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A review by caitcoy
Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issue #225 by Caroline M. Yoachim, A.T. Greenblatt, Scott H. Andrews
4.0
This short story by Caroline M. Yoachim was nominated for the 2018 Hugo award for short stories and can be read for free here.
A young girl named Zee lives with her father in Closet City, working on whatever tasks her Papa needs help with. Zee and her father are clockwork figures with a set amount of "turns" per day before must go to sleep. They live in the more boring section of the room while the local carnival train that runs around the room provides occasional entertainment and adventure. When she makes a trip to the carnival one day, Zee is given the opportunity to make use of her turns to go on a grand adventure with a boy there and finally meet her mother.
The world building by Yoachim turns what might be an average coming of age story into something sweet and unlike most other stories I've read. I liked the idea that each of the clockwork figures like Zee and her dad have an assigned amount of time per day and must carefully ration their actions to make sure they can still do what they must. The system isn't always fair and Zee has to deal with the fallout from that. Despite not having a lot of action, I found myself intrigued by the clockwork concept from beginning to end and feeling more for Zee's circumstances than I expected for a short story.
A young girl named Zee lives with her father in Closet City, working on whatever tasks her Papa needs help with. Zee and her father are clockwork figures with a set amount of "turns" per day before must go to sleep. They live in the more boring section of the room while the local carnival train that runs around the room provides occasional entertainment and adventure. When she makes a trip to the carnival one day, Zee is given the opportunity to make use of her turns to go on a grand adventure with a boy there and finally meet her mother.
The world building by Yoachim turns what might be an average coming of age story into something sweet and unlike most other stories I've read. I liked the idea that each of the clockwork figures like Zee and her dad have an assigned amount of time per day and must carefully ration their actions to make sure they can still do what they must. The system isn't always fair and Zee has to deal with the fallout from that. Despite not having a lot of action, I found myself intrigued by the clockwork concept from beginning to end and feeling more for Zee's circumstances than I expected for a short story.