I’m part of an extraordinary Audible Original anthology: The Other Animals.
All eight stories here are written from the perspective of a non-human animal and read by the authors themselves. The only requirement is that we all inform our stories by actual behavioral science about the animals. The stories are about both the animals and the human condition: How does a marmot that hibernates for much of its life deal with aging? What does a vulture that lives on death think about mortality? Can a water strider find transcendence on the other side of the water?
My story is about a scorpion, but it’s also about parent-child relationships, alien abductions, and singing to the moon — you know, my typical sort of thing.
Victor Fet, the world’s foremost expert on scorpions, had this to say about my story:
Ken Liu’s eloquent “Moon Carver” gives voice to a truly alien, relict creature. Largely understood by humans as a symbol of evil due to their potent venom, scorpions have lived under the changing night skies for the past half billion years, honing their bizarre tools and perhaps, as Liu’s visionary hero does, harboring unique emotions.
The other authors in the anthology are Daniel Mallory Ortberg, R. Eric Thomas, Lulu Miller, Shruti Swamy, Max McClure, Kaeli Swift, and Kelly Weinersmith. Thanks to Rachel Hamburg for conceiving the project and inviting me, and Noah Grigni for cover art.