(Android) Brother Francis is an android in an orbiting monastery. Their human patron has taken an interest in him, and involves him in studying a mysterious, ancient golden android. (5,976 words)
Rating: 2,
Not Recommended
Bull of Heaven, by Gabriel Murray, appeared in the 25 July 2016 issue of Strange Horizons.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: It's amusing that Francis doesn't ever figure out that Lord Masashige is interested in him sexually.
Obviously the story is tightly linked to the Epic of Gilgamesh, who slew the Bull of Heaven, which came to punish him for rejecting the advances of the goddess Inanna.
Con: But whatever the linkage to the epic, it's not clear what this story is supposed to be about. One gathers that at the end the golden thing turns Francis into a real person, but it's not clear why it would want to (or be able to) do that. For that matter, having a battery run down isn't at all the same as dying.
Obviously the story is tightly linked to the Epic of Gilgamesh, who slew the Bull of Heaven, which came to punish him for rejecting the advances of the goddess Inanna.
Con: But whatever the linkage to the epic, it's not clear what this story is supposed to be about. One gathers that at the end the golden thing turns Francis into a real person, but it's not clear why it would want to (or be able to) do that. For that matter, having a battery run down isn't at all the same as dying.
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