Two-Year Man

by Kelly Robson

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction

32 pages, ebook

First published August 1, 2015

About the author

Like you, I'm a passionate reader. I spent most of my teenage years either hanging out at the drugstore waiting for new issues of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine, or when I was in the city, lurking in the SF and Fantasy section of the bookstore. This was pre-Internet and since there were no bookstores in my town and the library was pretty bare, good books -- the kind that made my heart sing -- were precious treasures.

To this day, nothing is more important to me than reading, nothing is more delicious than a great novel, and few people are as important as my favorite writers.

My writing life has been pretty diverse. I've edited science books, and from 2008 to 2012 I had the great good luck to write a monthly wine column for Chatelaine, the largest women's magazine in Canada.

I've published short fiction at Tor.com, Asimov's Science Fiction, Clarkesworld, and a number of anthologies. Several of my stories have been chosen for "year's best" anthologies, and in the past two years I've been a finalist for several high-profile awards.

Reviews

[Althea Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a dystopian future (think 'Brave New World' gone wrong... well, even wrong-er.), a janitor at a lab 'steals' a mutant baby intended for the incinerators, and brings it home to his infertile wife, assuming that she'll be delighted.

There are so many different levels of messed-up in this story; it's kind of wonderful.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this short story. Totalitarian society with mutants....gotta love it. http://kellyrobson.com/two-year-man/

[ambyr · Rating 3 out of 5]

The prose here is strong, and the worldbuilding tantalizing, but ultimately there were too many loose threads and not enough closure or structure for the story to capture me emotionally.

[Anna Hepworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy dystopia where much of the world building is skilfully obscured because the viewpoint character has a limited understanding of what his world is like. Mikkel is a janitor in some kind of laboratory, steals a child to take home. Anna, his wife, is not understanding about this, and much of the story is about Mikkel reconciling with reality rather than dream.

[Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting short fiction that manages to highlight class differences while also focusing on the relationship between a father and his kid. And biological experiments. Seriously, there's so much in this story that it seems like it doesn't fit, but it does, and it does so brilliantly.

[Maggie Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Shudders) Well that was one of the more horrifying stories I've read in a while. Robson sketches out a dystopic future, but the focus isn't on the world, but one man's choices. And not your stereotypical evil man either. Just a man trying to get by, making choices that completely ignore the fact that his wife has opinions and desires other than his own. The horror is the fact that this type of story happens so easily in today's world as well. Despite the fact that we don't have creepy beaked babies.