Turncoat

"Turncoat" by Steve Rzasa.The prose begins a bit... dry? It made me think I don't really like short stories. Then the story picked up, and I remembered that I do like short stories (I just like long stories more, because there is more of them to like). I smiled at the mention of "Saint Kurzweil". The plot twist is entirely given away by the title --- lack of imagination there? or straightforward authorial titling, like artists who call their art "untitled study in blue #3"? --- and the conclusion was cute. Not terribly thought-provoking, but a fun little verbal romp in the world of uploaded-humans-and-AIs versus non-uploaded-humans.

If this were the first chapter of a book, I'd keep reading.


This post's theme word is adumbrate, "to foreshadow" or "to give a rough outline or to disclose partially" or "to overshadow or obscure." The monolexical title adumbrated the conclusion.

Totaled

Another Hugo short story nominee under my reading belt: "Totaled" by Kary English. I can honestly say I've never read a story from the point-of-view of a brain in a jar. Now I want to read more of them. The story was well-written. engaging, interesting. It didn't press the often-overused "melancholy" button too much, which is my usual complaint against short stories. I liked it.


This post's theme word is osculable, "kissable" (also consider using osculatrix, oscularity (a kiss), osculary (anything that should be kissed). The brain in a jar was enticing but inosculable.