Re: Diminished Returns by Steve Evans
Posted: July 01, 2016, 03:28:12 PM
I had two problems with this story.
First, it just plain ran me out of breath with all the nonstop struggle the character endured trying to survive. I thought that could have been broken up a bit.
The second was the lack of diversity he found, and this overthrew my willing suspension of disbelief. A hundred million years, and all there is are leafless trees, ants, landsharks, slime, and bacteria? Sorry, that's not an ecosystem. Alien, yes, but not convincing.
I liked Bradbury's take on it a lot better because the changes were so subtle, but it was the little things that made the difference.
First, it just plain ran me out of breath with all the nonstop struggle the character endured trying to survive. I thought that could have been broken up a bit.
The second was the lack of diversity he found, and this overthrew my willing suspension of disbelief. A hundred million years, and all there is are leafless trees, ants, landsharks, slime, and bacteria? Sorry, that's not an ecosystem. Alien, yes, but not convincing.
I liked Bradbury's take on it a lot better because the changes were so subtle, but it was the little things that made the difference.