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| Andis Reinbergs |
Beneath Ceaseless Skies
“The Sniper and I” by Rich Larson
3,439 words
Intriguing military sci-fi that examines the result of a smart weapon becoming too clever. Some initially confusing pronoun use, but turns out not to be an affect, but germane to the story.
Here’s a sample of the writing:
“On the way back to camp, we wound between the birds’ crumpled bodies. I stepped on one by accident, and its bones made a noise under my boot like ice crust breaking. The sniper turned back to look at me, reproachful, either for the noise or for the trespass.
A little farther on, the sniper found an immaculate corpse. It had fallen with the others, but somehow its feathers were snow white, untouched by the smog. They crouched down and picked it up, turning it over in their hands, extending one delicate wing and then the other.”
My fourth short story, chosen at random, and I’ve yet to locate an American author. I’ll find one. You just wait. Tomorrow, a change of pace.
2 comments:
Hi JP
Interesting story. I'm not big on sci-fi as a rule but the title has has allure. (Under Ceaseless Skies// The Sniper and I) .
Interesting how we end up creating things that do us more harm than good. Going small here, self-check out. It's going on in smaller stores and I wonder, "Do these people NOT want their jobs?"
As for American short story authors, I know Stephen King loves writing short stories. Passed him, though, you might have to do a google search.
Thanks for the recommend.
Military sci-fi is a specialized bracket of which I know little.
But, I agree, intriguing title.
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