And thus short February draws to a close, ending here in Missouri under a blanket of snow. We received a foot or more a week ago today followed up by almost that much again this past Tuesday. It has been a weird week with my company closing not an unprecedented once, but twice and a total of three days of missed work on top of days missed earlier in the month due to illness.
With every cloud comes a silver lining–I spent a lot of time reading.
I wrote in my review of “The Back Channel” that it was roughly the mid-point of Scalzi’s novel and that I felt like he was giving the reader a bit of a breather. After reading “The Dog King” I can clearly see how wrong I was. The Human Division is being released episodically with each of thirteen chapters released individually, one every Tuesday. This being the seventh episode it sits poised with six stories preceding it and six to come after and though this story continues the alternating theme and returns us back to the crew of the Clarke, it is a light, comical story that I suspect is meant to act as a break, that brief moment of peace as the roller coaster crests the hill before it goes screaming back down the other side. Given that John Scalzi is by all appearances a writer who has a specific plan in mind I am curious about the direction the episodes will be taking from here on out.
All that I can say sans spoilers about “The Dog King” is that in this episode the reader is treated to Harry Wilson acting as a dog-sitter while the diplomatic team meets with an alien race willing to allow a negotiator to help them end a two-hundred-year-long civil war.
For those of you who have read the story or don’t care about being spoiled, please follow on.
From that moment until the lunch hour and again from one o’clock until six, Olaf lived and breathed the exchange of foreign currencies. Under his practiced hands, dollars became pounds sterling; rubles became marks; pesos, kroner; yen, francs. Whatever exotic combination was called for, Olaf arranged with a smile, a kind word, and a question about the countries which minted the currencies he passed under the barred window. Over years, he had built nations in his mind; continents. Every country that existed, he could name, along with its particular flavor of money, its great sights and monuments, its national cuisine.
Daniel Abraham is an author who I have only sampled briefly and his short fantasy story, “The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics” is a reminder of why I need to read more. Olaf is a very unassuming character leading a quietly satisfying life, quiet that is until the day the despicable ruler Lord Iron decides that his amusement for the day will be the destruction of Olaf Neddelsohn. Olaf is given 24 hours to enact an impossible monetary exchange and in his desperation to hang on to his beloved career Olaf discovers the truth of value exchanged for value. In so doing Olaf sets a chain of events in motion that will not only affect his life but that of Lord Iron as well.
I first read this story last month when it was reprinted in the January issue of Lightspeed magazine. It struck me then as a story I would like to share with you. Following the jump is a spoiler-filled examination of the story. Before proceeding please take a few moments to go and read the story for yourself. It can be found here in its entirety:
“The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics”
Continue reading The Cambrist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics ~Daniel Abraham
Today’s Short Fiction Friday over at SF Signal is a review of the latest issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction. I have been reading Asimov’s off and on for the last few years and am excited that this weekly short fiction venture will help me keep up with it consistently this year.
This month’s issue was not one of my favorites but there was one stand out story and a couple of good ones by established authors. As always Robert Silverberg’s Reflections column and Sheila Williams’ editorial were worth reading.
You can click here to be taken to the full review over at SF Signal.
As a preview for next week, I will be reviewing the 7 short stories nominated for this year’s Nebula awards. Links to all seven stories can be found in this post if you are interested in reading along.
And don’t forget that Sunday I will be posting a discussion on Daniel Abraham’s entertaining fantasy short story, “The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics“. You can read the story by clicking on the title. I do hope you’ll join in the conversation.
I am emotionally involved with the crew of the Normandy.
How could I not be? I have spent hours and hours with this crew over the last several years, battling to save not only humanity but a galaxy filled with interesting, complex, diverse species from forces bent on wanton destruction.
It is only a game. True.
But I am emotionally involved, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
