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1MyriadBooks
I half-remember reading a story as young teen, circa 1995, about a thief who broke into a home and found a person within it wasting to death. The story was futuristic -- the person was plugged in to something like a dreaming machine and had deliberately deactivated the overrides that would cause the machine to shut off and the person to unplug and eat or bathe or do living things.
The thief was the point-of-view character. After finding the suicide, he (reasonably sure of gender) stayed for a number of days to tend her (ditto), leaving the house at times to get food and supplies, and it was only at the end of the story when the suicide regained enough awareness to begin asking questions that it was revealed that the thief was a thief, who had chosen this location at random and had broken in solely to steal.
While I think I read this in the 90s, whatever publication I found it in was probably printed far earlier. I had the run of several libraries, used bookstores, and dusty shelves at home with books dating to my father's childhood. I know for a fact I had access to many anthologies associated with Issac Asimov -- both stories he wrote or collections he edited -- but I have no memory of the titles of these, or recollections of other stories that might have appeared in the anthology with this one.
Needle in a haystack. Any suggestions?
The thief was the point-of-view character. After finding the suicide, he (reasonably sure of gender) stayed for a number of days to tend her (ditto), leaving the house at times to get food and supplies, and it was only at the end of the story when the suicide regained enough awareness to begin asking questions that it was revealed that the thief was a thief, who had chosen this location at random and had broken in solely to steal.
While I think I read this in the 90s, whatever publication I found it in was probably printed far earlier. I had the run of several libraries, used bookstores, and dusty shelves at home with books dating to my father's childhood. I know for a fact I had access to many anthologies associated with Issac Asimov -- both stories he wrote or collections he edited -- but I have no memory of the titles of these, or recollections of other stories that might have appeared in the anthology with this one.
Needle in a haystack. Any suggestions?
2susiesharp
This sounds like the book The Redemption of Althalus by, David Eddings not a short story but your description sure sounds like the story I remember
3dukedom_enough
"God is an Iron" by Spider Robinson.
4kmaziarz
Redemption of Althalus? Um, no, probably not. Here's the Publisher's Weekly review with plot synopsis:
"As the first stand-alone one-volume epic fantasy by the popular Eddings team (whose series include The Belgariad; The Malloreon and The Elenium), this hefty saga about Good trouncing Evil plumps an engaging young reprobate hero into the arms of a literally divine feline heroine. A professional thief and occasional murderer, Althalus accepts a commission to steal a supernatural tome known as the Book. When he arrives at the mysterious House at the End of the World, a lissome black cat with emerald eyes turns out to be the fertility goddess Dweia. Together they enlist a Mission Improbable team to out-sorcel the assorted villains marshaled by the sorcerer Ghend, who is bent on converting this medieval-like world from the worship of Dweia's good god-brother, Deiwos, to awful servitude under their wicked sibling Daeva. Plenty of derring-do spices up the first two-thirds of this jolly romp, and some zingy flashes of wit home in neatly on stuffy human institutions like overorganized religion and landed aristocracies. Unfortunately, the Eddingses can't resist a lengthy time-traveling reprise, which drags the story down into so-so conventionality. Though the Eddingses' multitudinous fans will likely feel right at home here in their safely magical realm of good-natured fun, this circle of would-be faerie has been trodden so often that here it yields very little deep-rooted literary greenery to munch on or to savor, still less to ruminate upon."
"As the first stand-alone one-volume epic fantasy by the popular Eddings team (whose series include The Belgariad; The Malloreon and The Elenium), this hefty saga about Good trouncing Evil plumps an engaging young reprobate hero into the arms of a literally divine feline heroine. A professional thief and occasional murderer, Althalus accepts a commission to steal a supernatural tome known as the Book. When he arrives at the mysterious House at the End of the World, a lissome black cat with emerald eyes turns out to be the fertility goddess Dweia. Together they enlist a Mission Improbable team to out-sorcel the assorted villains marshaled by the sorcerer Ghend, who is bent on converting this medieval-like world from the worship of Dweia's good god-brother, Deiwos, to awful servitude under their wicked sibling Daeva. Plenty of derring-do spices up the first two-thirds of this jolly romp, and some zingy flashes of wit home in neatly on stuffy human institutions like overorganized religion and landed aristocracies. Unfortunately, the Eddingses can't resist a lengthy time-traveling reprise, which drags the story down into so-so conventionality. Though the Eddingses' multitudinous fans will likely feel right at home here in their safely magical realm of good-natured fun, this circle of would-be faerie has been trodden so often that here it yields very little deep-rooted literary greenery to munch on or to savor, still less to ruminate upon."
5mart1n
>3 dukedom_enough: You beat me too it - I was digging it out in the library! It appears in Time Travellers Strictly Cash, by the way (originally in Omni). Also in God Is an Iron and Other Stories, I've just discovered. Could well be anthologised elsewhere, of course.
6MyriadBooks
>3 dukedom_enough:: Yes! Full story is available here.
>2 susiesharp:, 4: Thanks much. The summary of Eddings' Redemption sounds fascinating, and I've added it to my TBR list. (Oh, how it grows and grows.)
ETA:
>5 mart1n: Oops, missed you. I might have to dig and see if I recognized which publication I must have found it in. ISFDB has a list to get me started, yay.
>2 susiesharp:, 4: Thanks much. The summary of Eddings' Redemption sounds fascinating, and I've added it to my TBR list. (Oh, how it grows and grows.)
ETA:
>5 mart1n: Oops, missed you. I might have to dig and see if I recognized which publication I must have found it in. ISFDB has a list to get me started, yay.
7pjfarm
I never read the short story but the setup sounds similar to Mindkiller also by Spider Robinson. I assume he robbed himself for the start of the novel. ;-)
8ABVR
>7 pjfarm: Exactly so. I remember reading, somewhere, a comment by Robinson that the first chapter or two of Mindkiller is "God Is an Iron," or nearly so.
9MyriadBooks
Aaaand, Mindkiller gets added to the TBR list as well.
10pjfarm
9) Not to add even more to your TBR list, but there's at least two more books in the series after Mindkiller. :-)
13ABVR
> 9-11
Having had time to check, "God is an Iron" is, in fact, chapter 2 of Mindkiller.
The sequels are Time Pressure (though, SF being what it is, it's a sequel in a non-obvious way), and Lifehouse . . . both of which are worth reading if you find Mindkiller interesting, and probably better avoided if you don't.
Having had time to check, "God is an Iron" is, in fact, chapter 2 of Mindkiller.
The sequels are Time Pressure (though, SF being what it is, it's a sequel in a non-obvious way), and Lifehouse . . . both of which are worth reading if you find Mindkiller interesting, and probably better avoided if you don't.
14dukedom_enough
Myriadbooks@6,
Happy to help. Thank you for doing a great job as this group's admin.
Martin@5 and others: I felt all of you close on my heels as I wrote 3. :-)
(Am busy with various things, hence this delayed reply).
Happy to help. Thank you for doing a great job as this group's admin.
Martin@5 and others: I felt all of you close on my heels as I wrote 3. :-)
(Am busy with various things, hence this delayed reply).
