Originally in : Analog, May/June 2017. (And online as a PDF on the Analog website here.)
Reviewed in : The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Three. (ed Neil Clarke, Nightshade Books 2018)
In a near-future Vietnam, a trio of students allergic/immune to the popular, legal performance-enhancing drug of of the title, foment a riot in the city. There are a couple of perspectives, and a dramatic ending, but TBH the story seems a long way short of being a ‘Year’s Best’ – no great sfnal element, basic characterisation and plot, a plot-twist by way of co-incidence, and no real depth, or length, especially compared to the preceding story in this volume. I know I have a long-standing issue with many Analog stories, but I read this and wasn’t particularly taken with it, before finding out where it was published.