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Peds
In a near-future world where the car is king and the people are divided between those who ride on a network of highways connecting the glittering hubs of the city, and those left on foot -- the lowly “Peds” -- who inhabit the lands that lie between them, Robert Balkoner has always believed these latter, even if disadvantaged, are well cared for by the city as a whole. These beliefs are shattered, however, when a freak auto accident thrusts him among the Peds, and he discovers a system more varied, complex, and sometimes horrific, than anything he might have imagined. Yet even here Balkoner also can find love, as well as a handful of rebels willing to barter their lives in a quest to improve conditions for themselves and their fellows. A novelette.
41 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 18, 2012
6 people want to read
About the author
James Dorr
201 books34 followersJames Dorr is a short story writer and poet with more than five hundred individual appearances in magazines and anthologies. Dorr has worked a number of jobs, including technical writer, city editor on a regional magazine, full time non-fiction freelancer, and semi-professional musician. He resides in southern Indiana with his Goth cat Triana, named for Triana Orpheus in the Cartoon Channel's VENTURE BROS series.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 29, 2012
Peds reminds me of the reasons I fell in love with science fiction to begin with - the imaginative creation of a distinctive, flawed world (or future), and strong, well-developed characters who attempt to deal with/change the world for the better.
Rob, the Rider who enters the Ped world accidentally, in every sense of the word, meets sympathetic people, Cyn and Gart, who quickly enlighten him as to the way the Rider/Ped world really works. They all take an active role in trying to improve it, with variable results.
The novelette is fast-paced and engrossing - I read it in one sitting - with good use of dialog to explain the roles of Peds and Riders blended nicely with vivid action scenes.
As with all good science fiction, the concept, and the story's subtle mirror of present day society, are key. Also, as with all good science fiction, I'd love to spend more time in the future James S. Dorr created.
Recommended as a good, quick read.
Rob, the Rider who enters the Ped world accidentally, in every sense of the word, meets sympathetic people, Cyn and Gart, who quickly enlighten him as to the way the Rider/Ped world really works. They all take an active role in trying to improve it, with variable results.
The novelette is fast-paced and engrossing - I read it in one sitting - with good use of dialog to explain the roles of Peds and Riders blended nicely with vivid action scenes.
As with all good science fiction, the concept, and the story's subtle mirror of present day society, are key. Also, as with all good science fiction, I'd love to spend more time in the future James S. Dorr created.
Recommended as a good, quick read.
November 10, 2012
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Caro
Futuristic stories always make us think of what is to come in years ahead, with all of the new electronic and scientific things in development every day; we can’t help, but think how they will be of use to us and how cool we will look. Flying cars, flying skateboards, flying shoes, we all want to see them some day in real life just like in the movies we watch and like.
But, what happens when all of these don’t work to our advantage as we had hoped for? That is what author James S. Dorr shows us in his short story,Peds, where the ones with money, are able to live a comfortable life and ride the highway of network cars that take you wherever you want without the need for one to drive manual and just like that be called a Rider.
On the other hand, he presents us the less fortunate people, the Peds, who had to giveaway everything they once had for a life now “suited” for their needs (if it can be called that way). They don’t live in a high society like the Riders do, but without knowing, they can actually fend better for themselves than what the Riders imagined. And, this is what the main character comes to discover after his accident.
When you start reading both sides of the story, the difference between the Peds and the Riders, you can’t help but think of similarities that we can see in our present society, but with a more complicated security system, where the Peds can’t even move out of their homes without being run over by a car. At first, I couldn’t understand why Robert just didn’t walk away and return to his own life, but later you realize that in this futuristic world no one else remembers you but yourself, clearing a mistake, is complicated. The ones Robert thought were his friends, didn’t even bother to look for him.
The author makes Robert’s new life seem like he is stranded in a deserted island, without the deserted part, and after a while he starts to become part of it. At the end he lets go of his dream to go back to his previous life to take in, an even greater one that it’s not his own but inspires him to fight for something greater.
Peds is a book that makes us think of the future and present, just like the rest in its category, well for reading at any moment to make us reflect and enjoy a good story of a small adventure in a deadly highway of network cars. It even has some art.
http://openbooksociety.com/article/pe...
Futuristic stories always make us think of what is to come in years ahead, with all of the new electronic and scientific things in development every day; we can’t help, but think how they will be of use to us and how cool we will look. Flying cars, flying skateboards, flying shoes, we all want to see them some day in real life just like in the movies we watch and like.
But, what happens when all of these don’t work to our advantage as we had hoped for? That is what author James S. Dorr shows us in his short story,Peds, where the ones with money, are able to live a comfortable life and ride the highway of network cars that take you wherever you want without the need for one to drive manual and just like that be called a Rider.
On the other hand, he presents us the less fortunate people, the Peds, who had to giveaway everything they once had for a life now “suited” for their needs (if it can be called that way). They don’t live in a high society like the Riders do, but without knowing, they can actually fend better for themselves than what the Riders imagined. And, this is what the main character comes to discover after his accident.
When you start reading both sides of the story, the difference between the Peds and the Riders, you can’t help but think of similarities that we can see in our present society, but with a more complicated security system, where the Peds can’t even move out of their homes without being run over by a car. At first, I couldn’t understand why Robert just didn’t walk away and return to his own life, but later you realize that in this futuristic world no one else remembers you but yourself, clearing a mistake, is complicated. The ones Robert thought were his friends, didn’t even bother to look for him.
The author makes Robert’s new life seem like he is stranded in a deserted island, without the deserted part, and after a while he starts to become part of it. At the end he lets go of his dream to go back to his previous life to take in, an even greater one that it’s not his own but inspires him to fight for something greater.
Peds is a book that makes us think of the future and present, just like the rest in its category, well for reading at any moment to make us reflect and enjoy a good story of a small adventure in a deadly highway of network cars. It even has some art.
http://openbooksociety.com/article/pe...
February 26, 2013
Originally posted at: http://www.longandshortreviews.com/bo...
A short but intriguing story that will leave you thinking.
Peds by James S. Dorr is set in a Science Fiction society where the social classes are divided into two parts. Those who drive cars, and those who don’t, and the ability to descend down this ladder is treacherously simple. The main character, nicknamed Rob, seems like a standup guy from the beginning. His personality is easy to find agreeable and it’s this kind of person we would want the least harm to come to. In a poor stroke of luck and a violent clash of Rider vs. Peds Rob is thrust into a society unfamiliar to him, and it is his goal to make it back.
James S. Dorr blends Rob into a world that on one page seems so foreign and on another seems all too real. Rob quickly becomes friends with characters who have their distinct personalities, one kind and caring and the other fierce and daring. Through these friends Rob will form a plan to get back to his former life.
The story isn’t bound to the major characters which is what I enjoyed the most about this novel. It finds its real story in the conflict that can only be inferred by the different people and their individual stories no matter how short for the reader. Economic struggles and the constant theme of “what’s mine is mine” reveals a side of society we are only too eager to turn a blind eye to. Once we settle in and get comfortable in the least bit, Dorr reminds us that there needs to be a change, and things can’t always be “winner vs. loser.” This hope for change will leave you rooting for the Peds, not just Rob, until the very end.
If you are looking for a short but enjoyable story that leaves you with something to think about, you will surely enjoy Peds as much as I did.
A short but intriguing story that will leave you thinking.
Peds by James S. Dorr is set in a Science Fiction society where the social classes are divided into two parts. Those who drive cars, and those who don’t, and the ability to descend down this ladder is treacherously simple. The main character, nicknamed Rob, seems like a standup guy from the beginning. His personality is easy to find agreeable and it’s this kind of person we would want the least harm to come to. In a poor stroke of luck and a violent clash of Rider vs. Peds Rob is thrust into a society unfamiliar to him, and it is his goal to make it back.
James S. Dorr blends Rob into a world that on one page seems so foreign and on another seems all too real. Rob quickly becomes friends with characters who have their distinct personalities, one kind and caring and the other fierce and daring. Through these friends Rob will form a plan to get back to his former life.
The story isn’t bound to the major characters which is what I enjoyed the most about this novel. It finds its real story in the conflict that can only be inferred by the different people and their individual stories no matter how short for the reader. Economic struggles and the constant theme of “what’s mine is mine” reveals a side of society we are only too eager to turn a blind eye to. Once we settle in and get comfortable in the least bit, Dorr reminds us that there needs to be a change, and things can’t always be “winner vs. loser.” This hope for change will leave you rooting for the Peds, not just Rob, until the very end.
If you are looking for a short but enjoyable story that leaves you with something to think about, you will surely enjoy Peds as much as I did.
July 27, 2015
Bought this for about 60 pence and read it over the weekend. I love dystopia stories and enjoyed this, was a fun read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews