Solution

by Brian Evenson

As climate change wreaks havoc on the earth and the fate of humanity grows dire, a scientist makes a plan to save humanity that would shame the devil.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Science Fiction, Fiction, Dystopia, Weird Fiction, Apocalyptic

20 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 16, 2020

About the author

Brian Evenson is an American academic and writer of both literary fiction and popular fiction, some of the latter being published under B. K. Evenson.

Reviews

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A chilling story about a scientist who plans to save humanity from the ecological disasters to which we appear to be heading, but one hopes that this is not a portend of what is really to come for mankind, because it’s certainly not something to be welcomed, nevertheless it’s a neat little story that gives the reader plenty to think about!
Here’s the link https://www.tor.com/2020/09/16/soluti...

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brian Evenson never fails to plunge the reader into an icy ocean of eerie tone and atmosphere. Solution is another stunner from Evenson, taking the horror trope of the mad scientist and updating it for modern anxieties of climate crisis and survivalism. The world is ending and the narrator, disgusted by the work his two sons have chosen that will ensure their own survival with an elite few while billions of others will perish, has found his own solution. His son, he says, have chosen to save ‘those who have sold their souls to the devil,’ and choosing who deserves to live is the sort of thing that got earth to this point to begin with. Instead, he has other plans:

‘I have not sold my soul to the devil. I used to think that there was just a simple either/or: either sell your soul or wait to wither away and die. But I have come to realize there is a third possibility: to become the devil himself. Do that, and all sold souls shall belong to you.’

In typical Evenson fashion, the story progresses slowly, building tone and tension to a fever pitch as the reader begins to understand the horrors being tidily revealed. This was a fun one, combining multiple types of science horror and being delivered through a chilling monologue that makes us consider the old saying that the line between genius and insanity is very thin and often blurred. But it also makes the reader consider our own morals and actions.

‘At what point, seeing how little is being done—seeing how little changes even when people do notice the world is dying, seeing how little changes no matter which political party brandishes its readymade moral indignation and seizes power, seeing the way that corporations who have taken on the rights of people continue to do as they please—do you decide to take matters into your own hands?
And when you do decide to do so, what can you possibly do?’

Evenson is a favorite for a reason and this story is another reminder why I enjoy him. Its a quick little chill for spooky season and you can read it all HERE.

[karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have not sold my soul to the devil. I used to think that there was just a simple either/or: either sell your soul or wait to wither away and die. But I have come to realize there is a third possibility: to become the devil himself. Do that, and all sold souls shall belong to you.

YEEEESH brian evenson, YEEEEEESH!

i haven't read nearly as much brian evenson as i should, considering how much i delight in his dark weird ways whenever i come across one of his stories here or there, and considering how many of his books i already have, just sitting here unread.

this one only reinforces my determination to GET ON THOSE BOOKS, punching me right in my 2020 balls. not only does that cover resemble some maskless jackass blowing covid all over the world, or at least my commute, the story—the solution—itself is where i feel we're all at right now: a shrug and a topple into the inevitable—scorch it, salt it, burn it all down, step aside and see what takes our place.

but it's much creepier when brian evenson says it.



read it for yourself here:

https://www.tor.com/2020/09/16/soluti...


come to my blog!

[Vicki Herbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

We Have Sold Ourselves
To the Devil...

SOLUTION
by Brian Evenson

No spoilers. 3 1/2 stars. In this futuristic tale, Earth is nearing the end of its ability to sustain life...

Three space pods have been designed to enable 20,000 people per pod to survive in space...

The rest of earthbound humanity will die...

Those eligible to enter one of the pods must either be very wealthy or be necessary to the wealthy...

In other words...

Those who have sold themselves to the Devil or be the Devil himself...

This is the story of a genetic researcher who once made designer babies for people...

He developed a solution that allowed humanity to survive...

This was a pretty decent sci-fi story that needed a little more to make it great. THE CABIN by this author is excellent!

[carol. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Monstrous in a variety of ways, although not unexpected. Well-written little wish-experiment of one possible ending of humanity.

"What about you? I ask. You’re not wealthy.

I have needed and uncommon skills. I’m necessary, which is even better. The very, very wealthy, he amends, and those who have made themselves necessary to them.

In other words, those who have sold their souls to the devil."

Found at:
https://www.tor.com/2020/09/16/soluti...

[Zain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating!

Our narrator is concerned with the upcoming death of the planet Earth and the seemingly lack of concern that others have.

So he devises a plan. Hey, it can’t be worse than any other.

Five fantastic stars. ✨✨✨✨✨

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bwahahahahahaha!

An eerie story of a future where the forests are already gone (the ones underwater as well as the ones above ground), the air consequently turning toxic.
People have turned into even more horrible, selfish creatures that only think of themselves. And yes, such cruel behavior is what got humanity into this mess in the first place but we don't seem to be capable of learning.

The story is told by an old man with two sons who are such horrible, selfish and cruel people. The old man, however, is different. Whether that makes him better or worse is up to reader to decide. In any case, he takes matters into his own hands.
He's a scientist, you see, who used to alter human genetic code to, for example, ensure someone's baby had eyes of a certain desired colour. Eventually, he starts tinkering more and thus events are set in motion.

I shan't spoiler too much of the plot. Suffice it to say that this story was very eerie and very poignant, but also darkly humoristic in the end. The writing style had a certain melancholy but was rather beautiful. Overall, I'm quite impressed.

You can read the story for free here: https://www.tor.com/2020/09/16/soluti...

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I told you I had become the devil. And now that the earth is nearly destroyed, it is time for humanity’s reign to end and for the devil’s reign to begin."

3.5 stars. An unsettling tale of desperation on a future Earth ravaged by climate change, mass extinction and an environment increasingly hostile to sustaining human life. Reminiscent in concept to Frederik Pohl's classic Man Plus, recalling the radical biological engineering carried out to adapt man to Mars' environment, but with a very chilling twist.

[S̶e̶a̶n̶ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seems a bit too on the nose by Evenson's usual standards.

[Jonfaith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used to think that there was just a simple either/or: either sell your soul or wait to wither away and die.

It is an epistemological question: did I know I needed this story before I knew it existed? Am I just a narrative whore attempting to fill in the weary silence of my soul?

Either way it is a Promethean nightmare of an overheated world. It marks us each guilty and worthy of the stake, a pyre of our collective indolence.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dark little story about adapting to your environment... especially when your environment is trashed.

Not a bad story, but I suppose I'm a little jaded since I've read a few handfuls of stories like it... and I'm reminded, fondly, of Olaf Stapledon.

Still, worth the read, you little horror/SF fans.

[Lukasz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whoa. A brilliant and sobering short story tackling themes of climate change, humanity, and becoming the devil to make a change. (It's free to read on the Tor.com website. Finishing it won't take you longer than 20 minutes but I'm sure you'll think about it for a much longer time.

[I'mogén · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story, available through Tor.com, follows a scientist making a plan to save humanity as climate change wrecks havoc.

This is definitely a story I'll be thinking about for a while. It takes climate change and excells it into a what could happen, not going completely extreme, but just enough to make it an entertaining read whilst giving you something to ponder on.

I like the way it was written and think more could have been explored and expanded on, if it was a longer story, particularly regarding our main characters' life and how that very much differs now as, perhaps, he struggles with morality on saving humanity, for better or for worse, and more about this solution, taking the time to see his failures and successes as this would have been interesting.

Nevertheless, for a short story this gave me a lot to think about. I'm glad I stumbled into Tor's page for short, original content and will keep an eye out for more work by this author too.

Stunning cover design too!

Here's the link if you fancy giving it a read for yourself: https://www.tor.com/2020/09/16/soluti...

Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy! >(^_^)<
Gén

[Maritina Mela · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a dystopic future, where the air is almost unbreathable, plants don't grow and people die a lot younger, an old scientist is determined to help mankind survive the end of the world.

Angry at his sons for siding with the rich who have the means of leaving earth after its full destruction, he and his daughter discover a serum that was initially developed as a cure for cancer.

That serum gives everyone that takes it superhuman abilities, even if the affected ones don't look human anymore. But this extreme change, is the only way to give earth's inhabitants a second chance.

I enjoyed this one, especially the beginning, where things were building up, and seeing the factors that made the scientist go to extreme lengths in order to secure mankind's existence.

It is relatively well written, even though I will admit that the tone was bleak and sci-fi isn't my thing yet.

I would like to read more from the author, I think there is potential there.

If you made it this far, congratulations!
'Til next time, take care :) :) :)

[Amanda NEVER MANDY · Rating 3 out of 5]

This little piece of doomsday fun had me at the beginning but then lost me in the point A to point Z research jump.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, clever, chilling. I’m glad someone is thinking about what to do when this planet is uninhabitable by its current residents.

[Paul (Life In The Slow Lane) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hey! Let that fish go; you might be related.

A clever little shorty about a man who, in an effort to save his wife from cancer by gene manipulation, saves all of humanity instead. A very well-crafted piece of literature. I won't give away the plot, but you might want to move nearer to a lake.

[Tom A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

August Review #5: Solution by Brian Evenson

The world is ending. Global Warming has reduced the Earth into an uninhabitable hell hole. The elites, together with some scientists are planning on leaving. But not our main character. You see, he has a (title drop) solution for the current ills of the world. But it is not for the faint of heart; in fact, death would be more preferable.

The greatest strength of Evenson’s story is how it tops the horror of having the world ending. How does one top global catastrophe? Evenson provides the answer by way of Milton: it is better to reign on this earth than serve in heaven. No spoilers as to how he achieves this goal.

Evenson’s prose is clear and engaging. For me, that is more than enough, considering the short story could have gone the purple prose route. The many horror scenes are as chilling as they are unnerving, recalling a particularly iconic movie of John Carpenter. And speaking of horror masters, Lovecraft would probably be proud of the eventual resolution of the story.

Overall, it’s a scary read, all the more today considering the present circumstances.

[Dusan Prvacki · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very grim and troubling, but thought-provoking short stoy.

It starts off as any dystopian fiction story ever, with, I quote, the following problems: "growing carbon footprint, a rapidly spreading hole in the ozone layer, climbing temperatures, rising sea levels, millions of deaths in developing countries from famine and flood and disease." - but it all changes after the next couple of paragraphs.

"Solution" takes place on our dying Earth and where only the wealthy get a chance at survival - this is nothing new, especially in the movies. But then we have a scientist who's been working hard for the past 20 years to save as much of the human race as he possibly can, with a chemical solution which turns all living creatures into water dwellers with gills, saving them from the toxic air above water. He starts with his own daughter, and then after the "successfull" intervention (I say "successful" because she lost most of her humanity and the ability to speak) proceeds injecting the solution into the atmosphere so he can eventually turn all humans who breathe in the solution to one of his sea dwelling "humans", without their consent. In addition, after the first wave of transformation, he started planning on creating a superior race, where they will decide who gets to live in water, and who gets to stay above water and die.

It's quite interesting how our main character, the scientist, has very humanitarian and philanthropic motives in the beginning, and slowly transforms himself ad his research progresses - after a while he starts playing God, and then he finally falls and becomes the Devil (he even calls himself like that in the end).

What's most troubling here is that anyone would act the same as our scientist, given the same circumstances and possibilities - it's in our nature to strive to be as close to God (or perfection as we see it) as possible. Once we manage to become God, or at least someone with similar capabilities of God, that's where it all ends. Humans just can't grasp power, and especially power over humanity and all living things. We are just too small and narrow-minded to be playing with power - which proved itself in the first place, when our planet Earth started dying, it's even happening in the real world.

And what's the real Solution? If I knew, I would have become the scientist from the story a long time ago, and so would you if you knew.

[Radwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

English Review Below.

قصة قصيرة مرعبة عن فترة ما قبل كارثة ستحل بكوكب الأرض. تبدأ القصة بشخصيتنا الرئيسية وهو عجوز يشرح حالة ووضع العالم وكيف أنه ببساطة في وقت قريب سيختنق الجميع لأن لن يعود هناك هواء في الأرض. ثم نكتشف حقيقته وما الحل الأمثل في رأيه لإنقاذ البشرية. قصة خيال علمي مرعبة وتطرح مشاكل تغير المناخ والرعب الذي ينتظرنا إن لم تعمل الحكومات بجد. كئيبة جا.

More like 3.5 stars.
This is a chilling an eerie pre-apocalyptic (is that even a genre?) story, that became scarier as we went on. The beginning was a slow, as the old protagonist started to speak of the current state of the world, and how soon, everyone would die because there will be no air basically. Then we discover who he really is and what his "solution" is, to "save" humanity.

A creepy story about the current state of climate change.

[Val · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice, original idea but I felt like the realization fell a little flat. I know it's a short story but it felt too quick and so many details were brushed-over, to the point most of it didn't really make sense, when it could have been really interesting. There just were too much information dumped randomly, crucial parts that were literally coming out of nowhere. It's unfortunate, it could have been a really good read, but it didn't really work out for me - a bit too messy and descriptive (in a dry way) for my taste!

[unstable.books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good grief Brian

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story about transformation during the collapse of the planet.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little apocalypse

For fans of Brian Evenson, this is a fun little diversion between full collections/novels. It's a climate change-related apocalypse and it's a typical Evenson story, in that it's a ton of fun to read the horrors within. Check it out! Very short read.

[yenna]

this wasn’t necessarily a fun read per se but it was well written, the concepts explored were intriguing

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A doctor plays Frankenstein to try to save his wife and child in a world devastated by climate change.

Evenson's grim science fiction story confronts the horror inherent in the genre.

[Stefanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cool premise, but it felt very disjointed and first draft-y.

[Quỳnh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solution (Giải pháp/ Dung dịch): Khi biến đổi khí hậu tàn phá Trái Đất và ngày tàn của nhân loại đang cận kề, một nhà khoa học đã nghĩ ra một kế hoạch giải cứu mà quỷ dữ cũng phải e sợ.

Con người, nhất là tầng lớp tư bản tham lam, đã tận diệt thiên nhiên và đẩy hành tinh này vào một thảm họa môi trường không thể vãn hồi. Khi nhân loại cận kề cái chết, những hành vi xấu xa lại càng tệ hại hơn. Mình đã đảo mắt chán nản khi đọc đoạn mở đầu, không phải nội dung này quá sáo mòn và giáo điều sao? Nhưng đây thật ra là góc nhìn của người kể chuyện - một nhà khoa học già. Ghét bỏ những kẻ giàu có chỉ ích kỷ chỉ biết đến bản thân mà bỏ mặc đồng loại diệt vong, ông quyết định tự tìm ra giải pháp. Và từ đây câu chuyện trở nên đen tối (hơn, vì bản thân ngày tận thế cũng đáng sợ sẵn rồi).

Nhân vật chính có chuẩn mực đạo đức và lối hàng xử khác với những kẻ tồi tệ trong truyện, điều đó đúng. Nhưng liệu ông ta có thiện lương hơn bọn họ không, liệu giải pháp của ông ta có tốt đẹp hơn sự hủy diệt không, độc giả phải tự mình đánh giá. Theo dõi ông ta lần mò với giải pháp/dung dịch đem lại cảm giác như theo dõi một kẻ thái nhân cách lên kế hoạch giết người vậy. Tuy "Solution" không thuộc gu của mình, mình phải công nhận là truyện có một bầu không khí rất riêng.

"Tôi đã nói rằng tôi đã trở thành quỷ dữ. Giờ đây, khi Trái Đất đang trên bờ hủy diệt, đã đến lúc triều đại của loài người kết thúc và triều đại của quỷ dữ bắt đầu."

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solution by Brian Evenson.

Chilling, but believable, sadly. 3 solid stars.

[Fiona Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

At what point, seeing how little is being done—seeing how little changes even when people do notice the world is dying, seeing how little changes no matter which political party brandishes its readymade moral indignation and seizes power, seeing the way that corporations who have taken on the rights of people continue to do as they please—do you decide to take matters into your own hands?

And when you do decide to do so, what can you possibly do?

https://www.tor.com/2020/09/16/soluti...