Vox ex Machina & A Crisis for Mr. Lion

Two short stories by William Preston, one previously published in Asimov's Science Fiction and one published online by Zoetrope: All-Story. "Vox ex Machina" springboards from an actual event--the loss of the robotic head that was meant to bring to life a famed science fiction writer. "A Crisis for Mr. Lion" describes, page by page, a child's picture book no child should read, a tale of talking animals who aren't merely stand-ins for human beings.