Tk'Tk'Tk

by David D. Levine

Overview

Walker’s got a problem. A human salesman on an alien world, he’s got software to sell. But he doesn’t understand the language or the culture, and he’s running out of resources. Sometimes survival means understanding the difference between what’s most valuable and what’s most important. Translated into 7 languages, “Tk’Tk’Tk” won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 2006.

“Tk’Tk’Tk,” a short story, is also available as part of Space Magic, an award-winning collection of science fiction and fantasy stories by David D. Levine.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940016105031
Publisher:	Book View Café
Publication date:	12/16/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	295 KB

About the Author

David D. Levine’s short stories have appeared in Asimov’s, F&SF, Analog, Realms of Fantasy, and numerous other magazines, websites, and anthologies, including four Year’s Best volumes (two SF, two Fantasy). He’s won a Hugo (Best Short Story, for “Tk’Tk’Tk”) and has received many other awards and nominations. David likes to think of himself as a writer who takes the classic ideas of Golden Age SF and gives them a fresh, up-to-date presentation… the SF equivalent of a New Beetle or Mini Cooper.

David lives in Portland, Oregon, where he’s spent more than half his life, and is now happily retired after working for 24 years at Tektronix, Intel, and McAfee. He co-edits the fanzine Bento with his wife, Kate Yule, and his website is at daviddlevine.com.

Editorial Reviews

In the March Asimov’s I appreciated David D. Levine’s “Tk’tk’tk,” about a salesman struggling to stay afloat on an alien planet where the culture spins him so off-balance he finds himself re-orienting. Do you ever find out what “tk’tk’tk” means? Read it and you may see; sometimes you have to let go of your goals in order to accomplish them.

Emerald City - Anne KG Murphy

There is a sort of old-fashioned Orientalness to these aliens, which makes it fitting that Walker would be an old-fashioned travelling salesman. … But when Walker cracks the alien code, so to speak, it transforms more than just his mission. Levine brings in Eastern spiritual elements to give the story an added dimension: understanding the other as the key to understanding the self.

Internet Review of Science Fiction - Blunt Jackson

[T]akes a premise that seems very “Golden Age”… but gives it a very 21st-century sensibility. In the Golden Age, the salesman would have proved the superiority of Earth culture, or would have been shown to be venal and deserving of being bested, or something equally simplistic. Levine adds some layers to the story.

MT VOID - Evelyn C. Leeper

”Tk’Tk’Tk” is a skillful confection, another token of its author’s burgeoning virtuosity. … Recommended.

Locus - Nick Gevers

The alien world was vividly imagined, the holiday, everything. Anywhere Levine decides to take me, I’ll believe I’m there.

Tangent Online - Rebecca Gold