So what would you do if you received a piece of equipment from an alternate universe, and what would you do if you were a guy and you received it in pink? Well prepare yourself for a step into another dimension.

Ur is a Novella by resident horror guru Stephen King. The story is about an Amazon Kindle, for the Amazon Kindle. That’s right, King wrote this 80 page story (roughly) for the release of the first generation Amazon Kindle. Since the launch of the Kindle, Amazon.com has created a program called Kindle Singles. This program has breathed life into the resting place of the short story, which while it isn’t a totally dead art, it has waned for many years. Now, with the Kindle singles program, well known authors are writing short stories again.

Our protagonist, Wesley Smith, is an English professor at a college in Kentucky. He loves his books, and one day he has an argument with his girlfriend. In the course of this argument, his then girlfriend takes a first edition copy of Deliverance by James Dickey and chucks it against the wall, saying why can’t you read from a computer screen? Mr. Smith makes the mistake of calling her “an illiterate bitch.”

Mr. Smith proceeds to purchase an Amazon Kindle, and when it arrives he is taken a bit aback because its pink. After doing a little research, he realizes that Kindles don’t come in pink, they only come in white (at the time). The Kindle has a few additional features as well, called UR features.

UR features are literature and events that happen in parallel universes. In some, His favorite author, Hemingway, wrote additional works and lived for three more years. Other events also occurred including the Cuban missile crisis ending the world and J.F.K. surviving the assassination.

One news feed strikes him and it involves a drunk driver hitting a bus that his ex-girlfriend (they’re working on trying to mend their relationship at the time) is on. Long story short, he averts the accident, but is payed a visit from the “paradox police.” Fans of the Dark Tower series (If you have not read it, do it BEST KING YOU WILL EVER READ) and of Hearts In Atlantis will recognize the references to the Dark Tower and as these police men as the Low Men in Yellow Coats.

They take the Kindle away and Wesley is spared. It’s not my favorite King story, but a good one nonetheless. What sells the story is the Dark Tower connections and those that loved Hearts In Atlantis, two of Kings greatest creations. And now this…a good compliment to those creations.