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    The Sculptor
    The Sculptor
    The Sculptor
    Ebook33 pages27 minutes

    The Sculptor

    By Garry Kilworth

    ()

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    About this ebook

    An artist pays tribute to a cruel and powerful leader. Cunning and elegant short fiction from an author whose "Sumi Dreams of a Paper Frog" was described by JG Ballard as "The best short story I have read for many years" and who has been described by New Scientist as "the best short story writer in any genre". This story was winner of the Interzone readers' poll for best story of the year.

    LanguageEnglish
    Publisherinfinity plus
    Release dateDec 16, 2011
    ISBN9781465828750
    The Sculptor

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      Book preview

      The Sculptor - Garry Kilworth

      The Sculptor

      Garry Kilworth

      Winner of the Interzone readers' poll for best story of the year.

      infinity plus singles #13

      Published by infinity plus at Smashwords

      www.infinityplus.co.uk/books

      Follow @ipebooks on Twitter 

      © Garry Kilworth 1992, 2011

      The Sculptor first appeared in Interzone (June 1992), later winning that year's readers' poll for Story of the Year.

       Smashwords Edition, Licence Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      No portion of this book may be reproduced by any means, mechanical, electronic, or otherwise, without first obtaining the permission of the copyright holder.

      The moral right of Garry Kilworth to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

      cover image © Tanja Rosso | Dreamstime.com

      Contents

      The Sculptor

      About the author

      More about infinity plus singles

      The Sculptor

      Niccolò reached the pale of the Great Desert at noon on the third day. He dismounted and led his horse and seventeen pack camels towards the last water he would see for six weeks. There at the river's edge they drank. Some would have said that so many camels was an expensive luxury, but Niccolò knew the value of too many over too few. Only eight of them were carrying the statuettes. Of the remaining camels, two were loaded with his and his mount's personal supplies, three were carrying water, and three were loaded with fodder to feed the other camels. The last camel was packing fodder for the fodder-carriers but not for itself. It was possible that this camel, or one of the others, would die of starvation before he reached the Tower.

      Niccolò had had to call a halt at seventeen. When he had consulted the sage, Cicaro, the old

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