Weeding Womb

Game of the Century

Game of the Century by Robert Reed. A tale about genetic engineering and football. It starts with a law about bestiality expiring and being signed back into law a few minutes later. During these few minutes, the absence of some arcane law about human/sheep relations left the door wide open for genetic engineers to attempt mixing human and animal DNA, the results of which were implanted in human mothers. The resulting oddities (I don't know if I missed an earlier reference, but describing one character as having fur five pages after introducing her is IMHO poor writing - while basic features can be left up to the reader to fill in, fur is not a 'basic feature') go on to play football and other sports.

Here's where the story falls down for me. It starts from an SF-heavy beginning and goes on to a simple near-SF-free plot about a girl trying to get onto a football squad. Then it goes on to a football game, which isn't really SF, except most of the players are furry. Finally it ends on a discussion of identity and heads back to its SF beginnings.

I also can't decide if it's being a critic of the game or a proponent. While it talks about the dirt that goes on in the game and behind the scenes, the big exciting game at the end is hard to follow unless you can follow football commentary.

So it's a sort of good start with a sort of bad middle and a sort of good ending.

Conclusion: Not a bad story, not a good one.

The Archon

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