Prime Meridian
Ratings8
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings8
Average rating3.9
“A subtle and powerful tale of Mars, movies, and Mexico City which stands amongst the best novellas of the past few years.” —Jonathan Strahan, Locus Amelia dreams of Mars. The Mars of the movies and the imagination, an endless bastion of opportunities for a colonist with some guts. But she’s trapped in Mexico City, enduring the drudgery of an unkind metropolis, working as a rent-a-friend, selling her blood to old folks with money who hope to rejuvenate themselves with it, enacting a fractured love story. And yet there’s Mars, at the edge of the silver screen, of life. It awaits her.
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This was beautiful, tragic, thoughtful, and far too short. Moreno-Garcia has crafted a wonderful character study here of Amelia, a young woman who lives in the gutters but dreams of the stars. Hamstrung by a gig economy, crumbling public infrastructure, and the isolation of modern life, Amelia's dreams seem like they'll never be realized. Set against a background of a Mexico City that seems equally inspired by Gibson and PKD, as well as current depressing trends in economics, Amelia's life is at once both instantly familiar and frighteningly tragic. The result is a beautiful work of fiction that I can only hope will be revisited in a larger setting at some later point.
Pros: interesting story, good character development
Cons: limited description
Amelia dreams of heading to Mars, but she can't afford the flight and doesn't want to be an indentured servant, so she continues to eek out an existence in Mexico City, making ends meet by doing occasional jobs as a paid friend.
This is a novella funded by an IndieGoGo campaign, which I supported.
Amelia isn't the most likeable character, as evidenced by her limited Friendrr clientele, but she is an honest one. A string of bad luck left her somewhat bitter and depressed as her dreams become harder and harder to achieve. As the story progresses she both becomes a better friend and person in some ways while also making bad decisions that could land her in an even worse position. By the end of the story, seeing her deal with difficult circumstances, I really liked her.
It is fairly short and while I'd have enjoyed more description the story works very well as is. It's interesting hearing about life in Mexico City. The story doesn't say what year this takes place, though given the dates that are mentioned it can't be too far into the future.
It's a quick read if you're looking for something a little different.
