The vision has never wavered for me, not for an instant; it is as perfect in my mind as it was ten years ago when I first saw those terribly carved wooden blocks dancing for the Queen. How ugly they were, how dull and how crude - but even then, there was an essence underneath that poor display, a vision that spoke to me ( Read more... )

He has heard of these invitations, though he's never seen one: a physical letter, written in emerald ink on a cream-colored envelope, delivered by courier to the intended recipient personally. It is unique, not only because letters fell out of favor centuries ago, but also because they are usually delivered to lords and ladies, men and women of ( Read more... )

Death was an interminable quiet, a resolute emptiness that enlarged and exaggerated the life that had come before. It was death, as close as I can understand it, and it was a slow and irreversible one, as rust built on limbs that once moved freely and bolts, then servos, and finally entire connected mechanisms became unsynchronized and fell off, a ( Read more... )

The family called me Paul and I accepted the name easily, even though it came from my description - Personal Automaton, Utility and Labor. Sure, there were those of us named with more wit - Jeeves and Lurch, for example - but there were also ones that were referred to as Scrap, Dumbbot, and, other, less polite words. In light of the possible ( Read more... )