“Far From Home” by Jamie Wild
With little fanfare, Chronicle, which bills itself as “SF, Fantasy, & Horror’s Monthly Trade Journal” has begun to run short pieces of original fiction.
In the June 2005 issue, editor Warren Lapine includes a cryogenic story, “Far From Home” by Jamie Wild. Opening with a car crash that sets the scene for Owen Farrington’s state of mind up to his awakening, the story plunges into the future, when Owen is awoken to a brave new world. Just prior to Owen’s accident, his wife, Diana, left him for his best friend, Ray. Despite the passage of three centuries, the betrayal is fresh in Owen’s mind and could have permitted Wild to examine Owen’s psychological responses to his divorce as well as his new surroundings. Instead, Wild provides only the barest introspection, instead giving a quick snapshot of the future Owen finds himself in and his sense that he doesn’t fit in.
The rather short story could have been much improved if it had been longer, with the existing story only serving as an introduction to a look at Owen as a fish out of water in the twenty-fifth century. Instead, “Far From Home” reads like a scene from Woody Allen’s “Sleeper,” deleted because it was neither humorous enough for the film, nor added any sort of social commentary to either a look toward the future or events of today. As it is, “Far From Home” is a predictable, lightweight story.
In the June 2005 issue, editor Warren Lapine includes a cryogenic story, “Far From Home” by Jamie Wild. Opening with a car crash that sets the scene for Owen Farrington’s state of mind up to his awakening, the story plunges into the future, when Owen is awoken to a brave new world. Just prior to Owen’s accident, his wife, Diana, left him for his best friend, Ray. Despite the passage of three centuries, the betrayal is fresh in Owen’s mind and could have permitted Wild to examine Owen’s psychological responses to his divorce as well as his new surroundings. Instead, Wild provides only the barest introspection, instead giving a quick snapshot of the future Owen finds himself in and his sense that he doesn’t fit in.
The rather short story could have been much improved if it had been longer, with the existing story only serving as an introduction to a look at Owen as a fish out of water in the twenty-fifth century. Instead, “Far From Home” reads like a scene from Woody Allen’s “Sleeper,” deleted because it was neither humorous enough for the film, nor added any sort of social commentary to either a look toward the future or events of today. As it is, “Far From Home” is a predictable, lightweight story.
