This weeks Torque Control Short Story Club story is The Shangri-La Affair by Lavie Tidhar, published in Strange Horizons.
The story is set in near future Asia; Thailand and Laos. There's war and confusion. The story follows what appears to be a war-tourist, flying into the region to gawp at the mess, although it's revealed that actually the protagonist is after much more.
I loved the style of the writing, it had a great sense of place, with some really groovy description: funky, cool and foreign. It has plenty of background tech scenery, the sort of layers that give the future a good sense of believability, combined with some striking descriptive images.
The POV is a bit slippery in places, along with the nameless protagonist, and I liked both, producing a tale-of-the-past feel combined with a kind of Ludlum-esque Bourne style espionage.
It doesn't skimp on ideas either, leaving a rather large question for discussion at the end: is peace enforced by biological means something we should use? Peace or slavery?
I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Probably my favourite of the entire story club so far. Highly recommended.
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