Synopsis
Part of a long running series titled The Quiet War. I’ve never read any from this series before. Doesn’t seem like you have to have read any of the series - it may just be in the same universe. This story is set on a Mars that was terraformed long ago. Now it is kind of dying. This follows the expedition to find the bones and the magic blade of a warrior from long before.
History
First publication: Asimov’s Science Fiction, November/December 2023
Review
The story is an okay SF/fantasy adventure with ann interesting background. I feel like I would have gotten more out of this if I was more familiar with the earlier stories in the series. At least I felt kind of lost. Why does anybody want the old bones and knife? Especially if the knife is cursed? And why all the fantasy elements in a science fiction world? A lot of questions with no answers.
