One brave entity survives for millions of years and many catastrophes, and as a reward, he is given the keys to the galaxy.
"Terror" is a companion piece to the previously published "The Cryptic Age."
"The machines were built from the same proven template, but with independent teams doing the subsequent work -- a reliable strategy that invited variation into the final products. What humans saw as personality was generally the same for each, but from a savant's vantage point, identity has little to do with what you said or how you acted. Your view of the universe: That was where your temperament rose from. Each of the eleven were accomplished in every kind of mathematics, but with preferences, specialties and fixations. Three savants loved the clarity and fierce wisdom of harum-scarum thought, while the mystic in the ranks worshiped the philosophies of the extinct Tila. Inside this little tribe, every hypothesis was a new child who sprang from an individual, and every child was at least a little beautiful. At first. But inevitably someone would pinpoint its faults, and someone would cherish the baby despite its numerous failures. Which might not be the parent. One great strength about genius was its capacity to turn against its own."
Robert Reed is the author of many science fiction stories. He won a Hugo Award in 2007 for his novella, "A Billion Eves," but Reed is best known for his ongoing Great Ship epic.
Genre: Science Fiction
"Terror" is a companion piece to the previously published "The Cryptic Age."
"The machines were built from the same proven template, but with independent teams doing the subsequent work -- a reliable strategy that invited variation into the final products. What humans saw as personality was generally the same for each, but from a savant's vantage point, identity has little to do with what you said or how you acted. Your view of the universe: That was where your temperament rose from. Each of the eleven were accomplished in every kind of mathematics, but with preferences, specialties and fixations. Three savants loved the clarity and fierce wisdom of harum-scarum thought, while the mystic in the ranks worshiped the philosophies of the extinct Tila. Inside this little tribe, every hypothesis was a new child who sprang from an individual, and every child was at least a little beautiful. At first. But inevitably someone would pinpoint its faults, and someone would cherish the baby despite its numerous failures. Which might not be the parent. One great strength about genius was its capacity to turn against its own."
Robert Reed is the author of many science fiction stories. He won a Hugo Award in 2007 for his novella, "A Billion Eves," but Reed is best known for his ongoing Great Ship epic.
Genre: Science Fiction
Used availability for Robert Reed's All the Homes of Terror