Scan barcode
riotsquirrrl's review
5.0
The more I think about this story, the more it guts me.
In the near future you can access someone's brain in a limited way after they die. His life in academic shambles, the protagonist keeps going back to that simulacrum of his dead father ostensibly to get help with solving an impossible math problem when he desperately wants his father to be other than who he was.
The thing that gets me the most about this story is that I can clearly imagine myself doing the exact same thing, searching for the same answers that would be as impossible to obtain now as they were before my father's death two months ago.
Is this story about math? Kind of but not really. The math part is all just made up and is designed to show how the two men could connect so seamlessly as adults talking about technical stuff. I'd really say that it's about legacies and how people fail to live up to who we want them to be. And it's about a technology that I am infinitely grateful doesn't exist because I know that I would be just as tempted as the protagonist to use it and be just as ultimately disappointed.
In the near future you can access someone's brain in a limited way after they die. His life in academic shambles, the protagonist keeps going back to that simulacrum of his dead father ostensibly to get help with solving an impossible math problem when he desperately wants his father to be other than who he was.
The thing that gets me the most about this story is that I can clearly imagine myself doing the exact same thing, searching for the same answers that would be as impossible to obtain now as they were before my father's death two months ago.
Is this story about math? Kind of but not really. The math part is all just made up and is designed to show how the two men could connect so seamlessly as adults talking about technical stuff. I'd really say that it's about legacies and how people fail to live up to who we want them to be. And it's about a technology that I am infinitely grateful doesn't exist because I know that I would be just as tempted as the protagonist to use it and be just as ultimately disappointed.
gengelcox's review
challenging
medium-paced
3.5
For me, the math in this story got in the way, but that’s likely because I’m not a math person. The idea of a static copy of someone’s brain could still “think” and provide input is unique, though, and Iriarte compounds that with a father-son relationship that’s strained to provide an emotional context to the story. I think there’s more to the idea of induction, which is never defined in the story, per se, but is alluded to in the idea at the end that if the son inherited math skills from the father, than his daughter likely inherited those same skills, but the flip side of that would be to imply that the son would be as bad a father as the father and that’s not the case, as the son is able to learn from the mistakes he perceived in his father.
lethanibooks's review
3.0
Short Story Hugo Awards 2022 Nominee.
This was an ok short story but unfortunately it didn't surprise me like other nominated short stories did. I liked the melancholic tone of it though, very down to earth and the ending didn't disappoint. But yeah, it didn't make me feel anything especial I'm afraid.
I don't want to write here what it is about because I feel like everything is a spoiler in such a short story but I'll just say that it is about a relationship between a man and his father.
This was an ok short story but unfortunately it didn't surprise me like other nominated short stories did. I liked the melancholic tone of it though, very down to earth and the ending didn't disappoint. But yeah, it didn't make me feel anything especial I'm afraid.
I don't want to write here what it is about because I feel like everything is a spoiler in such a short story but I'll just say that it is about a relationship between a man and his father.
nexelle's review
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
healnotslay's review
3.0
This was fine I liked the concept the maths and the maths metaphor went over my head
piplodocus's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
For non-book records, review text and ratings are hidden. Only mood, pace, and content warnings are visible.
nineteen_adze's review
Read 4/27/22 for the Hugo readalong. Details to follow after discussion.
kaymax's review
3.0
I love the concept of this, but the start doesn't read fluidly to me, and the math of it all bogs it down incredibly in some parts.
All-in-all, an astounding narrative in less than ten thousand words though!
All-in-all, an astounding narrative in less than ten thousand words though!
melusine7's review
Hugo 2022 voter packet best short story finalist
Read on computer while nominating
Reread on kindle
Read on computer while nominating
Reread on kindle