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ruxandra_grr's review
4.0
No big, just a wonderful, painfully romantic, melancholic meditation on the nature of love. And it really really gets it right.
Saki is an archronologist, like a time archaeologist that digs through layers of preserved moments in time. She has a job to do and she should stay professional, but the moments and locations she is investigating are also connected to her lifelove, aka her life partner, who died.
What is love anyway? It's a huge question, but I feel that this novelette finds a way to say what love truly is (to me, I guess, it's very simpatico to what I believe love to be): transformation, expansion, absence and presence, memories that are in constant entropy.
Saki is an archronologist, like a time archaeologist that digs through layers of preserved moments in time. She has a job to do and she should stay professional, but the moments and locations she is investigating are also connected to her lifelove, aka her life partner, who died.
What is love anyway? It's a huge question, but I feel that this novelette finds a way to say what love truly is (to me, I guess, it's very simpatico to what I believe love to be): transformation, expansion, absence and presence, memories that are in constant entropy.
hneite's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
briarinthemoon's review
4.0
I have never read something quite like this, I feel like I’ll be thinking about it for a while.
My favorite passages:
Pg. 19
“In our early encounters, we make our own errors. How can we understand something so alien before we understand it? We act out of love, but that does not erase the harm we cause. Forgive us.”
Pg. 55
“Each time we encounter a new love, it becomes a part of who we are. No, we do not blend our loves into one single entity—the core of us would be lost against such vastness.”
Pg. 61
“Our love is scattered across time and space, without order, without endings”
My favorite passages:
Pg. 19
“In our early encounters, we make our own errors. How can we understand something so alien before we understand it? We act out of love, but that does not erase the harm we cause. Forgive us.”
Pg. 55
“Each time we encounter a new love, it becomes a part of who we are. No, we do not blend our loves into one single entity—the core of us would be lost against such vastness.”
Pg. 61
“Our love is scattered across time and space, without order, without endings”
elsiemookow's review
4.0
Really needed this to be a Novel. It was a creepy mystery, had an amazing world, and I found myself tearing up a few times. But then it ended too quickly as most novelettes do.
tui_reads's review
3.0
Hugos 2020. Far future SF about an archronologist, a woman who accesses visual and physical records of past moments the way one might dig through an archaeological site. Also aliens. Slick and tender, I liked it quite a bit; 3.5 stars.
heniaakbar's review
4.0
Best Novelette 2020 Nom: 4.5
I almost give it 3, but the last scene got me. This has confusing setting (can't even imagine what the warehouse look like, or how the Chronicle works until almost the end), but that's all I have complaint about. The story is good, the characters are relatable, although Saki is too emotionally feeble but hey, her lifelove just died, have some respects!
I love the ending scene.
I almost give it 3, but the last scene got me. This has confusing setting (can't even imagine what the warehouse look like, or how the Chronicle works until almost the end), but that's all I have complaint about. The story is good, the characters are relatable, although Saki is too emotionally feeble but hey, her lifelove just died, have some respects!
I love the ending scene.
anna_hepworth's review
4.0
Received this as a 'free' ebook as part of the Hugo voters pack
This is a very clever story, with a fascinating amount of world-building, and some beautiful characters. I loved the details, but I didn't find the story all that gripping.
This is a very clever story, with a fascinating amount of world-building, and some beautiful characters. I loved the details, but I didn't find the story all that gripping.
everythinggoes_rosetree's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I can't even describe how beautiful this novelette was. It deals with grief and love and cultural miscommunication miscommunications and I definitely plan on buying it for my personal collection.