back to the year 1939 as I have been progressing through year-by-year "best of" anthologies in this genre...I seem a little stuck on 1999 as I'm going a bit slowly through the present anthology, Gardner Dozois' The Year's Best Science Fiction, Seventeenth Annual Collection. Although I'm retired now, I am fortunate (or wise, take your pick) to be able to fill my days with purposeful and meaningful activities and projects while enjoying the company of my family, chiefly my dear wife Melissa. I used to be more directed toward reading while I was at work during my break periods...probably need to carve out a routine for it out of my current daily schedule. But I did get through one story this past week, and here are my reactions...
DADDY'S WORLD by Walter Jon Williams
A little boy lives with his parents and little sister in a wondrous, fantasy world where his home is just down the road from strange tall, thin, pointy-headed...but friendly beings called Whirlikins and a kite-shaped person called Mister Jeepers swoops down to greet them when they return. Jamie is used to their routine, but one day everyone around him temporarily freezes and a strange being inserts himself into his reality, forever changing how he sees his world. This is a scary story that starts out as idyllic. It also raises the question of what constitutes one's identity in life, and whether that identity is transferable from one physical body to another...especially if that other body is artificial or virtual. This was a very thought-provoking tale for me...
Next week: more from 1999...
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