Originally in : Asimovs, September/October 2017. (And online as a PDF via Pinsker’s website here.)
Reviewed in : The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Three. (ed Neil Clarke, Nightshade Books 2018)
A generation starship story, which are few and far between these days. Pinsker provides a snapshot of part of the ship’s community mid-flight, using an old folk tune as a complement to the narrative around the nature of history, and looking back on a history of a planet of which increasingly few can remember. The story focusses around an elderly history teacher/fiddler, and her memories of her mother, grandmother, and the time when the ship’s database of old cultural media was wiped by a dissatisfied crew member. All in all a gentle story, no drama, no military bods or scientists, no committee meetings, no real mention of tech.