"The Wages of Syntax" is a 2003
science fiction short story by
Ray Vukcevich
Ray Vukcevich (born 1946) is an American writer of fantasy and literary fiction. His stories have been compared to the works of R. A. Lafferty, George Saunders, and David Sedaris. Some seventy-five stories, with titles such as "White Guys in Spa ...
. It was first published in ''
Sci Fiction''.
Synopsis
Nick Sherwood wants to disprove the "Spontaneous Competence" hypothesis that quantum effects will prevent Henry Wolfe from being killed until he learns Italian.
Reception
"The Wages of Syntax" was a finalist for the 2003
Nebula Award for Best Novelette.
[The Wages of Syntax]
at Science Fiction Writers of America; retrieved June 5, 2018
Jay Lake — writing in the
Internet Review of Science Fiction — praised the "astonishing transparency" with which Vukcevich presented "changes in tense,
person and point of view" (Henry, Nick, and Henry's old lover Sydney), and noted the parallels between "Spontaneous Competence" and Sydney's arrival from Italy to attend a funeral.
[Cutting Out All the Parts That Aren't Interesting: Ray Vukcevich, Secret Master of Style]
by Jay Lake, at the Internet Review of Science Fiction, Vol I, No. 3 (2004-03-21); archived at the Ellen Datlow/ Sci Fiction Project, November 15, 2005; retrieved June 5, 2018
References
External links
Text of the story via the
Wayback Machine
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wages of Syntax, The
Science fiction short stories