The Watched

Worth the price of admission, as they say. This story ties lots of themes from the previous ones together - guilt, curiosity, erotic obsession, deceit, the suspension of past & future, people watching people, one-sided relationships. It's of note that this story's SF content is worked out the most of the entire collection, and it's masterful how much Priest manages to set up the rails in just the first 5 pages. Having a theory of mind is crucial for human development: knowing what the other knows. That concept is used in multiple ways to make this story work, and The Watched achieves a psychological realism rarely seen - even though the ending looks like a surreal fever dream. Priest really sucked me in with this one. Brilliant writing - nominated for both a Hugo & a Locus.

Review of the full short story collection on Weighing A Pig: