A very dark tale of two parents mourning the loss of a child. One turns to drugs and despair and withdraws from everything, the other goes fairly crazy, and remains happy. Both of these reactions play out to tragic extremes by the end. To complicate matters, this takes place in a near future where we’ve developed the technology to bring things over from other universes.
Both main characters are well characterized and empathetic in their madness. It’s easy to imagine either reaction being your own, although you’d hope to be stronger, or at least more stable. There is a spinning, terrifying, sickening, vertigo feel to some of the description that’s much more effective than the bland description so common in stories with this sort of technology. It seems perfectly real, but horribly so. Everything from the clouds to the minister to the drug inhalers at the beginning foreshadows the end and builds on some of the themes.
“So, not something for a light mood, but dark and thoughtful and terrible, in the best possible way. Snatch me another story from Mercurio Rivera. 4.5 out of 5.” — Scientifically Bookish
Read the full review
• A rave by Sam Tomaino at SFRevu, who says “Snatch Me Another” will be on his Hugo list for 2008:
“‘Snatch Me Another’ by Mercurio D. Rivera is an amazing story. In about 4000 words, he introduces us to a brand new idea and manages to write a great story about it. Kristina and Lindy live in a world in which an invention called the Snatcher allows people to snatch a copy of anything they want from some alternate dimension. Need some paper plates for a birthday party? Put in a sample and snatch a dozen from a dozen other worlds. Want a near-to-original of Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night? It’s in the system and can be had easily. Need a replacement for your dead son? Pop a lock of his hair into the Snatcher! This one came up on me unawares. It will be on my Hugo list for next year.”
Check out his review of the entire issue here.
• Nutshell review:
http://freesf.blogspot.com/2008/02/snatch-me-another-mercurio-d-rivera.html
• Rich Horton of Locussays:
“The first 2008 issue of Abyss and Apex is a good one. Two particularly sharp-edged pieces work best: Mercurio D. Rivera’s “Snatch Me Another” deals with the implications of a technology that can “snatch” conjugate items from parallel universes, and the effect on one couple, as we slowly realize that they have “snatched” a replacement for their dead child.”
• The Fix‘s thorough review can be read here.