A collection of short stories by: Dustin Geeraert, Lee Vermeulen, Steve Vermeulen, Coleman Geeraert
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Simulated realities. Malevolent gods. Obsessions, paradoxes, and murders. These twenty stories reflect on consciousness and its predicaments. The collection begins with short pieces and fragments; "Prologue?" and, later on, "Eden Hypothesis" envision a dawn of thought, while “The Fun Machine” imagines its end. The middle third of the collection is devoted to science fiction: "Sugarless" and "The Last Engineer" dwell on the problem of self-awareness, the hard science fiction tale "Thought Process" develops a detailed premise based on physics and computer science, and “Careful with that Razor” is a satirical response to Isaac Asimov’s science-and-religion-reconciled tale “The Last Question.” The final third of the collection opens with the drug-fueled rage and despair of “Ivan the Terrible,” which sets the tone of revenge and regret. The stories “An Example to the Men,” “Broken,” and “A Man for the Empire” depict an authoritarian, dystopian medieval world, and the collection ends with the apocalyptic, last-gasp fantasy dirge “Rain Ghosts.” The common thread running through the collection, as manifested most explicitly in "The Celestial Puppeteer" and "Careful with that Razor," is cosmic paranoia.
Stories Included:|
Prologue? The Celestial Puppeteer The Fun Machine Into Exile Eden Hypothesis High Sky Spectacle A Piranesian Dream The Last Facility Sugarless The Last Engineer |
Thought Process Careful With That Razor Ivan the Terrible Overthrow, Undertow Joe's Pigeons An Example to the Men Broken A Man for the Empire P!=NP Rain Ghosts |
