Review of Tom Pike, “Direct Message”, Analog Science Fiction and Fact January/February (2023): 88–93 (Kindle) – Purchase Here. Reviewed by John Atom.
An alien race starts a Twitter poll about which region of earth to vaporize with their heat ray. The protagonist must negotiate with the aliens to save his hometown.
An amusing and funny story, though the implausibility is at times hard to swallow. Despite the author admitting to the tongue-in-cheek nature of the story (breaking the 4th wall in a manner of speaking), it still leaves a bit to be desired. I’m not sure the author’s final message gets through.
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