Eating stories - "Thin Ice" by Kemi Ashing-Giwa
BogiReads brings you the daily speculative reading recommendation of editor Bogi Takács.
Today's recommendation -
Author: Kemi Ashing-Giwa
Title: “Thin Ice”
Venue: Clarkesworld, Nov 2023 (ed. Neil Clarke)
Type: Short story – 2110 words
Themes: Science fiction, AI, art, storytelling
Where to read: Text free online / Audio free online / Subscribe to Clarkesworld
There have been a lot of “AI stories” recently, as in, not stories written with large language models, but stories reflecting on the whole LLM phenomenon. I’ll be honest and say most of them don’t work for me, they often say little more than what we already see in the present around us. But this one! I really liked this one. It’s not just the twist, I think – it’s also that atmosphere of mutual resentment, the colonial aspect, the way the story has more than one set of parallels…
I picked up Kemi Ashing-Giwa’s debut novel after this story and I’m looking forward to reading it! (Have some affiliate links – US Amazon, Bookshop.)
By the way, the November issue of Clarkesworld was one of the strongest in recent memory IMO, I have a third story lined up from it and that’s rare.
Take care,
Bogi.