Josh Weil

Russian billionaire Boris Bazarov places space mirrors in orbit to catch the light of the sun at all hours, creating perpetual daytime under a sea of glass in Petroplavilsk and the surrounding rural communities, near the giant inland Lake Onega. Twins Yarik and Dima find themselves working side-by-side, trying to get ahead. Their paths diverge as Yarik is married with children and is promoted by Bazarov while Dima wishes for a simpler life as a Russian peasant. The grand scheme here is a portrayal of new Russia, and the inherent struggle between: new and old, agrarian and industrial, communism and capitalism, society and individual, but I thought it fell flat. Good writing, but just too much. 2.5 stars.… (mehr)

I saw what would become the lead story in this collection One Story a couple of years ago and fell in love, and have been waiting for this to come out. And I'm still in love with it—"No Flies, No Folly" is gorgeous and haunting—and I think a bunch of others were very strong as well. Weill's range is impressive, from the dawn of the 20th century to a speculative story set in the nearish future, each one loosely structured around the theme of light. And while I didn't think every one was a mad hit like the first, it was a good collection and definitely worth reading.… (mehr)

This is if nothing else a beautiful story, it almost seems as if the fantastic past/future-esque setting detracts from the real issues and feelings brought up. Twin brothers in an indeterminate Russian past both end up working on a futuristic greenhouse project requiring projecting sunlight reflected from space via giant mirrors. One brother embraces this future and the other utterly rejects it. I had to resort to Google to look up The Caspian Sea Monster - ekranoplan - and was surprised to find that was historical.… (mehr)