Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, August 2019
“Entanglement” by Christopher Blake
Reviewed by Alex Granados
“Entanglement” deals with some of my favorite science stuff: quantum physics. In this case, as the name suggests, quantum entanglement. Though it’s not really about that. It deals with a soldier who is part of the Sol Alliance, far from Earth, and connected to their sophisticated, hyper-future version of the Internet. A version that moves beyond time and space, connects civilization across the cosmos, and is under attack by enemies that want to steal what is in the soldier’s head.
The great thing about this story is how all of that scientific mumbo-jumbo is really just the backdrop for a relationship, a family, and a somber goodbye.
The one criticism I would throw at this story is that, for so short a piece, it goes deep into a world and technology that is difficult to fully wrap your mind around.
Fortunately, housing the story in a more relatable interpersonal drama enables the reader to skip past what he or she doesn’t understand and focus on the transcendent themes of love and loss without feeling overwhelmed by the strangeness of the setting.