The Hero

by Karl Schroeder

Treasure awaits, in the howling maw of a Capital Bug the size of a city, and Jessie's on the verge of snagging that treasure for himself. There's only one problem: he's only got days to live. Maybe the sinister Precipice Moth lurking in the cavernous innards of the Bug can help--if Jessie is willing to strike the kind of bargain with it that not even a dying man would take...

Genres: Science Fiction

30 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2008

About the author

Karl Schroeder is an award-winning Canadian science fiction author. His novels present far-future speculations on topics such as nanotechnology, terraforming, augmented reality and interstellar travel, and have a deeply philosophical streak. One of his concepts, known as thalience, has gained some currency in the artificial intelligence and computer networking communities.

Reviews

[Paul Bard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superb novella set in Candesce in the far end of the chronology.

May not make sense unless you read the novels.