‘Ring Rats’ by R Garcia y Robertson

So we move from puppy loves to a 13 year old hitchhiker sucking off a space trucker. The tonal shift from Asaro’s story is presumably intentional but it is still jarring. ‘Ring Rats’ has a veneer of grimness rather than realism, however, and this ludicruous story of white slavery actually shares some of the same properties as ‘Aurora In Four Voices’. Namely, action crap, idiot plotting and unbridled escapism. I mean white slavery? Seriously?

Quality: *
OOO: **

I promised myself I’d ignore Hartwell and Cramer’s chopshop intros but I can’t help quoting the vital information they opening their piece with: “He’s one of the few SF writers who does not thus far own a computer.”