Foundation by Ann Aguirre
My rating: 3/5 cats
Sometimes I wondered what the point of survival was, if this was what we had to do; it seemed there was nothing in the world worth saving.
unlike restoration, which was an unnecessary (sez me) story retold from a different POV, this is an all-new piece that actually contributes to the series instead of just reheating old material.
this story takes place before the events of Enclave and details the chaos that drove humans underground in the first place, from the POV of an individual who will help shape the subterranean society in which deuce will live.
quick note—the character’s name is “robin schiller” with no indication of gender. i read it as a male character, but if you are one of those “adam and eve, not adam and steve” people, you may prefer to read it as a girl.
oh, and also
for such a short little story, aguirre really packs in a lot of detail. in a good way. she gives as much factual information as these characters could reasonably be expected to know about the virus and the riots, while leaving some things a mystery. she does a good job detailing the progression of events, the deterioration of conditions, and all the incipient fear, lack of information, and determination to survive that would be a part of this type of event, while still managing to create characters the reader cares about.
there’s a little violin-playing
Before, he had some idea I might be a doctor like him, but with the way things had changed, I didn’t think much about the future.
but it’s certainly a reasonable reaction from the perspective of a member of one of the few fortunate families sequestered underground while everything they know burns above them who are then faced with their own problems. i think they’ve earned the right to mope a little.
the story is pretty much in keeping with the larger body of the razorland series—gritty survival and love in the ashes and all that. it fills in some gaps you didn’t even realize were gapping, and it marks the designation of the very first wordkeeper.
if you like the series, it’s a good add-on, but you can probably enjoy it even if you haven’t read any of the books—the hope and grief and despair are applicable to any end-of-world scenario.
but if you don’t read this one, you should at least read a different tor short and then tell us all about it.
read it for yourself here:
http://www.tor.com/2012/10/24/foundat…
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