Our children will never know hunger, she thought. It was hunger that drove me into science, hunger that kept me working hard through each obstacle and set-back, hunger that made me the best. Without hunger, what are we?

Scientist Anselm Beck invents a machine that can copy anything. Food, money, weapons, it’s all up for grabs, except, it seems, people.

Thus comes the central question Maria Violante poses in her new short story, Scarcity: what effects would such a machine have on the economy? On the world? As Dr. Beck’s partner, Grace Kane, puts it:

No scarcity, and what do you get?

And like any good speculative sci fi, the answers are complex, and well thought-out. This could have filled a novel, but as it is, we’re left with just enough of a taste to fill in the gaps ourselves.

An intelligent, quick-read which will appeal to science fiction fans. Highly recommended.

5/5

Scarcity is available for the Kindle. For more by Maria Violante, visit her website: http://mariaviolante.com/books/