Title: A Sufficiently Advanced Christmas
Author: Eric James Stone
In: A Fantastic Holiday Season (Kevin J. Anderson & Keith J. Olexa)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Christmas, Science fiction
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: World Fire Press
Year: 2014
5th sentence, 74th page: It’s okay.

Three computer minds aren’t sure whether the humans who are inhabiting their planet are the ones that they’ve been waiting for. But, with a little Christmas magic and the love of a child, they might just find out the meaning of Christmas.

I kind of liked this take on Christmas time. It doesn’t really comment much on the holiday itself, but it does make commentary on how weird it would seem to alien races. After all, they make a connection with a child who is convinced that a strange man is soon going to come and visit him with presents. If a small child told me that… I’d be immediately concerned about abduction. Which ironically is kind of what happens… but you’ll have to read the story to understand what I mean.

The different voices of the three computer minds / alien sentinents had me laughing out loud throughout this story. Especially Two. Two was very single-minded, and unwilling to see beyond what it wanted. Which is exactly how I can be at times. But mostly I just found it completely hilarious the discussions and differences between the three voices. The satirical humour complimented the cuteness of the Christmas story perfectly.

<- The Atmosphere for Miracles Review

Unappreciated Gifts Review ->

Image source: Goodreads