Review: Mildly interesting intellectual exercise
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 13, 2013
I read  David Brin's "Reality Check" right before Eric Liu's "Re: union". They both deal in ways with human transcendence to a virtual reality, a topic that even in 2000, when Brin's story was published, was not really innovative. Liu, in a longer story, does much the better job of humanizing the topic and the personal choices it raises. Brin's story, by contrast, is a more intellectual exercise that ends up being mildly interesting, but not exactly gripping.I got them both for free, and they're a decent read at that price, if you're a fan of the author. If not, neither of these stories will convert you, though Liu's story might tempt you to more.