Review: Fascinating Glimpse into a Future Dystopian London
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 15, 2012
Short stories are like glimpses into character's lives and often into other world's entirely.  Because they are just glimpses, I don't feel that every short story has to be tied up with a perfect bow (whether it's a happy or tragic bow) at the end.  What makes a short story satisfying to me is that it feels authentic, like I am really getting an honest snapshot of the character's lives and the events in them.When the short is set in another world, or in the case of Going Underground by Chris Ward, in a dystopian future, it is really important to me that it deliver a wholly realized version of that world.  Ward's vision of the relatively near future of London is both realistic and disturbing.  The main character, Rob, and his fascination with the myth that the trains of London's long defunct Underground might still be somehow secretly running serve as canvas on which Ward paints the details of his dystopian society.  The writing is tight and visual and the story leaves you wanting more - in a good way.  The little bits Ward lets us know about this world are fascinating and entrancing and capture the reader's imaginations.I hope that in the future Ward gives us a longer look into this dystopian future.