Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach - Kelly Robson
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It used to be that libraries had a section they called “Fantasy and Science Fiction,” but most libraries and bookstores now separate the two. I don’t know the official difference (Wikipedia probably does), but in my world, fantasy is derived from “sword and sorcery” and Science Fiction involves speculation about how the scientific advances will change humanity’s future. Ignore Steampunk and VampRom for now – that’s what I do. Fantasy demands the willing suspension of disbelief; good SciFi is a prediction. We aren’t likely to develop into sorcerers and magicians any time soon, but progress marches on: that’s why we have more computing power on our wrists these days than could be developed in a middle-sized room in the era of punch cards. That may be why the best science fiction authors are scientists themselves… not people with English and “multimedia” degrees like Kelly Robson. |
It never crossed Flynne Fisher’s mind that doing a favor for her brother would lead to such upheaval. After all, she was just doing security for some online game – or so she thought. This game was different, though: for one thing, the setting was… disturbingly familiar… and it was more realistic than any game she’d played before – especially the gruesome murder she witnessed. Flash forward a couple of days: word on the street is that there’s a contract out on her brother because someone thinks he saw something he shouldn’t have. What’s weird, though, is that the company who’d originally hired him is coming to his (and Flynne’s) defense with some pretty advanced tech. Turns out that her virtual reality trip hadn’t been into a game, it had been to the future. Or more accurately, to a future – you know: time-travel paradoxes and all that.