Going Harvey in the Big House

Aurora Award Finalist

The Builders had made the House generations ago, to shelter the remnants of humanity from the poisons of the Outside. The Inners, the direct descendants of the Builders, now rule the House. The House protects the People, and the Inners protect the House. And Smoothers are the arms and legs of that protection.

Big G is a Smoother, ensuring that the daily activities of the House are not interrupted by "Harveys," citizens who suffer violent mental breakdowns in the claustrophobic House.

But when Big G discovers a strange photograph of blue and white swirls of nothingness during a Harvey call, it leads him to world within the world he thought he knew—and a world outside it as well.

Science fiction, dystopia, post-apocalyptic SF

"Hands down, my favourite story … Ive always been fascinated by the concept of a city that encompasses what we know of the known world. … Smiths version, the House, is well conceived, but as always, its his characters that drive the story. Big G is pitch perfect. Every aspect of his personality is just spot on. Though hes not a completely accessible character, portrayed as being not as intelligent as a more usual protagonist, he is completely there and three-dimensional and his reactions and motivations are plausible. It works! The ending is just right. It couldnt have been any other way..."—SF Crowsnest Reviews

"I first read this story nearly a decade ago. ... The images and the power of the story have stayed with me all this time. Thats one of the strongest recommendations I can give." —Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Award-Winning Author

"Going Harvey in the Big House" fed into my natural fears, suspicions, and all-round disillusionment with authority. Thereafter, I began an inquiry. I read Orwells 1984, Atwoods The Handmaids Tale, Bradburys Fahrenheit 451, Zamyatins We, Huxleys Brave New World… "Going Harvey in the Big House" led me to places I thought Id never be, culminating eventually in sweat-soaked nightmares about a post-apocalyptic world."—Cicada Magazine