Definitely worth obtaining if you don't have it, though I find the title story is one of the ones where Mike was so afraid of making things obvious that he made it well-nigh impenetrable.
There were a few like that in this collection--excellent stories, but I felt really stupid a lot of the time I was reading them. (More so than usual for Mike stories.)
Huh. Maybe I am missing something important. I thought that the story was about (ROT-13 for spoilers) culfvpvfgf jbexvat sbe n ercerffvir tbireazrag gb qrirybc n (cerfhznoyl shfvba-eryngrq) fhcre-jrncba, gur xrl rkcrevzrag bs juvpu ghearq bhg gb or irel fvzcyr ohg nyfb xvyyrq nyy gur fpvragvfgf rkprcg gur aneengbe (naq vf nobhg gb xvyy uvz guebhtu enqvngvba cbvfbavat). Ubjrire, gur aneengbe unq fbzr vaxyvat gung gurl zvtug or fhpprffshy naq (orsber gur xrl rkcrevzrag jnf qbar) frg hc n onax bs rkcybfvirf fb jura gur tbireazrag fpvragvfg/fcl gevrf gb ercyvpngr gur xrl rkcrevzrag, rirelguvat jvyy or oybja hc.
(I don't know why the first time it wasn't set off -- presumably because A. is not a very good scientist? -- or what kind of physics exactly would produce these kinds of results.)
Now, "Chromatic Aberration" I found completely incomprehensible; do you understand what was going on there?
For me the key to Chromatic Aberration is the idea that the narrator unf n ybg zber flzcnguvrf sbe gur byq ertvzr guna (f?)ur yrgf ba. (Although I may have missed something obvious, or perhaps "obvious." Also I confess to being moderately baffled by the "enblu" segment.)
I did get that impression... but I still feel baffled.
I remember it taking four rereads of Preflash to figure out what was going on even vaguely, and still having questions about it. I think I may start a new thread on this...
And since Making Light reposted (http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/012317.html#012317), over half the copies are gone. So I hurried up . . . and got the 23d copy left. ok!
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-04-12 04:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-12 04:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-12 06:21 pm (UTC)(I don't know why the first time it wasn't set off -- presumably because A. is not a very good scientist? -- or what kind of physics exactly would produce these kinds of results.)
Now, "Chromatic Aberration" I found completely incomprehensible; do you understand what was going on there?
no subject
Date: 2010-04-13 05:29 pm (UTC)Now, if anyone can unpack "Preflash" for me. . .
no subject
Date: 2010-04-14 07:28 pm (UTC)I remember it taking four rereads of Preflash to figure out what was going on even vaguely, and still having questions about it. I think I may start a new thread on this...
no subject
Date: 2010-04-13 07:40 am (UTC)So I hurried up . . . and got the 23d copy left. ok!
no subject
Date: 2010-04-14 07:30 pm (UTC)