CLICK ON THE LINK TO READ THE STORY ONLINE
This short story left me with a burning curiosity to know more, to learn how the world depicted in it came to be – that is, beyond the tantalizing glimpses offered by the narrative, whose moods change with each new detail offered by the author.
At first we are given a bucolic description of this unnamed planet at sunset, its sky filled by a departing harvest ship laden with its cargo. A young man observes it and an older one advises him not to dream of another life away from there, in the blackness of space – but the young man does not think about leaving, not much anyway, because despite the apparent boredom of an unchanging life, he’s clearly in love with a girl, or rather a robot servant shaped like a girl.
Little by little we learn that the planet was colonized by humans who later build robots to help them tend the fields, and that these colonists survived some terrible event called the Uprising: what filled me with curiosity is the scene of the communal dinner of the estate’s farmers, since they seem to be all men, no woman present among them, except the robot servers in female shape.
When the young man meets with the robot girl in the crumbling church of the estate, for one of their secrete assignments, something happens, and here is where the story surprised me with an unexpected development: read it and enjoy, because it will be worth your time…
My Rating: 
Space and Sorcery 
You’ve given me another short story to add to my ever growing list! This sounds like fun:-)
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But watch out for the scorpion sting in the end! 😉
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Always nice when a story makes you want to learn more! However, that’s usually the problem I have with short stories – I always feel like they leave me with too little, but instead of being tantalized I usually just get frustrated lol! But glad you you enjoyed this one 😀
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Frustration does indeed come with the territory when reading short stories, sometimes: I want more, and this sounds more like a core concept for a novel than anything else. Still, it was fun.. 🙂
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I’m intrigued again – will have to read this one now just to find out about the ending.
Lynn 😀
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Let me know what you think… 😉
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Thank you for sharing the link – what a beautifully depicted world. And what a fabulous twist at the end!
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It took me completely by surprise, and I always enjoy being surprised… 🙂
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That was a kickass story – and that ending?! Phew! Very cool.
I’m really enjoying these short stories you point us towards Maddalena – thank you, once again! 😀
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You’re more than welcome! Short stories tend to be hit or miss (and at times the misses are more than the hits), so when they work, sharing them is the least I can do 🙂
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Carry on the good work, please! 😀
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Hey, thank you so much for this kind review, and for pointing people to “Fire in the Bone.” So glad that you liked the story! It was a fun one to write. Kate Baker also did an excellent audio version, I think. If you have any questions, or you ever want to do an interview or anything, let me know. I’m always happy to support my readers and reviewers. Great blog!
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Thank you, and thank you very much for stopping by!
It was a very intriguing story, and one that begs to be expanded into a full-length book: there is so much I would love to know about that world and how it came to be…
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