Bewildering Stories welcomes...

Keith O’Neill

Keith has published stories elsewhere on the Net.

“Badlands” concludes in issue 801 but is complete on line as of part 1. Readers can read the whole story ahead of the schedule.

And readers will surely find it a kind of dystopic epic. In a burning world of ecological and economic collapse, manufacturing seems to produce mostly androids and robots. Designers with a sense of humor make androids resemble humans as closely as possible in order to enable them to work alongside humans with as little friction as possible. But the need for humaniform robots will decrease along with human numbers.

The results are sad. When the android “Eighty-Six” and his human friend, Herman, strike up a homosexual relationship, the handwriting is on the wall. Herman is also fixated on television programs portraying an era that was idyllic compared to the one he is consigned to live in. Can androids become human in spirit as well as in form? Can humanity escape extinction? Both remain to be seen.

Keith O’Neill’s bio sketch can be found here.

Welcome to Bewildering Stories, Keith. We hope to hear from you again soon and often!