Man's Best Friend

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smith, Evelyn E., 1922-2000

Contributor:

Hunter, Mel, 1927-2004

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource : multiple file formats

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg,

Summary:

"Man's Best Friend" by Evelyn E. Smith is a science fiction short story written during the mid-20th century. The narrative explores themes of fate, leadership, and the interplay between technology and human nature. It follows the absurd yet intriguing journey of a young man, Gervase Schnee, who is unexpectedly thrust into the role of ruler in a society governed by a machine that predicts destiny. In the story, Gervase learns that he has been chosen by the Prognosticator to assassinate the current ruler, Overlord Kipp, as part of a bizarre tradition that determines leadership. Despite his initial resistance to this violent fate, Gervase navigates the absurdities of his situation with a mix of resignation and humor. As he encounters various characters, including salesmen and former rulers hiding their identities, he ultimately discovers that the mystical machine's pronouncements are influenced by more personal and mundane forces. The story culminates in a comedic twist, revealing that Gervase's mother is the one manipulating events through the Prognosticator, underscoring the themes of familial influence and the randomness of political power. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Credits:

Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

Notes:

Reading ease score: 77.1 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read.

Release date is 2016-01-27