Tk'Tk'Tk by David D. Levine


Tk'Tk'Tk
Title : Tk'Tk'Tk
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 161138219X
Language : English
Format Type : Kindle Edition
Number of Pages : 26
Publication : First published December 17, 2012
Awards : Hugo Award Best Short Story (2006)

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.

Tk'Tk'Tk Reviews

  • Eva

    Very unique and interesting short story, worthy of its Hugo win. Salesman turns away from his life that he finds devoid of meaning and adopts an alien spirituality. Cool alien culture and language!

  • Joel

    Really enjoyable - not perfect, but really great. David's prose is approachable, yet elegant. The subject of the story was extremely interesting, and the degradation of Walker's personality was difficult to watch. I enjoyed this piece, as I enjoy all Levine I've read.

  • Ada

    ***why a maybe***
    A reviewer I follow on Goodreads had this to say about the story:


    Salesman turns away from his life that he finds devoid of meaning and adopts an alien spirituality. Cool alien culture and language!

    Short and to the point. The thing is they also mentioned it won a Hugo? I don't know in which year but somehow I have this huge mental block of reading the older winners of the Hugo Awards. Every time I think it would be a fun project I look at the titles and think "Eh, let's watch a review by Thomas of SFF180 on YouTube."

    But it does sound intriguing so it's a maybe!

  • Glen Engel-Cox

    It’s not quite “Death of a Salesman,” but it comes very close. How do you close the sale on an alien planet where everything you do seems to offend or otherwise go wrong. The answer, Levine seems to say, is to lean in. The other answer, however, is questioning if the sale is worth all that trouble. Amusing and painful, in that Seinfeldian way.

  • Francis

    Very weird aliens, even weirder money.

  • Maikel

    I don't know if there is a deeper meaning to this book that I just didn't get or if there's just no meaning to it...
    For me, it was good enough for a short, in-between read but I have to say I was glad it wasn't a longer book.