Days of Allison

by Eric Shapiro

"Shapiro studies this in great detail, letting us get to know the very credible intricacies and eccentricities of his character before flipping the coin over and allowing us to see what makes Allison what she is, or what she is not. It's a compelling tale, and one that does everything right, leaving you wondering who the real artificial lifeform of the story is, and forcing us to question everything we take for granted about human nature. It's a story about love, hate, and identity. Phillip K. Dick would have been proud of this tale, and you, dear reader, have my envy that you're about to experience it for the first time." from the introduction of Days of Allison by Kealan Patrick Burke. With his third title, "Days of Allison," Eric explores the ways in which technology dilutes communication and human relationships. This is a stunning new novella from American author, Eric Shapiro, whose reputation as an important voice in post-modern sci-fi/fantasy/horror genres has seen praise from respected and award-winning authors such as Jack McDervitt, James Rollins, Tim Lebbon, Elizabeth Massie, Michael Oliveri, Neil Ayres, Christopher Fowler, Kealan Patrick Burke, and many others.

91 pages, Paperback

First published November 13, 2006

About the author

Eric Shapiro is a writer and filmmaker. He wrote Macho, the forthcoming Randy Savage biopic produced by Artists for Artists, Midas Entertainment, and Range Media Partners, and Behind the Facade, a feature screenplay developed by Rebel Six Films. His films have screened at Fantasia and Fantastic Fest and streamed on Netflix and Hulu. A California Journalism Award winner, he is editor and co-owner of The Milpitas Beat.

Reviews

[Dani · Rating 3 out of 5]

This snagged my attention immediately because it's a robot/android fairytale, AND a love story. Plus the book has no volume. It's only 100 pages or so. Anything that adds almost no weight to my bag gets extra points for that.

But the quality of the writing style falls way off after the first chapter. The ending left me very dissatisfied. Overall, it didn't even come close to doing justice to love OR robots, OR futuristic sci-fi artificial intelligence moral dilemmas. The book just kind of skated along on the promise of being about these things, and it only gets as many stars from me as it does because it is. It's really too bad.