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On Both Sides
When a mysterious woman vanishes during the American Revolution, young Robby Freeman searches for answers from a cryptic sharpshooter who deserted Washington's Continental Army.
A short story from The Prometheus Saga.
INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR
Q - What is The Prometheus Saga?
A - In The Prometheus Saga, twelve authors unite to interpret how an alien presence would interact with the human condition over a time period that spans from the dawn of man to the present. The stories cross genres and genders, allowing for entirely different narratives and insights on historical events and the human experience.
Q - Where should a reader start when selecting a short story to read in The Prometheus Saga?
A - Each story is self-contained and can be read in any order. The reader is free to select any of the stories at random to begin their experience. Each short story has a different setting in history. The book description will explain the time period setting for each particular story.
Q - What is this alien probe?
A - An alien civilization landed a probe on Earth at the dawn of mankind. This probe, a form of artificial intelligence, can morph into any human form, take on any human identity, either male or female. Its life spans hundreds of thousands of years. Its mission is to report everything it can about us to its home planet. What this humanoid observes and learns over centuries of human existence will be interpreted through each short story in the saga. The alien probe is as mythic as Prometheus, the Greek Titan who was said to have brought fire to mankind.
About the Author
Bria Burton's short stories have appeared in anthologies such as Welcome to the Future and speculative fiction magazines such as The Colored Lens. Her novella, Little Angel Helper, was written for her sisters, one of whom has special needs like a character in the story. She also has a collection of family-friendly pet stories called Lance & Ringo Tails. Her epic fantasy manuscript, Livinity, won First Place in the RPLA Unpublished Fantasy Novel category in 2011. She is the Writers Group Leader for her local chapter of FWA.
At St. Pete Running Company, she works as a blogger and customer service manager. Find out more about her upcoming and past publications by visiting www.briaburton.com.
A short story from The Prometheus Saga.
INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR
Q - What is The Prometheus Saga?
A - In The Prometheus Saga, twelve authors unite to interpret how an alien presence would interact with the human condition over a time period that spans from the dawn of man to the present. The stories cross genres and genders, allowing for entirely different narratives and insights on historical events and the human experience.
Q - Where should a reader start when selecting a short story to read in The Prometheus Saga?
A - Each story is self-contained and can be read in any order. The reader is free to select any of the stories at random to begin their experience. Each short story has a different setting in history. The book description will explain the time period setting for each particular story.
Q - What is this alien probe?
A - An alien civilization landed a probe on Earth at the dawn of mankind. This probe, a form of artificial intelligence, can morph into any human form, take on any human identity, either male or female. Its life spans hundreds of thousands of years. Its mission is to report everything it can about us to its home planet. What this humanoid observes and learns over centuries of human existence will be interpreted through each short story in the saga. The alien probe is as mythic as Prometheus, the Greek Titan who was said to have brought fire to mankind.
About the Author
Bria Burton's short stories have appeared in anthologies such as Welcome to the Future and speculative fiction magazines such as The Colored Lens. Her novella, Little Angel Helper, was written for her sisters, one of whom has special needs like a character in the story. She also has a collection of family-friendly pet stories called Lance & Ringo Tails. Her epic fantasy manuscript, Livinity, won First Place in the RPLA Unpublished Fantasy Novel category in 2011. She is the Writers Group Leader for her local chapter of FWA.
At St. Pete Running Company, she works as a blogger and customer service manager. Find out more about her upcoming and past publications by visiting www.briaburton.com.
- GenresScience Fiction
44 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 23, 2015
20 people want to read
About the author
Bria Burton
42 books15 followersAward-winning author Bria Burton lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, with her husband, son, and two wild pets. Her author motto, “Rekindle Your Wonder,” stems from her desire to renew a sense of awe and wonder in her readers. She writes science fiction, fantasy, and inspirational fiction. Her short stories have appeared in over twenty anthologies and magazines. In 2022, she joined the Joy on Paper radio program as a Special Correspondent for the monthly Science Fiction BookBuzz. She has independently published two inspirational novellas: Little Angel Helper, a 2016 Royal Palm Literary Award winner, and The Running Girls. In 2019, Her Midnight Ride won the Silver Award in the published novelette category for RPLA. While she writes, her dog and cat do their best to distract her, which is why they star in her family-friendly short story collection and podcast, Lance & Ringo Tails. At St. Pete Running Company, she's a blogger and customer service manager. She's also a member of the Alvarium Experiment, a by-invitation-only consortium of outstanding authors who have collaborated on six anthologies: The Prometheus Saga Vol. 1 & 2, Return to Earth, The Masters Reimagined Vol. 1 & 2, and The Light Fantastic. Website www.briaburton.com
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 25, 2015
Historical fiction meets science fiction in this delightful story about an alien finding its way through America during the American Revolution as a shape shifting being able to take multiple roles from different sides to gather information on our human existence. We also meet a couple of young brothers who end up at war and find themselves interacting with this alien as different people unknowing it is the same being. It was fun as the reader to be in on the joke as I read along seeing the alien interact with different people. Don't think that this is a spoiler because as you read the story it is made known well before it becomes a surprise to the characters. You are in on the secret the whole time as the reader. This is not a big reveal that has now been spoiled for you. Think of it as something to look forward to as you read this story. You're on the inside and all of the characters are not which was a fun dynamic.
I found myself chuckling throughout this story. There is some fun wit written into its prose. Though this story is short it covers a great span of time and throughout there are crafty epistolary sections. Reading the correspondence of letters between a woman of the era and the alien who keeps becoming someone else was fun. Their personalities are so different and you only get to read the letters written by the woman so filling in the blanks of what the alien's letter must have said was like a little puzzle that made me smile.
The story is not anything like the science fiction I usually read which is why I'm glad I read it. It kind of reminded me of Downton Abbey and The Patriot but with a splash of science fiction to change the flavor. The flavor is changed only in a subtle way and the reliance of the reader knowing the shapeshifter is an alien sent to gather intelligence on the human race made me read with a sharper eye. If you pay attention there are a lot of fun subtle clues that lead you to know just who the alien is though its appearance would cause you to think otherwise. Seeing how the other characters react upon meeting this creature was a lot of the fun of this story.
I found myself chuckling throughout this story. There is some fun wit written into its prose. Though this story is short it covers a great span of time and throughout there are crafty epistolary sections. Reading the correspondence of letters between a woman of the era and the alien who keeps becoming someone else was fun. Their personalities are so different and you only get to read the letters written by the woman so filling in the blanks of what the alien's letter must have said was like a little puzzle that made me smile.
The story is not anything like the science fiction I usually read which is why I'm glad I read it. It kind of reminded me of Downton Abbey and The Patriot but with a splash of science fiction to change the flavor. The flavor is changed only in a subtle way and the reliance of the reader knowing the shapeshifter is an alien sent to gather intelligence on the human race made me read with a sharper eye. If you pay attention there are a lot of fun subtle clues that lead you to know just who the alien is though its appearance would cause you to think otherwise. Seeing how the other characters react upon meeting this creature was a lot of the fun of this story.
January 29, 2015
On Both Sides is an expertly crafted and historically rich work of short fiction that shines like a beacon in the middle of the various time periods of The Prometheus Saga. Bria Burton is a master of the short read. Her use of first person correspondence to connect the tale of two young brothers fighting in Washington's Continental Army to an enigmatic young woman and ultimately to a mysterious soldier is brilliantly executed.
The Prometheus Saga differs from conventional short story collections in that none of the contributing authors knows how each author has interpreted the central premise, unless they were enlisted as an editor. I can honestly say I read On Both Sides with the same eyes as any other reader. Author Bria Burton took my hand and led me through her adventure, set during the pivotal events of the American Revolution, as if she'd been there herself, reporting through the smoky clouds of musket fire On Both Sides.
The Prometheus Saga differs from conventional short story collections in that none of the contributing authors knows how each author has interpreted the central premise, unless they were enlisted as an editor. I can honestly say I read On Both Sides with the same eyes as any other reader. Author Bria Burton took my hand and led me through her adventure, set during the pivotal events of the American Revolution, as if she'd been there herself, reporting through the smoky clouds of musket fire On Both Sides.
February 5, 2015
The ultimate and colossal failure of colonialism as a concept is explained in human terms in Bria Burton's short story "On Both Sides." In America, just as in all the rest of the world, the leaders and citizens of the great colonial powers scratched their collective heads and wondered how they could not be loved by their faraway subjects.
Burton sums it up succinctly. If you occupy, you're going to make mistakes. You're going to burden those living there. They, in turn, will begin to whisper their dissatisfactions among themselves, then speak it, then shout it. And they will begin to identify as a completely separate entity.
Burton illustrates this, "on both sides," as the title states. We get the mystified, nonplussed views of the colonial overlords, and we get the rising anger and separation of the colonists. And we get the curiosity of the outsider trying to understand it all.
This is a marvelous, fresh look at the American Revolution. Read it!
Burton sums it up succinctly. If you occupy, you're going to make mistakes. You're going to burden those living there. They, in turn, will begin to whisper their dissatisfactions among themselves, then speak it, then shout it. And they will begin to identify as a completely separate entity.
Burton illustrates this, "on both sides," as the title states. We get the mystified, nonplussed views of the colonial overlords, and we get the rising anger and separation of the colonists. And we get the curiosity of the outsider trying to understand it all.
This is a marvelous, fresh look at the American Revolution. Read it!
February 24, 2015
When I first read a book from the Prometheus Saga I was very pleased with the concept, just as I found the simple story (first world war) and characters' fate nice to follow, yet the same didn't happen here.
The concept is still the same (fortunately) however there's an evolution to the observer's character which I'm not sure to have appreciated. Was it because there's a gap between one book and the other which prevented me from accompanying that change gradually?
I don't know. But I wished it was much more about the conflict than about a distant love affair between a character we never know and another we only meet in a superficial way.
I didn't bond with the observer either since this time most of the story is not seen by his perspective, and Robby's character is not developed enough to have me rooting for him.
Other thing that bothers me is that the observer has special abilities which make it difficult to explain that torture part... unless it is part of his evolution too in which case we needed to know the how (I'm trying not to give details of the story).
The concept is still the same (fortunately) however there's an evolution to the observer's character which I'm not sure to have appreciated. Was it because there's a gap between one book and the other which prevented me from accompanying that change gradually?
I don't know. But I wished it was much more about the conflict than about a distant love affair between a character we never know and another we only meet in a superficial way.
I didn't bond with the observer either since this time most of the story is not seen by his perspective, and Robby's character is not developed enough to have me rooting for him.
Other thing that bothers me is that the observer has special abilities which make it difficult to explain that torture part... unless it is part of his evolution too in which case we needed to know the how (I'm trying not to give details of the story).
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews