The Igod: Collection of Short Stories

By Daniel Solomon

Daniel Solomon is an accomplished author that writes both in English and Amharic, the vernacular official language of the Federal Democratic Republic. He was born and raised in Ethiopia. Hence, the majority of his works are portraits of his motherland, a country of ancient civilization, a home of hospitality, and a symbol of freedom.

That being said, Daniel is currently a citizen of the United States of America, where he has lived and worked for years now. Literature is very much near and dear to the heart of Daniel Solomon. He spends a significant amount of his time reading and writing books.

His work across multiple disciplines largely discourses narratives of human experience from all walks of life. Some of his exemplary books include titles lie Africa Distracted: Collection of Poems (2000) text in English, Abeshatay (2000) Novel text in Amharic, Tachyon (2016) Novel Text in Amharic, Blue Wave (2020) Novel text in English, The Sold Nation (2021) Novel, text in English, and The War of Two Brothers : collection of Poems (2019) text in English.

He has also written academic books such as English for Grade 11 (2003), English for Pre-University and College Students (2005), and The Impact of Identity Politics for the Spread of Digital Marketing, the Case of Ethiopia (2021).

He has also published various articles on in anemic and scientific journals such as the Journal of Engineering Computer Science, the Advanced Journal of Social Science and Humanities, and the Research Gate. His academic publications concentrate on his areas of study which embrace literature, technology, leadership, and project management.

At present, the majority of his works are available online at

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669861126

Daniel Solomon

Daniel Solomon is an accomplished author that writes both in English and Amharic, the vernacular official language of the Federal Democratic Republic. He was born and raised in Ethiopia. Hence, the majority of his works are portraits of his motherland, a country of ancient civilization, a home of hospitality, and a symbol of freedom. That being said, Daniel is currently a citizen of the United States of America, where he has lived and worked for years now. Literature is very much near and dear to the heart of Daniel Solomon. He spends a significant amount of his time reading and writing books. His work across multiple disciplines largely discourses narratives of human experience from all walks of life. Some of his exemplary books include titles lie Africa Distracted: Collection of Poems (2000) text in English, Abeshatay (2000) Novel text in Amharic, Tachyon (2016) Novel Text in Amharic, Blue Wave (2020) Novel text in English, The Sold Nation (2021) Novel, text in English, and The War of Two Brothers : collection of Poems (2019) text in English. He has also written academic books such as English for Grade 11 (2003), English for Pre-University and College Students (2005), and The Impact of Identity Politics for the Spread of Digital Marketing, the Case of Ethiopia (2021). He has also published various articles on in anemic and scientific journals such as the Journal of Engineering Computer Science, the Advanced Journal of Social Science and Humanities, and the Research Gate. His academic publications concentrate on his areas of study which embrace literature, technology, leadership, and project management. At present, the majority of his works are available online at

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Copyright © 2023 by Daniel Solomon.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 12/28/2022

Xlibris

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Contents

Dedication

Foreword

Disclaimer

The iGod

Wild Humans

The Shy City

The Sobbing Dog

The Sold Child

The Crooked

A Priceless Gift

The War Room

Möte Vid Avgång

Rest Assured

The New Normal

About the Author

Dedication

To my father Solomon Beyene Gizaw and my mother the late Bizunesh Bekele Chernegne.

Foreword

A short story is an exclusively made-up narrative that reveals life as perceived by the author. It is a succinct speck of an imaginary episode, short and sweet in its very nature. Yet, again, it incorporates all the vital parts and components of prose fiction.

Hence, the reason, it retains that rigorous clout to engender the desired impact on the reader’s mind. A short story has much in common with a novel, too. But then again, it is written with a much greater austerity, precision, and aesthetics like a poem is.

Alike most poetry works, a short story echoes the truth of the time with a full-bodied emotion and striking aesthetics. That is what I was able to detect in the stories contained in "The iGod".

All the settings are well-formed, and the characters are well-established to the point that they seem real to our eyesight. It is very simple to find ourselves, or somebody we may know in the stories. In addition, the words and expressions used in the story are well-thought-out. They all carry over the intended message of the author.

What’s more, each of the stories within this prose fiction, contains a vociferous and persuasive exposition followed by rising action. Then towards the end of each story, there comes a climax along with a falling action. Then, there is a resolution at the end, which makes the storyline complete and well done.

As far as I’m concerned, the inclusive theme of the book is crystal-clear. It accentuates the prominence of intelligence over intellect. Of course, every story has its own kind of signature tune or a sort of major team.

Yet, in one or another way, they contribute to the making of the theme which I designated above. In short, they are the reflection of the same trace.

As a matter of fact all other short stories such as; James Joyce, The Dead (1914), Ernest Hemingway, The Killers (1927), Christine Schutt, To Have and to Hold (1996), Ottessa Moshfegh, Bettering Myself (2013), Carmen Maria Machado, The Husband Stitch (2014), Kirstin Valdez Quade, and Five Wounds (2015), Viet Thanh Nguyen, War Years (2017) exhibit the said elements and qualities in the The iGod by Daniel Solomon.

However, the stories in this book are a bit unique. First, the book involves machines as human beings. The first short story, for instance, is about a man living hand-in-glove with machines. It talks about what the future holds for humanity going forward.

In this short story, you have human-like machines living with a man in harmony and one accord. Nevertheless, you also feel the fear of man as he keeps losing his freedom due to the fast-growing technology on the face of the earth.

That is a distinctive flavor, at least, for me. I have never encountered a short story of that nature before. And all the other short stories are packed with the tragedy of the day trying to prove as if a man is the worst evil ever. They all show the atrocity of man as a recurring truth of the day.

These stories reflect several life situations that the author has observed from around the world, with a focus on Ethiopia. Love and abhorrence, life and death, and freedom and precincts are among the various collective subject matters that are unfolded and echoed in the book.

The author has such wisdom in playing with words. As said above he has coined them very well. They mean what they are intended to say. They don’t only tell us the story but they also show us the crux of the matter. They have the power to fully engage the readers and hit the bottom deep in their hearts.

There were times when I was taken up by the truth and the emotion in the stories and ended up in tears. All eleven stories are concise and brief. They can all be taken at one go in a sitting. They are short shots of the reality in our contemporary world.

The title of the book is another point that took my attention. I have never thought about the internet god until I read the first short story. This story talks a little about our contemporary world where man and machine are dwelling together. Though I didn’t get into why the author picked that topic, I strongly feel his fear of the pending future in depth.

The book exhibits this future covertly from the perspective of the human mind which inhales and analyzes information and exhales and examines revelation. According to the author, information can be done by machines with better precision.

Nevertheless, he intensely emphasizes the fact that it is only humans who can do with revelation. Information needs memory, revelation works without it. Information makes us intellectual, and revelation makes us intelligent, which we are already.

In other words, the time has come for us to run through with our mind irrespective of memory than sticking to the mind that counts on memory. In this short story, the author tells us about the future as it is not.

The future is now. It is already but not yet. It is all here but not even there. It seems a paradox but it is a reality. Let’s live this moment and stay still. Then, only we will realize that we are the life, nothing else.

If we keep struggling with past recollections and future imaginations, we can’t live now. Now is our time. We are the life that there is. Hence, let us live. Life is us, and we are everlasting. Life, according to the author, does not die. It only lives. Likewise, death can’t live but always dies.

Life, in short, has nothing to do with memory and/or information. It is not limited to a given time and a specific place. It is I in ALL and vice versa. Think about it. What is me without you and what is you without me? We are self-inclusive, willy-nilly.

All said life is all about revelation, the facts, and the figures that come from within. Let’s leave the information world to machines and get back to ours, the infinite vast.

In this short story, the author thinks that if we are in this endless infinite, we haven’t come, we will not go, but we are in the heart of it. After all, as human beings where else could we be? This body on us is like a boundary that contains and limits us in this world. Once, we are out of it, we shall realize that it is us, none else.

That is my impression from his first short story entitled The iGod. All other stories reflect the realities of this physical world. Though, true to life, they are painful, disastrous, and heartbreaking. Of course, that is the nature of this world. It is physical and therefore it depends on memory be it of the past or the future.

Memory is the birthplace of our disquiet and fear. Memory, first, pains. Then, it aches. And finally, it affects. What else could we expect from memory? It is all excruciating and throbbing. Nearly all of the short stories in the book echo this fact in one or another way.

The author demonstrates to us both sides of the world; either we keep walking with our memory and continue to agonize or get rid of it or rest shall be assured. Both horses are here at our reach. It is up to us to pick one and ride through the rest of our life.

Be that as it may, in this world of man and machines, if we stick to memory machines will excel us and might even end up becoming our enemies. We might need to consider our footsteps and get back to revelation and the time is now.

In short, inner engendering is the theme of this book. According to the author it can reinforces us all and bring us to be a better humankind. They are fictional, it intensely advises us to come back to sense and return to the glorious humankind by focusing on what comes from within than paying attention to the outside world.

The things that we see, hear, touch, smell, or taste, can’t become any better. They are already bitter and even more poisonous. The book underscores the fact that all that we need live inside ourselves, nowhere else.

Therefore, the author encourages his readers to dig deep down into the so-called self-ego than mining into others. According to him, the egg that breaks from within makes it to life, but otherwise, it always carries out death.

I don’t want to take you any further into this amazing book. Instead, I encourage you to read and re-read it until you get the gist. It is a well-written book that is very different in its message, philosophy, and philosophy.

On my part, I’m convinced that it is time for the contemporary man that can’t make it together here in the world as humanity while being invaded by machines all over.

I’m sure, the book would help us see the invisible, the digital above and beyond the physical. It is an eye-opener and enlightening book, as far as I’m concerned.

By Jemy Huss

Disclaimer

The stories, the characters and the settings used in this book are fictional and imaginary. They are the pure creation of the author’s mind. None of them represent, characterize, signify and/or indicate anyone in any place in the real life. If there may seem one it is by coincidence and can’t be claimed as a reality.

The iGod

John Mark is a full blown mad. Primarily he is software engineering. But then again, he is a data scientist as well. He is neither married nor single. Even if he doesn’t have someone that co-habits with him, he lives with two crucial and amazing machines. He enjoys his life by himself with his two robots: Cherish, his small puppy and Carren.

Cherish is created after the image of the French Papillon dog. It has a butterfly-like look with long-drawn-out and outlying hair on its earlobes. As its name indicates, John Mark values this dog a lot. He made it with a lot of energy, endurance, and agility to keep him up and happy whenever he feels otherwise. It is also his security guard. It protects him from his enemies if need be. What’s more, it has all the capabilities to monitor his health and fitness.

The other robot in the house is primarily a cook. He calls her Carren as if she is a female. Though Carren is inspired to make spicy Ethiopian traditional kinds of food, she is programmed to cook a whole lot of varieties and flavors from all around the world. However, she usually cooks only what the body of John Mark needs.

Most of the ingredients of the food that she cooks are from the small farm, John has in his backyard. She is a wonderful farmer as well. She is formed in such as way that she can be sensitive to, and learn to manage within, the tolerances of a very specific farmyard.

A critical coupling, therefore, exists between her and the farm, resulting in the emergence of, often uncodified, site-specific knowledge, solutions and adaptations. She knows how to deal with it in different seasons and climatic conditions.

Besides, Carren controls the well-being and healthiness of John. She monitors all his vital all sines, sugar level, and other important indicators. She is like a well-trained nurse. She knows how to deal with some of his health issues.

As a matter of fact, both machines do the same health check on John every five seconds and analyses their respective reports. At times they cross check each other’s findings and can consult John’s doctor if the need be. They have a lot of devices that can help John stay longer, happier, and healthier.

By the way, Carren is like a beautiful middle age woman with an enigmatic smiling appearance. From the outset she has a look and form of Mona Lisa. But they are not exactly identical in nature. Carren is more adorable, attractive, and human like machine. She walks as a beautiful woman does. She speaks as a gorgeous lady. She sleeps and enjoys love with John. Mona Lisa is not that sparkling, active, and lively so to speak.

She has elegant brown human hair which is very well styled. It is designed and fashioned to have natural or casual look. When she looks at