Strange Horizons, April 6, 2020

“The Pride of Salinkari” by Elizabeth Crowe

Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf

“The Pride of Salinkari” by Elizabeth Crowe takes place in a society where ending one’s life at the peak moment of happiness and achievement is the pinnacle of ethical behavior. The narrator is an instructor of ethics. He witnesses a former student commit suicide after winning a major poetry contest. The young man’s grieving mother accuses the narrator of causing the poet to end his life prematurely. The subsequent investigation and trial force the narrator to make a very difficult decision.

The author writes in a clear, elegant style, so that the philosophical issues raised in the story engage the reader. The plot is reminiscent of the execution of Socrates. The theme suggests the dictum to “call no man happy until he is dead,” attributed to the Greek sage Solon. Given the resemblance to ancient times, therefore, it is jarring to realize that the setting is a fantastic or futuristic one, where city-states exist on multiple moons of another planet. This interesting story might be more effective without its distracting background and exotic nomenclature.

Victoria Silverwolf received a bottle of homemade cherry wine today.