[On May 10, 2021 Strange Horizons officially expressed its political support for Palestinian solidarity. The views of Tangent Online reviewers are not necessarily those of Strange Horizons. Fiction critiqued at Tangent Online is, as much as is humanly possible, without prejudice and based solely on artistic merit.]

Strange Horizons, May 6, 2024

“Those Who Smuggle Themselves Into Slivermoon” by Varsha Dinesh

Reviewed by Mike Bickerdike

“Those Who Smuggle Themselves Into Slivermoon” by Varsha Dinesh is a novelette that’s a little hard to classify; weird science fantasy might be the closest descriptor. Saki, who has become non-corporeal—a living ‘ghost’—works for an electronics company, residing inside electronic equipment and wiring to maintain tech in Slivermoon. He works for—but also seems to educate—moonies, some of whom seem to be robots, though the generality of this is unclear. Indeed, the purpose of the tale, especially at the start, seems to be to confuse the reader through relentless opacity. Metaphors sit within metaphors and very little is explained or clearly described, rendering the piece almost impenetrable. Buried deep in its purple prose, and between occasional attempts to shock, a plot eventually evolves. Saki is saving ‘favor’ chips so he can buy back some of his corporeality; perhaps a mouth or hands. Stripped back to its speculative themes, there are some interesting underlying ideas here, and the prose styling is doubtless as intended; exposing the reader to so much strangeness without explanation is probably meant to accentuate the author’s concepts and metaphors and unsettle the reader in an exciting, literary way. Unfortunately, the ‘literary’ approach goes too far and doesn’t really work, and with rather thin characterisation, and no appealing champion to root for, it’s hard to recommend.

More of Mike Bickerdike’s reviews and thoughts on science-fiction can be found at https://starfarersf.nicepage.io/