"Hexagons" is a 2003 alternate history short story by American writer Robert Reed. It was first published in the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction.
Synopsis
editIn 1933 in a world where the Roman Empire never fell but converted to Christianity, and India, China, and the Aztec Republic became the world's dominant technological powers, twelve-year-old Samuel Dunlop watches as his father tries to run for office.
Reception
edit"Hexagons" was a finalist for the 2004 Hugo Award for Best Novelette.[1]
Io9 has noted that, unlike many stories in which the Roman Empire did not fall, "Hexagons" is not "explicitly dystopian".[2]
Tangent Online's Chris Markwyn considered it to be a "compelling" story that is "well-told but fairly conventional", and observed that the contraband history-simulator owned by Samuel's friend's grandfather "undercut" the story's ability to "assert its own reality"; Markwyn further noted that Reed's choice of villain — a "blue-eyed, small-mustached, table-pounding ultra-nationalist who blames his country's problems on the Jews", who is "obviously an analogue of a historical figure" — results in an emphasis on the "artificial, game-like nature of [Reed's] scenario", ultimately detracting from readers' suspension of disbelief.[3]
References
edit- ^ 2004 Hugo Awards Archived 2011-05-07 at the Wayback Machine, at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved June 14, 2018
- ^ Great moments in alternate history: the non-fall of the Roman empire, by David Daw; published June 6, 2010; retrieved June 15, 2018
- ^ Asimov's, July 2003, reviewed by Chris Markwyn; at Tangent Online; published July 11, 2003; retrieved June 14, 2018
External links
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