Author Topic: EP Flash: Beachcomber  (Read 10336 times)

Russell Nash

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on: March 24, 2009, 05:09:40 PM
EP Flash: Beachcomber

By Mike Resnick.
Read by Elie Hirschman

Arlo didn’t look much like a man. (Not all robots do, you know.) The problem was that he didn’t act all that much like a robot.

Rated PG. Contains hopes that will never be fulfilled.



Listen to this EP Flash!
« Last Edit: September 15, 2009, 09:45:08 PM by Russell Nash »



Zathras

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Reply #1 on: March 24, 2009, 05:48:14 PM
When I listened to this yesterday, I was hopeful, a Resnick story.  It was a great premise, but the execution fell flat.



Ersatz Coffee

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Reply #2 on: March 25, 2009, 07:31:31 AM
This was fun. OK, a fairly old trope, but entertaining, and made its point well enough.



eytanz

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Reply #3 on: March 25, 2009, 08:34:43 AM
For a relatively short story, it's amazing how it was too long. I mean, it managed to include a coda that re-iterated the ending that it immediately followed.

That said, it was a good story. It just took to making its point with all the subtlety of a jackhammer.



Talia

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Reply #4 on: March 25, 2009, 03:36:52 PM
Enjoyed this very much, though the narrator seemed unusually clueless.

The audio was a bit quiet, though. 



stePH

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Reply #5 on: March 25, 2009, 04:48:00 PM
meh

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DarkKnightJRK

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Reply #6 on: March 25, 2009, 11:44:57 PM
Not bad--the image of a hulking robot sitting on a beach trying to get sand between it's toes was a good image to start out the morning.



Listener

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Reply #7 on: March 26, 2009, 04:17:57 PM
ResnickPod strikes again.

The story had an interesting premise, but Resnick's interpretation of robots never really struck me as something I could get behind.

This was a relatively-well-told tale until the ending, which is as someone said a little overdone.

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Poppydragon

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Reply #8 on: March 26, 2009, 06:55:45 PM
I liked this, it had a old fashioned sci fi feel to it. Particularly liked the fact that the robot was not "humanoid" but still could impact on at least one of the humans around it

Man - despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication, and his many accomplishments - owes his existence to a six inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains.


mike-resnick

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Reply #9 on: April 03, 2009, 05:00:39 AM
For those who are curious:

This is the only story I ever wrote that was inspired by a dream. I had a dream
about a robot stuck in the sand -- I had no idea why it was there -- but I plotted
it out when I woke up and wrote the story that evening. That was literally 30
years ago. It has been re-sold 8 times in the US since its initial appearance,
as well as in Japan, Poland, and Russia -- and it was a radio play in Latvia. Been
waiting since 1979 for another dream I could turn into a story.

-- Mike Resnick



Anarkey

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Reply #10 on: April 10, 2009, 01:00:02 AM
Been waiting since 1979 for another dream I could turn into a story.

That's a long wait.  And thanks for dropping into to give the story origins.  These types of details interest me. 

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birdless

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Reply #11 on: April 10, 2009, 02:33:47 AM
I thought it was well-written and enjoyable, but the denouement was a letdown for me, assuming that the last line was what that was supposed to be. (Sorry, Mike. :-[ )



Rachel Swirsky

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Reply #12 on: May 18, 2009, 04:53:17 PM
Just for the record, this was one of my three favorite pieces from the batch of EP flash. (The other two were the Kress and the Kling.)



Unblinking

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Reply #13 on: January 28, 2010, 06:02:03 PM
I tend to enjoy stories where the artiificials are more human than the humans, and this was no exception.  I really felt for the poor bot!