Interzone has for some time published the winner of the annual James White Award, which is for unpublished authors. This is of course A Good Thing, although of course often the stories give some indication of why the author is as yet unpublished. This is not one of those stories, as it sits quite happily alongside the stories in this and recent Interzone issues.
It’s a simple story, simple setting, focussing on some human interactions, against a bigger picture that is the sfnal element. The setting is remote Thailand, a community where the building of a dam upstream has led them to losing their water supply. And the jeep passing through is carrying another precious item – an asteroid.
Just who is transporting it and why add to a satisfying conversation between a villager who is much more than he seems, and the European woman through whose eyes we get a perspective on the local situation.
