Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook325 pages4 hours
Hong On The Range
By William F. Wu and Linda Cappel
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
In this science fiction satire of westerns, after the American West was destroyed in a series of biological disasters, rebuilding it is a lot like building it in the first place, but there are crucial differences. For example, new, partly mechanical cattle with computer brains are called steerites. They speak and sing a lot more than the original steers.
Most of the cowboys, outlaws, and lawmen are partly mechanical, too, except for those few humans called control-naturals. That group has to keep all their original equipment, just like the original cowboys. Louie Hong is one of those control-naturals, and life isn't easy for him. Most folks look down on a man who doesn't have at least one bionic hand.
Yet Louie Hong is determined to make his way in the new Wild West.
All Hong has to do is explain to the bounty hunters who are after him for robbing a bank, and the outlaw gang that is after him for stealing the loot, that he hadn't done any of it.
With a little bit of luck, and the help of Chuck, his steerite companion, Hong hopes to find a home on the range that nobody can take away—not outlaws, not bounty hunters, not cyborgs, not even singing steerites.
In "Hong on the Range," William F. Wu has returned to the high-tech Wild West world of his Hugo and Nebula Award finalist short story, "Hong's Bluff," and written a rousing, funny science fiction saga complete with cyborg cowboys and outlaws. It is an exciting and witty subgenre of science fiction: The cyber western.
This novel was chosen by the American Library Association, Booklist, and the Library Journal for their recommended and best of the year lists.
~~~~~ Excerpt ~~~~~
First I could only see that something large was displacing the tall buffalo grass ahead. Then I reached the spot and found a steerite lying down with his steel legs neatly folded underneath him. They gleamed silver in the sun and his hinged metal tail swished back and forth, its brush swatting the flies that buzzed around the natural hide of his meaty, biological middle. As I pulled my battered hat off by the brim and squinted at the steerite, he turned his steel bovine head toward me, short horns and all.
"Hi, there," I said.
"Hello," he answered pleasantly. He had been programmed with excellent enunciation and a trace of a Boston accent. "Good day to you. Where are you bound?"
I untied my red bandana and wiped off my forehead with it. "I'm going to Femur to look for a job. Pardon my asking, but ... have you lost your herd? What are you doing here?"
"I am merely waiting. Have I lost my herd? More accurately, my herd has been rustled."
"Rustled?"
"I dutifully escaped. None of my comrades succeeded in this endeavor. Since our trail crew ran off, I have no trail boss to whom I must report. Nor am I honor bound to join the herd after it has been rustled."
I nodded toward the mark stamped onto the shining metal base of his tail, where it extended from his natural hindquarters. "Waiting for what? You still have your serial number."
"Oh, yes. I am fully programmed and ready to report to any authority who can restore me to my legal owner."
"Who's that?"
"I don't know. We get basic programming for herding, pasturing, and speech, but little precise data. Of course, we can accumulate information as we go, but no one ever told me the owner's name or where to locate him."
"I guess the trail crew was supposed to get you there?”
"Indeed they were, those cowardly louts."
Most of the cowboys, outlaws, and lawmen are partly mechanical, too, except for those few humans called control-naturals. That group has to keep all their original equipment, just like the original cowboys. Louie Hong is one of those control-naturals, and life isn't easy for him. Most folks look down on a man who doesn't have at least one bionic hand.
Yet Louie Hong is determined to make his way in the new Wild West.
All Hong has to do is explain to the bounty hunters who are after him for robbing a bank, and the outlaw gang that is after him for stealing the loot, that he hadn't done any of it.
With a little bit of luck, and the help of Chuck, his steerite companion, Hong hopes to find a home on the range that nobody can take away—not outlaws, not bounty hunters, not cyborgs, not even singing steerites.
In "Hong on the Range," William F. Wu has returned to the high-tech Wild West world of his Hugo and Nebula Award finalist short story, "Hong's Bluff," and written a rousing, funny science fiction saga complete with cyborg cowboys and outlaws. It is an exciting and witty subgenre of science fiction: The cyber western.
This novel was chosen by the American Library Association, Booklist, and the Library Journal for their recommended and best of the year lists.
~~~~~ Excerpt ~~~~~
First I could only see that something large was displacing the tall buffalo grass ahead. Then I reached the spot and found a steerite lying down with his steel legs neatly folded underneath him. They gleamed silver in the sun and his hinged metal tail swished back and forth, its brush swatting the flies that buzzed around the natural hide of his meaty, biological middle. As I pulled my battered hat off by the brim and squinted at the steerite, he turned his steel bovine head toward me, short horns and all.
"Hi, there," I said.
"Hello," he answered pleasantly. He had been programmed with excellent enunciation and a trace of a Boston accent. "Good day to you. Where are you bound?"
I untied my red bandana and wiped off my forehead with it. "I'm going to Femur to look for a job. Pardon my asking, but ... have you lost your herd? What are you doing here?"
"I am merely waiting. Have I lost my herd? More accurately, my herd has been rustled."
"Rustled?"
"I dutifully escaped. None of my comrades succeeded in this endeavor. Since our trail crew ran off, I have no trail boss to whom I must report. Nor am I honor bound to join the herd after it has been rustled."
I nodded toward the mark stamped onto the shining metal base of his tail, where it extended from his natural hindquarters. "Waiting for what? You still have your serial number."
"Oh, yes. I am fully programmed and ready to report to any authority who can restore me to my legal owner."
"Who's that?"
"I don't know. We get basic programming for herding, pasturing, and speech, but little precise data. Of course, we can accumulate information as we go, but no one ever told me the owner's name or where to locate him."
"I guess the trail crew was supposed to get you there?”
"Indeed they were, those cowardly louts."
Unavailable
Read more from William F. Wu
Sit-In At The Alamo Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGoin' Down To Anglotown Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Temple of Forgotten Spirits: The Complete Adventures of Jack Hong Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHong on the Range Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIsland of the Ancestor Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Yellow Peril: Chinese Americans in American Fiction, 1850 to 1940 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIntricate Mirrors Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInterlaced Pathways: Contemporary Fantasy Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings10 Analogs Of The Future Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Hong On The Range
Related ebooks
The Breckenridge Elkins Collection: Mountain Man; Guns of the Mountains; The Scalp Hunter; A Gent from Bear Creek; The Road to Bear Creek; The Haunted Mountain; War on Bear Creek; The Feud Buster; Cupid from Bear Creek; The Riot at Cougar Paw; The Apache Mountain War & more Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMountain Man Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Seventh Sense: The Cleansing: Book 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAdventures in Friendship Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Works of David Grayson Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPonyfinder - Kind Blades and Cruel Divinities Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPonyfinder: Kind Blades and Cruel Divinities Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTales of Breckinridge Elkins Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAdventures in Friendship Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Prevaricated Parade Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRails to Light Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBear Creek Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kravist Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Engagement: A Novel Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Viper (A Vampire MC Romance): Nighthawks MC, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Nail Knot Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5City of Dark Corners: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gulliver of Mars Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Golden State Limited Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPulpology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGulliver of Mars Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSundown Slim Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlood Valley Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Stirred Not Shaken Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEvil Deeds at Red Cougar Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Washed Up: An Anthony Carrick Mystery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCaptured Up Close: 20th Century Short-Short Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrandpa's Tale: Indian Territory Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGulliver of Mars Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSage Country, 1-3 Boxed Set: Sage Country Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Young Adult For You
These Violent Delights Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Way I Used to Be Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Giver: A Newbery Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Queen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Winter's Promise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shatter Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Firekeeper's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sabriel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of Black Cake: by Charmaine Wilkerson - A Comprehensive Summary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCinderella Is Dead Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hero and the Crown Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5To All the Boys I've Loved Before Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hate U Give: A Printz Honor Winner Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wuthering Heights Complete Text with Extras Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ace of Spades Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sadie: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Island of the Blue Dolphins: A Newbery Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Monster: A Printz Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5They Both Die at the End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gallant Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gullstruck Island Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5P.S. I Still Love You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Woven Kingdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All Boys Aren't Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pretty Little Liars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chat GPT For Authors: A Step-By Step Guide to Writing Your Non-Fiction Book Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Clockwork Angel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Hong On The Range
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews