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Exploring dark alleys. Discovering new nightmares. Revisiting the masters.

Friday, August 3, 2018

Chains of Mountains

Runaway male slave fleeing across the desert is pursued by an android tracker.

Android Tracker by Abe Evergreen, author of the Dark City series, is a flash fiction story about the bittersweet taste of freedom. Sometimes the grass isn't greener on the side...sometimes the grass doesn't grow at all. Facing a harsh landscape, Ten encounters one obstacle after another during his escape.

The setting appears to be in a dystopian future of our world, with a reference to constellations seen from Earth. Almost nothing is revealed about the society Ten is fleeing from, but the hyper-focus on the slave and his fears creates an overwhelming level of suspense.

The ending is an unpredictable shock. I don't think the author intended it to be at all funny, but I had to laugh...for dark, ironic reasons. Evergreen definitely knows how to create quality science fiction.

As always,
AstraDaemon

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