Strange Horizons, June 3, 2013

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Strange Horizons, June 3, 2013

“Jinki and the Paradox” by Sathya Stone
 

Reviewed by Dave Truesdale

This is one of those sorts of stories where I chide myself for my own forgetfulness of knowledge I should reasonably be expected to have in hand. In this case it’s the particulars (as opposed to the general concepts) of mathematical probability, and quantum and/or virtual realities necessary to grasp any clever or insightful nuance the author may bring to the story (above and beyond the front story, such as it may be), for these disciplines comprise the subject matter, the clay from which Sathya Stone’s creative little (approx. 3,400 wds.) “hard” science fiction story is shaped.

 As near as I can make out, the Rathki are the Mathematicians of the Universe and are made out of Light. (The Rathki are described by Jinki as “cool looking though, because they had crystalline brains and bodies.” This description may refer only to what a projected avatar of the Rathki look like, however, if they are made entirely of Light–it gets complicated.) They are conducting an experiment wherein they’ve set up three colonies on a planet to determine which survive/thrive, if any. Decisions on one colony are determined by a coin toss; on another by the normal/traditional method by which humans set up colonies and depending on the vicissitudes of their foresight, ingenuity, biology, and x-factors they succeed or fail; the third is the one with which this story is concerned and whose existence balances on (mathematical?) evolution as determined by mathematical randomness. Said randomness–in an evolutionary sense–is akin to biological organisms adapting to change. Jinki of the title refers to what appears to be a little boy, but who we soon learn is made of Light. And this is where things get tricky. If he is made of Light, then is he naught but a virtual quantum packet of Light, nothing but information in some sort of sentient (virtual) form, but whose precise mathematical existence is thrown a monkey wrench–corrupted–by Mr. Quest, the Trickster, with whom he converses and we are told is the embodiment of Randomness?

Jinki is given to wonder as to his Fate, asking questions of his “Mother” and Mr. Quest/the Trickster. Such questions lead to explanations involving time travel, the nature of Carbon (of which everything is made, but in different guises) and its essential place in all of this, and more. Like I say, complete understanding gets a bit tricky here and there, though one can parse the general drift of what’s going on. Sorta. Is Jinki’s Mother then real, corporeal, or only what looks like a real person in some virtual existence to Jinki’s eyes? Does the final line of the story indicate that when all is said and done, Math’s Cold Equations can’t be denied and thus the line, “Math always hurts.”?

In any case, though these aspects may not be crystal clear on a first reading, what is clear is that the author is attempting to do something inventive and creative, something to challenge the reader, and in this respect we believe he has succeeded. Interesting food for thought here, and to the author’s credit all concisely plated to whet the intellectual appetite. Whether the taste is suitable for all palates is, of course, the question.


Dave Truesdale has edited Tangent and now Tangent Online since 1993. It has been nominated for the Hugo Award four times, and the World Fantasy Award once. A former editor of the Bulletin of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, he also served as a World Fantasy Award judge in 1998, and for several years wrote an original online column for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Now retired, he keeps close company with his SF/F library, the coffeepot, and old movie channels on TV. He lives in Kansas City, MO.