Space opera-et or science fiction novelet?

I suppose that if I am not sure what the piece of speculative science is that this fictional story revolves around then it really is just a short space opera. Not that that is necessarily bad, it is entertaining and it’s not like I wish I had that fifteen minutes of my life back or anything.

The setting of this story is a primitive planet and Cara Gamma, a copy of a woman from a highly advanced society, is observing the native inhabitants. Cara meets up with a native and is drawn into a problem the tribe is having. Will she help them? If so then how?

The world created here is interesting but I am not sure about the motivations of Cara, why does she do the things that she does? The author does not even tell us the reason the advanced society is observing the primitive one.

Again this was an entertaining story but there is not a Big Idea science fiction-wise that it revolves around. I think of it as SF bubblegum.

What if a refrigerator was smart enough to know what was put into it and what if it was programmed to alert the proper authorities if that something was illegal?

That is exactly what happens in this short story, however when the fridge snitches it is expecting to talk with another machine which happens to be off-line at that moment. Instead human beings answer the fridge’s call and it does not believe that it is talking with real people. What follows is a twist on the Turing Test.

Overall an interesting idea that is well written but very brief (just three pages).

Tomorrows review:
Daughters of Prime by Lawrence C. Connoly
Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine, July 2007 edition