Flush

by Francesco Verso, Chloé Lopez (Translator)

There's a new drug around, the mysterious Flush, whose effects are very controversial.
Try it and everything will "sound" differently.

Flush is a short fiction, a striking piece of "flash fiction", to be read at full throttle, like you would do with a Trance sound track pushed up to 150 rpm.

Francesco Verso is an Italian multiple-award Science Fiction writer and editor. He has e-Doll, Livido, Bloodbusters and I camminatori. Livido – translated by Sally McCorry as Nexhuman – has been published in the USA by Apex Books. With Bill Campbell he co-edited, Future New Dimensions in International SF (Rosarium Publishing, 2018). He works as Editor of Future Fiction, a multicultural project, publishing the best SF in translation with authors like James P. Kelly, Ian McDonald, Ken Liu, Liu Cixin, Pat Cadigan, Vandana Singh and others. He may be found at www.futurefiction.org.

Nook

First published October 1, 2010

About the author

Francesco Verso (Bologna, 1973) is a multiple-award Science Fiction writer and editor. He has published: Antidoti umani, e-Doll, Nexhuman, Bloodbusters, Futurespotting and I camminatori (made of The Pulldogs and No/Mad/Land). Nexhuman and Bloodbusters have been published in Italy, US, UK and China. I camminatori will be published by Flame Tree Press as The Roamers in Spring 2023. He works as editor of Future Fiction, scouting and translating the best SF from 12 languages and more than 30 countries. He’s the Honorary Director of the Fishing Fortress SF Academy of Chongqing. He may be found online at www.futurefiction.org.

Reviews

[Dorian Hawkmoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

In un mondo prigioniero del rumore, quale miglior droga del silenzio assoluto?

[Artur Coelho · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conto cyberpunk, que pega na iconografia do género - tecnologia, submundos urbanos e substâncias ilegais, e nos conta uma história sobre drogas. Uma altamente aditiva, que um homem decide experimentar. Fica surpreendido quando em vez de comprimidos ou seringas, lhe é vendida num par de auscultadores. E quando a experimenta, percebe. No ruído incessante da sociedade urbana, a alienação pelo silêncio é uma droga poderosa.

[Francesca Giardiello · Rating 2 out of 5]

Racconto interessante ma che si perde dietro a paroloni che fanno distaccare il lettore dal curioso mondo da lui creato.

Il vero problema è che non porta da nessuna parte se non nella descrizione dell'acquisto, dell'assunzione e di cosa accade nel mentre una persona si "droga" di silenzio in un mondo incessantemente rumoroso. Niente emozione, niente sorpresa, niente morale.