A solid collection of short, thoughtful SF dealing with unintended consequences of tech or advancements in humanity. I hope they keep doing these fictA solid collection of short, thoughtful SF dealing with unintended consequences of tech or advancements in humanity. I hope they keep doing these fiction issues in the future.
Know your Enemy, by Matt Gallagher: 3/5 The Forever War has been on my tbr list for a long time, and this story – written in that universe – has bumped it up a few places.
First, by John Rogers: 4/5 Engaging, emotionally powerful, and succinct. Loved this one.
Stochastic Fancy, by Charlie Jane Anders: 3/5 Points for originality and prose, but it fizzled out at the end.
A., by Etgar Keret: 2/5 Imagine Never Let Me Go, then think of the most popular SF time travel concept cliche, and sort of mash them together into a story.
Subtext, by Charles Yu: 2/5 Interesting concept, but I think this would've been way better if it dipped in and out of Subtext instead of happening entirely inside of it.
The Hunger After You're Fed, by James S.A. Corey: 5/5 Great story about possible unintended psychological effects of basic income. Could very easily be a prequel to The Expanse.
The Evaluators, by N.K. Jemisin: 5/5 I loved the format of this one. And the story was fantastic. Reminiscent of Octavia Butler. Particularly her Xenogenesis series.
The Black Box, by Malka Older: 3/5 Cool concepts, but didn't really delve into the more interesting unintended consequences of a "Lifebrarian." Kind of felt like a Ted Chiang/Greg Egan story.
Hold Dear the Lamplight, by Jay Ruben Dayrit: 4/5 A lovely little story. Felt like something Ben Fountain might write. It had the best prose of all of these, but was also the least SF. Kind of a pre-apocalypse story. I'm going to seek out more of his stories.
The Current Entertainment, by Glen David Gold: 4/5 A scathing review of an immersive piece of media. Clever and well written. Nails the "unintended consequences" angle.
Crossing the Chasm, by Kevin Tong: ?/? This is an art piece. I don't know what it was listed as a story in the TOC....more
Well, this certainly tried to be something profound, but failed on nearly every level. It came across as something that was trying so hard to be "edgyWell, this certainly tried to be something profound, but failed on nearly every level. It came across as something that was trying so hard to be "edgy" that it came across instead as cringingly un self-aware. Terrible exposition, lifeless characters, abrupt scene changes, almost like it was missing pages, etc.
This guy read Watchmen, and thought "I can do something like that, but only focusing on the batman analog character" and then didn't. He really didn't (but he thinks he did).
Let me start by saying, if you’re 6 books into an ongoing series like this, then I’m going to assume you’re in it for the longPosted at Heradas Review
Let me start by saying, if you’re 6 books into an ongoing series like this, then I’m going to assume you’re in it for the long haul, and I think you’ll enjoy the hell out of this one too.
James S.A. Corey (Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham) refer to their Expanse series as 3 duologies and a trilogy (forthcoming books 7, 8, and 9) to cap it all off. Leviathan Wakes/Caliban’s War tell a fairly contained story about the protomolecule in the style of noir and political thriller respectively. Abaddon’s Gate/Cibola Burn deal with the expansion out into deeper space as a ghost story/western, but Nemesis Games/Babylon’s Ashes really read like two halves of the same larger novel. They are much more deeply intertwined than any of the other sets in the series. If each novel is a different genre married into the science fiction backdrop, then I’d call Nemesis Games a survival tale, and Babylon’s Ashes a great russian tragedy a la Dostoyevsky or Tolstoy.
Gone is the simple narrative structure of the first five books, each -- excluding Leviathan Wakes -- with four alternating POV characters. Instead we’ve got nineteen unique points of view. But if you’ve made it this far, you’re ready for that kind of complexity, you’re already intimately familiar with most of these characters. Holden, Pa, and Filip are the main ones, but we get lots of tertiary views on the action and plot. I really love this change to the structure, and can’t help but think that The Expanse television series influenced it in some way. It does feel more like the way that a TV show handles narrative. We get a perspective from nearly every main and secondary character still living, and some new ones as well. This opens up the world even more, something that this series has done so well along the way.
The main story involves the aftermath of the events of Nemesis Games, and how those events affect everyone, both inside and outside of the Sol system from here on. The Free Navy is causing havoc all over the place and has essentially taken over several large belter settlements. Holden and crew are caught in the middle, working with Avasarala and Fred, trying to do what they can to clean things up and bring Marcos down. Meanwhile, a splintered remnant of the MCRN is working in the shadows, silently preparing for what’s to come. And don’t forget the even larger threat looming on the periphery: whatever killed the protomolecule makers.
It’s a sad story, ultimately a tragedy, but there are several threads woven throughout that are paving a path to redemption for some, and death and destruction for others. It all makes for a terrific story, and moves at a breakneck pace toward a very tight conclusion. One that comes together so smoothly in fact, that a lot of people have been confused, thinking this was the end of the entire series. Of course, that isn’t the case, but I think you could approach this as the penultimate end to some of the earlier narratives begun all the way back in the first novel. Call it a semicolon; the conclusion of the series to follow....more
It isn't fantastic writing, but it's so much fun it makes up for it. A little dated now, but it's biting satire of the late 90s/early 00s brand obsessIt isn't fantastic writing, but it's so much fun it makes up for it. A little dated now, but it's biting satire of the late 90s/early 00s brand obsessed America....more
Absolutely brilliant short fiction, mostly focused on ex-pats and people visiting countries during times of turmoil and revolution. Not a bad story inAbsolutely brilliant short fiction, mostly focused on ex-pats and people visiting countries during times of turmoil and revolution. Not a bad story in the bunch. Several incredible ones....more
**spoiler alert** So, here's what I think happened: Palahniuk knew that he could never write a sequel to Fight Club because it just wouldn't work. The**spoiler alert** So, here's what I think happened: Palahniuk knew that he could never write a sequel to Fight Club because it just wouldn't work. There's no way to do it where it would work. So he wrote this instead, wrote himself into it, as a writer trying to write a sequel to Fight Club and only coming up with terrible ideas and fans hating it, ending with his creation literally getting out of his hands and murdering him. It's symbolic as fuck, and very heavy handed.
I really can't decide if it's brilliant or total rubbish, but it's probably a little bit of both....more
"What was it beyond a concentrated lesson in bewilderment?"
This is my third DeLillo novel. I really enjoyed White Noise but thought the ending was"What was it beyond a concentrated lesson in bewilderment?"
This is my third DeLillo novel. I really enjoyed White Noise but thought the ending was a little fumbled, and I think Cosmopolis is a masterpiece of sorts; a nearly perfect novel. I also have a rule for myself that I'm not allowed to have an opinion on a book if I haven't finished it. I had a real internal struggle maintaining that rule with Zero K.
Nearly every page – all the way up until around the 95% mark – I wanted to just cut my losses and bail, the book is just so heavy handed. There's no subtlety at play here. Now that I have finished it, I can say that I gave it that shot, and it's just not good. This novel would never have been published if it were written pseudonymously, that's basically all you need to know.
The handful of good parts are fantastic, but they are literally only a handful:
"This was New York. Every living breathing genotype entered his cab at some point, day or night. And if this was an inflated notion, that was New York as well."
"We are born without choosing to be. Should we have to die in the same manner?"
"Half the world is redoing its kitchens, the other half is starving."
"No, no. I'm not ready for that. You're getting ahead of me. I'm doing my best to recognize the fact that you're my father. I'm not ready to be your son."
"It's only human to want to know more, and then more, and then more, but it's also true that what we don't know is what makes us human. And there's no end to not knowing."...more
I find that speculative fiction is usually best when married with another genre. Personally, I’m partial to a good mystery. SePosted at Heradas Review
I find that speculative fiction is usually best when married with another genre. Personally, I’m partial to a good mystery. Set that mysterious tale in a science fiction/fantasy setting, and I’m probably going to be on board. In my eyes it’s a longstanding recipe for success: Jack McDevitt’s Alex Benedict[image] novels, The Gone World[image], Altered Carbon[image], Leviathan Wakes[image], Zero World[image], Gnomon[image]. The list is great mystery/spec fic novels is unknowably long.
The basic idea: Would you murder someone if it also meant saving their life? The Dispatcher is a tightly constructed urban fantasy mystery, set in a world mostly like ours but with one key difference: When someone is murdered, they disappear and materialize at home, alive and well in their bed. This happens nine hundred ninety-nine times out of a thousand. This small change sets the stage for a truly unique murder mystery, with a main character and setting I desperately hope Scalzi returns to. If there were more stories set in this world, I would read them all. Come to think of it, there’s room on my shelf for a nice paperback collection of Dispatcher novellas. Got a nice little spot for it, all ready to go. Write, Scalzi, write.
I’m not usually into urban fantasy, but this one is quite different. Most people hear urban fantasy and think werewolves and vampires and magical objects which, while technically true, isn’t all urban fantasy is capable of. The way I see it, urban fantasy has two rules: 1. The story is told in a somewhat contemporary setting, e.g., not middle earth and 2. The impossible happens. Everything else is just how the writer wants to use those building blocks to tell their story. Something Scalzi has done a terrific job of here. The fact that he usually writes science fiction serves to make his branching out into fantasy all the more interesting and rewarding.
The Dispatcher is a prime example of how quality fantasy world building can have far reaching ethical, societal, and industry specific ramifications. It also explores that impact pretty thoroughly for a novella. Like proverbial butterfly flapping its wings and causing a hurricane, one little modification to the world we’re accustomed to changes so many aspects of human society and social norms. It impacts everything from the kinds of intimidation organized crime families utilize, to the methods detectives use to investigate them. Insurance policies, experimental surgical procedures, and even frat boy posturing are all changed.
“I know what side of the street I like better. But you don’t always get to choose the side of the street you walk on.”
I listened to the Audible audiobook version of this last year. Zachary Quinto[image] provided the narration, and turned in a graceful performance—bringing each character to life with subtlety. It was nice to listen to a Scalzi book not narrated by Wil Wheaton for once. Not that I have anything against Wil Wheaton, I’ve just grown a little tired of his narrative style.
This year I read the hardcover edition published by Subterranean press. In addition to the text, Vincent Chong has provided several illustrations of key scenes. He draws in an almost airbrushed hyper-realistic style that’s difficult to describe, but it truly brings the story to life. Having experienced this story in both formats, it’s hard to recommend one over the other, so I’ll wholeheartedly recommend them both. Whatever form you enjoy your books in, the Dispatcher isn’t something to be missed....more
I really liked the first couple stories, and the last one, but there were a lot in the middle that didn’t accomplish anything for me. I like the skip-I really liked the first couple stories, and the last one, but there were a lot in the middle that didn’t accomplish anything for me. I like the skip-around style in which he writes. I like his short descriptive sentences. The other stories in this collection just lacked any sort of emotional atmosphere. As far as the collection goes, it was just okay....more
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