John Chu
The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere
Tor Books
32 pages
6.5
The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere
Tor Books
32 pages
6.5
Blurb
In the near future water falls from the sky whenever someone lies (either a mist or a torrential flood depending on the intensity of the lie). This makes life difficult for Matt as he maneuvers the marriage question with his lover and how best to "come out" to his traditional Chinese parents.
Review
Hugo Award committee seems to love sobbing short stories with Chinese protagonist. After reading The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu, the winner of Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 2012 which gives me such feel, the winner of the award in 2014 gives almost the same feel.
While The Paper Menagerie is about storge love between a son and his mother--which I can really connect with, The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere is more like lustful relationship about a gay man who's about to come out to his conservative Chinese family.
The concept is really ridiculous--in a good way, absolutely. There's a worldwide phenomenon occurred in the story when a person lies, a water will fall on him from out of nowhere. It depends on the strength of the lies, though; if your lie is big enough, you will get a blast of torrent fall on you, creating flood around your perimeter.
It is intriguing, though, because the protagonist is faced with an important decision as he decides to come out to his parents who yearn for a grandchildren from him. It is actually a typical come out story, to be honest, but the main concept what makes this book different. Unfortunately, the story falls flat. I expect such an emotional journey that is fiery, but the story feels so cold and distant.
But, I can't say this is bad because the ending gives you such a conflicted feeling. It is heartwarming at some part because you can feel a pure love radiating out of the story, but you will also feel so forlorn and hopeless. It indeed gives me an impression, but not a deep one.
While The Paper Menagerie is about storge love between a son and his mother--which I can really connect with, The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere is more like lustful relationship about a gay man who's about to come out to his conservative Chinese family.
The concept is really ridiculous--in a good way, absolutely. There's a worldwide phenomenon occurred in the story when a person lies, a water will fall on him from out of nowhere. It depends on the strength of the lies, though; if your lie is big enough, you will get a blast of torrent fall on you, creating flood around your perimeter.
It is intriguing, though, because the protagonist is faced with an important decision as he decides to come out to his parents who yearn for a grandchildren from him. It is actually a typical come out story, to be honest, but the main concept what makes this book different. Unfortunately, the story falls flat. I expect such an emotional journey that is fiery, but the story feels so cold and distant.
But, I can't say this is bad because the ending gives you such a conflicted feeling. It is heartwarming at some part because you can feel a pure love radiating out of the story, but you will also feel so forlorn and hopeless. It indeed gives me an impression, but not a deep one.
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