Review of “A Still Life” by Elliot Wink
Today is a different kind of review than I normally post here! I was invited to take a sneak peek at Elliot Wink’s short story, “A Still Life,” which will appear in Apex Book Company’s Robotic Ambitions anthology, the Kickstarter for which launches on February 21st.
Robotic Ambitions will feature stories looking at mechanical sentience, and Wink’s short story is a phenomenal example of the high and low points of a sentient robot. “A Still Life” is a heartbreaking story, told across two time periods, about the fate of robots who are no longer needed, but whose programming keeps them glued to their routines. When one of these robots starts to think and act outside her programming, she finds the world not nearly as perfect as she once thought it.
I really love reading stories that bounce between a present storyline and a past storyline, particularly when those two storylines mesh perfectly. “A Still Life” is an excellent example of this sort of story. In addition, it’s got wonderful sympathetic characters who might even make you forget that they’re robots as you read the story.
If you’re interested in learning more about Robotic Ambitions, head to the Kickstarter page and click “Notify Me on Launch.” You can also read more about the sort of stories the editors will be looking for here.
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