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“The Dyslexicon” is a 2008 science fiction short story by Carl Frederick. It is about a dyslexic robot who is trying to join a geek organization.
Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell:
Nate is a robot who plays the violin, and he’s been having some trouble lately because he has a firmware bug that occasionally makes him play notes out of order. Well, that isn’t a good thing, so he seeks help by trying to join the DOG – The Dyslexic Geek Organization. The head of the DOG isn’t so sure that Nate qualifies, so he grills him on a variety of topics until they are both sure that Nate will fit in nicely with the organization.
As Nate entered the office, the Head of the DOG stood. “Mice to neat you,” he said, extending his hand. “Please don’t take a fence, but you’re a robot, aren’t you?”
“I’m a violin virtuoso robot.” Nate shook the hand. “And I’m dyslectic.”
My Two Cents:
• The good:
- This very short story was totally fun to read! All the different types of word play were like a puzzle – making “The Dyslexicon” both challenging and exciting to read.
- The idea of a robot being dyslexic was great. Who would ever consider that for an artificial life form? Of course, some days I feel that my computer has the same problem!
- Believe it or not, the author’s forward for this piece helped set the background for it and was quite the interesting read in-and-of itself.
• The bad:
- If you don’t have a very good understanding of the English language then several parts of “The Dyslexicon” may cause some confusion – and you’ll probably miss most of the subtle jokes. But don’t let that stop you from reading this excellent piece!
Fact Sheet:
• Page Count: 3
• Word Count: 1,003
Where you can find “The Dyslexicon”:
- This short story first appeared in the April 2008 issue of Flash Fiction Online.
- You can still read a nice HTML or PDF version of this story at the Flash Fiction Online website.
Some Interesting Links:
- Did you know that Carl Frederick is a bagpipe playing physicist who has published several short stories in big name magazines – most notably Analog? Yep. You can learn more about this science fiction author on his website.
- If you enjoy flash fiction stories be sure to check out the myriad other high quality stories at Flash Fiction Online.
Craving More Stories?
If you enjoyed this story then you might also like Orbiter’s Reward, about a scrap metal business that finds a very helpful robot, by Greg Wickenhofer.
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2 users responded in this post
That was really fun. I enjoyed the layers of jokes, some that you really had to look closely to get.
And you are correct, reading the introduction was as interesting as reading the story. It is funny because I didn’t notice the DOG thing until he pointed it out (I read the intro after reading the story).
Hey Carl,
I am glad you enjoyed it. The layers of jokes was quite clever I thought, and you’re right about the intro – very interesting.