Posts Tagged ‘future’
The State of the Art (short story collection) by Iain M. Banks
published in 2007
where I got it: gift from a friend
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Iain Banks’ Culture novels were love at first page for me. I didn’t mind being thrown far into the deep end, I was amused by the silly names and dry humor, I adored the drones and the Minds. Succinctly, I love me some Culture books.
But. . . . they are long, and tough to get into, and being tossed in the deep end isn’t for everyone. The State of The Art isn’t entirely Culture short stories, but it’s enough to give someone an easily survivable introduction to The Culture universe and Banks’ writing style. Even better, there’s an entire chapter A Few Notes On The Culture, which is quite a bit more than a few and gives even more indepth info, including what someone can expect if they live in The Culture (and where they’ll live), body modifications, life span, interactions with other civilizations, why everyone has such a long name, and the reason why most Culture novels take place on the edge of their sphere of influence. In fact, I wish I’d read that portion first, even though it’s at the end of the book. Also, Banks insists on making it very clear that The Culture is completely fictional. Pretty telling that this is the 2nd scifi book in a row where the author felt the need to do that.
Short enough to be read in a few sittings, the first story, Road of Skulls, serves as a wry introduction and so should be read first, but other than that you can bounce around and read the rest in any order you please.
here are my thoughts on some of the entries:
The State of the Art – Featuring one of my favorite Culture characters, Diziet Sma, The Culture discovers Earth, circa 1978, and they are trying to decide if they should make contact with us or not. Along with other Culture people who can blend in and look human, Sma and her counterpart Linter are sent to Earth for one year to observe us. Linter goes missing and Sma is sent after him. Has he gone native? Did he fall in love with an Earthling and doesn’t want to leave? What could possibly make an Earth life more attractive to Linter than living in The Culture, where everyone has everything they could possibly want?
- In: Guy Hasson
- 9 Comments
The Emoticon Generation by Guy Hasson
published in 2012
where I got it: received review copy from the author (Thanks!!)
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Guy Hasson is an all around imaginative man. He lives and works in Israel, publishes short fiction in Hebrew, English (and ocassionally Spanish and German), writes plays and short films. This is the second collection of stories I’ve read by him. Many of his stories have a journalistic feel to them, where the characters attempt (sometimes successfully, but mostly not) to investigate something in a non-biased way. His collection Secret Thoughts was about how people deal with naturally ocurring telepathy, and his newest collection, The Emoticon Generation, is about the intersection of people and technology. I should have expected it would be weirder and more dangerous than the intersection of people and telepathy!
What makes this new collection so compelling is that with today’s technology we’re only a few years away from many of these stories becoming non-fiction. A new texting language for teens, hacking into CCTV systems, brain scans that offer secrets of how minds words, we’re on the cusp of much of this. These are character driven stories, and it’s nice to see characters who demand to know what’s happening and take steps to find out, instead of passively allowing things to happen to them. The truth might set us free, but sometimes it shatters us first.
Hasson has a nice handful of stories for free on his website, and I’ve linked below the ones in this collection that are available. His writing in subtly complex, where at first the story appears simple, but by the time you get to the end of it, you realize this is a tale that will stick with you for a long time. Two of the stories in The Emoticon Generation that hit me in that way were The Assassination and Hatchling. Here are my thoughts on those two stories and a few others:
The Assassination – Aryeh Shamgar is a national hero. Schoolchildren learn about him, documentaries have been made about him. Nearing the end of his life, Shamgar is sick of answering the same questions over and over and over again about his role in the war. He assassinated the right person and the right time and turned the tide of events, he was the perfect soldier. Why should the specific reasons behind his orders matter? A new technology allows scientists to record and listen to audio of events that occurred many decades ago. Shamgar is about to hear the real reason he’s a national hero. To tell you anymore would ruin the twist. You think this is a war story, but it’s not, not at all.
Hatchling – Glynis Hatch wants only one thing for her birthday – to know who her father is. Her mother refuses to answer her questions, her homeschooling tutor refuses to answer her questions. Was her father a criminal? Was he abusive? What could possibly be so bad that no one will tell her anything? Glynis will just have to find the answers herself, by eavesdropping, hacking into publicCams, and doing everything possible. As the secrets becoming larger and more complex, I began to really feel for Glynis, to fear for her. Something very dark is happening here, and it can’t end well. This was a very powerful story for me; I didn’t want Glynis to get hurt, she’s never done anything wrong, why can’t her happy life just continue? I had my guesses as to who and what she was, but Hasson takes the story in a refreshingly different direction, and gives it a terrifying shocker of an ending.
The Planet Buyer, by Cordwainer Smith
published in 1964
where I got it: purchased used
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Rod McBan the hundred and fifty first is the last of his illustrious line, so the law of Norstrilia allows him to have children. But he can’t control or properly develop his telepathy and is therefore considered flawed and handicapped, and no amount of therapy seems to help. Rod will either pass the tests and be allowed to breed, or be given euthanasia drugs. On pastoral Norstrilia, only the strongest are allowed to survive. They may be the farmers of the immortality drug Stroon, but the Norstrilians are a strict, traditional, and pragmatic people.
It’s fascinating how the richest planet in the universe ended up being sparsely populated by a bunch of farmers and their disease ridden mutant sheep. The narrative offers quite a bit of helpful background on how Norstrilia came to be. It borders on infodumping, but Smith’s easy going and conversational style prose makes it easy to dive right in and feel like you are right there.
At the last minute, Rod is saved from the grueling tests by Lord Redlady, a representative of The Instrumentality (the governing body of the galaxy), and given the opportunity to visit Manhome (Earth). Not sure what decision to make, Rod consults with the family computer, which has been hidden away under ground. The computer’s response is basically “leave it to me”, and the computer begins playing the stock market with Rod’s family fortune. Before dawn, Rod is the richest man in the galaxy, richer than the Stroon markets, possibly richer than The Instrumentality. If there was a time to escape to Manhome, now is that time!
Today’s post comes to us from nrlymrtl (pronounced Nearly Mortal, not Gnarly Myrtle), webmistress of Dab of Darkness and contributor at Dark Cargo. Thanks to the hardworking folks at Wildside Press who are making a large number of Stableford titles available as ebooks, nrlymrtl has been able to discover and enjoy a new-to-her author. Here’s her thoughts on some of his writings:
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Biologist, Sociologist, Writer: Brian Stableford
by nrlymrtl
In 2012, I discovered Brian Stableford and his Daedalus Mission books (The Florians, Critical Threshold, Wildeblood’s Empire, The City of the Sun, Balance of Power, & The Paradox of the Sets) as published by Wildside Press. The gorgeous, detailed covers on the Wildside Press additions are also an attraction. As a biologist, these books drew me in right away because of the underlying ecological and biological principles as applied to colonizing other worlds. Even on Earth, no matter where we go, we have always had to bargain with Nature, and she has not always been an easy bargainer. Spreading Humanity across the Universe is not only a daunting task mechanically, financially, engineeringly, but also in learning to manipulate new environments and ourselves long term biologically.
And that challenge, met not just in a few years, but rather haphazardly some generations later, is what captivated me about these books. So, of course, I had to read up on Stableford. Who is this man, how many more of his books are out there, and how many should-be-sleeping hours can I physically give up to his books?
The more I learned about this man, the more I appreciated him. This Brit graduated with a biology degree in 1969 and went on to study sociology, complete with a PhD thesis titled, ‘The Sociology of Science Fiction‘ in 1979. At over 70 novels, he is still writing and publishing today, so no worries that I will run out of quality reading material anytime soon.
One of the most influential science fiction writers, Robert Heinlein (1907 – 1988) has long been one of my favorite “old time” scifi writers. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress still brings tears to my eyes every time I finish it, and The Puppermasters has me on the edge of my seat every time, even though by now you’d think I’d know what happens at the end of both books after countless rereads. I discovered Heinlein in my late teens, his works were a gateway into science fiction for me even though it would be years before I discovered his juvenile fiction. Last year during Vintage Month I wrote up a little bio of every author I read, and you can read my Heinlein article from last January here. It saddens me a bit to realize it’s been since last January that I read a Heinlein! I’ve got to make him more than just a January thing!
The Man Who Sold The Moon, by Robert A. Heinlein
copyright 1939, 1940, 1950
where I got it: purchased used
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Containing many of Heinlein’s earliest works, these stories all take place in his organized future history timeline, which most of his later works took place in. The stories are presented mostly in chronological order, even though they weren’t written in that order. For once, it’s a good idea to read them in the order presented as it’s fun to see the invented technologies show up later in the time line. In this future, fossil fuels have nearly run out and Earth is forced to develop other energy sources such as solar and nuclear. With sudden cheap energy at our fingertips, anything and everything becomes possible. Rockets capable of getting to the moon are researched with some success, and businessmen dream of exploring the stars. The stories included in The Man Who Sold The Moon aren’t far future adventures or space operas, they are nice light early timeline tales on how the technologies that let us reach the stars came to be.
Let There be Light (1940) – a quick story on the research and development of the Light Panels, which can store and use solar energy in a highly efficient manner. The story opens with scientist Archibald Douglas learning the famous scientist Dr. Martin will be visiting him to speak with him about his Cold Light technology. The next day, the only person waiting for Dr. Douglas is a beautiful woman. It takes a bit, but she finally does convince him that she is indeed the famed Dr. Martin. Douglas quickly comes to respect and appreciate her intelligence and wit, and they work tirelessly to improve his Cold Light technology into a highly efficient power source. Unfortunately, this frustrates the electricity based power companies to no end, and Douglas comes up with the perfect solution.
The Roads Must Roll (1940) – Massive cities and communities have developed thanks to massive moving roads (similar to moving sidewalks found in airports, but much wider and much, much faster) that allow commuters to travel a hundred miles in just over an hour. The industry that maintains the roads is massive as well, employing thousands of engineers, technicians, and supervisors. Should anything happen to the roads or suburbs and towns that depend upon them, the entire economy could come screeching to a halt. And that’s exactly what almost happens when the followers of a radical socio-political movement sabotage a moving road. This is an interesting story when it comes to workers rights, and the labor movement, as employees of the roads aren’t allowed to quit, and the lower echelons believe they are treated badly by management.
Read the rest of this entry »
The Cyberiad, by Stanislaw Lem
Posted on: January 2, 2013
The Polish science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem (1921 – 2006) was known for his works in science fiction, satire, and philosophy. His writing style is detailed, subtle and literary, making translations a challenge. I got into a great discussion on twitter with Joachim Boaz about the Lem translations. Apparently much of his work was translated to French and then translated to English, doubling the chances of wit and puns being lost in translation. By sheer luck, the copy of The Cyberiad that I read was translated directly from the original Polish by the amazing Michael Kandel. I’ve got to wonder if crappy translation is directly responsible for my mixed luck with Lem titles I’ve read in the past. Note to self: seek out the Kandel translations!
The Cyberiad, by Stanislaw Lem
published in 1965, first English translation available 1974
where I got it: borrowed from a friend
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Subtitled “fables for the cybernetic age”, many of the short stories in The Cyberiad have a bedtime story fairy tale feel to them. Featuring quests and adventures and demanding royals and hermits and pirates and even the phrase “once upon a time”, alongside literary devices such as alliteration, punny phrases and nested tales, I quickly became desperate for a nerdy 8 year old to whom I could read these out loud to.
The series of stories follows the robotic constructors Trurl and Klapaucius. The two friends build amazing machines either for their own amusement or to help (for vast sums of money, of course) people on other planets. As with many parable style fairy tales, the machines and prophecies never quite work as intended, and on more than one occasion Trurl and Klapaucius are forced to destroy their creations and/or escape their insatiable clients. Most of the Sallys (as in To Sally Forth) are 10 pages or less, making the whole of The Cyberiad easy to digest in small portions, if you’re able to put it down, that is (which I wasn’t, and devoured this dense little package of amazing in just a few days).
Since Trurl and Klapaucius (and nearly every other character we meet) are robots, and can’t die or experience physical pain, there is a surprising amount of violence – people getting kicked and repeatedly beaten up or thrown off or into things. Since no one ever gets hurt, it’s humorous, not unlike an old style Bugs Bunny cartoon.
Beyond the hysterical and madcap adventures and Klapaucius egging Trurl on every step of the way, the writing is absolutely brilliant, with a level of literary humor and intelligent wordplay that is absolutely off the charts. Imagine if Charlie Stross and Terry Pratchett rewrote a book of Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales, and then ratchet the whole thing up a bit more.
Welcome to Vintage Science Fiction Month! my first review is for Clifford Simak’s The Goblin Reservation. I’ve been meaning to read Simak for a while now, and this was the perfect place to start. A lifelong newspaperman, Simak started selling short stories to the SF pulp magazines in the 1930s, and by 1940 became a regular contributor to Astounding Stories, and would continue writing science fiction and fantasy for the next 4 decades. Enjoy!
The Goblin Reservation
written in 1968
where I got it: purchased used (the copy on the left is mine, the copy on the right belongs to another friend. We were comparing cover art)
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I actually read this book about a month ago, and I’m kicking myself for not taking better notes, or not just writing the review back when I read it.
In this future, Earth has become renowned for its universities, we have interstellar travel (similar to the transporters from Star Trek), alien civilizations, and Time travel. In fact the University has an entire college devoted to Time Travel, with the specialty of sending researchers back in Time to bring back artifacts, data, even people and animals. While civilians might enjoy having saber toothed tigers as pets, the History and English departments can’t stand those jerks over at Time, who keep proving published history to be wrong or incomplete. The English department just about has kittens when Time brings William Shakespeare into the future, and he happily admits to having not written the plays. You can’t help but chuckle at that!
At the beginning of the story, professor Peter Maxwell is returning from a trip to another planet, and he finds to his surprise that he’d already returned a few weeks ago, and died in an accident. Once he convinces the authorities that he truly is Peter Maxwell, and really is alive and well, he realizes that since everyone thought he was dead his apartment has been rented to someone else and his job at the University doesn’t exist anymore. It’s discovered that while Peter was being transported from Earth to the planet he was supposed to be researching, his signal was split. One Peter went where he was expected to go (and then back to Earth and killed) and the other Peter was diverted to an amazing Crystal Planet where the natives offered him their knowledge of the universe, so long as Peter was willing to negotiate the sale to Earth. Knowledge isn’t free, and the aliens want something the Time University has.
- In: Sharon Lee | Steve Miller
- 9 Comments
Conflict of Honors (Liaden Universe), by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
published in 1988
where I got it: borrowed from a friend
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I happened to mention to a friend that I enjoyed space opera, and she thrust Conflict of Honors into my hands and said “if you like space opera, you’ll love this!”. Knowing nothing other than that the first few books in the series can be read in any order and that this ongoing series has a massive following, I dove in.
Far in the future, humanity lives side by side with the Liaden, a humanoid race (are they related to humans? I’m not sure). While the Liadens might look humanoid, their culture and cultural taboos are nothing like ours. Humans often work on Liaden trading ships, although they are often treated as second class citizens.
The Liaden have empathic abilities, and reminded me a little bit of a cross between the Minbari of Babylon5 and Deanna Troi from Star Trek. They easily read the emotions of humans and their fellow Liadens, and emotional sensitivity isn’t a taboo in their culture. No Liaden would ever say something like “suck it up!” or “quit being so dramatic!”. Instead, should someone be feeling emotional strife, a Liaden healer is assigned to them to help them return to a more joyous state of being.
And Priscilla Delacroix Mendoza has certainly been through a lot. Declared dead by her family, she’s worked on various Liaden transport ships for most of her life. When the story opens, Priscilla is a miserable cargo master on the Liaden trading ship Daxflan. The crew of the ship aren’t treated very well, and when Priscilla is left behind on a planet, her relief with having escaped an increasingly horrific situation is equal to her concern about the damage done to her record.
Existence, by David Brin
Posted on: December 2, 2012
Existence, by David Brin
published June 2012
where I got it: purchased new
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A favorite question of science fiction is one of first contact, and Existence is Brin’s answer. Even as a child, I knew of the concept of Fermi Paradox, even if I didn’t know the formal name for it. The Fermi Paradox states that in an infinitely large universe, there has to be other planets with evolved life. So why haven’t we heard from any of our neighbors? Where is everyone? Why is it so quiet out there?
It’s difficult to get into the nuts and bolts of Existence without giving away some of the plot, so be warned, this review contains a few spoilers. Through the eyes of a half dozen characters of every walk of life, Brin offers the reader a much bigger picture than just first contact. This isn’t just a story about a space garbageman who grabs something shiny, or the story of a shoresteader who finds a buried treasure, or the journalist forced to relearn how to live her life. This isn’t a story about individual humans, this is a story about humanity. And it’s an ambitious one, at that. (But wait, isn’t “ambitious” exactly what we want from our science fiction authors, the perpetrators of our favorite “what if” question? Don’t we want the envelope to be pushed until it starts to tear at the edges, showing us something new and unexpected?)
One of the major plot lines follows Gerald Livingstone, who retrieves an artifact from high Earth orbit. The artifact is sensitive to sunlight and human touch, and soon proves to include nearly a hundred uploaded alien personalities in its crystalline structure. A message in a bottle of sorts, the aliens welcome humanity to the galactic culture, and offer untold technologies. As communication with the artifact moves forward, hundreds of other artifacts of similar design make their locations known, making the orbiting artifact simply the most recent to reach us. What the aliens offer is incredible, is unheard of, is unexpected, is truly amazing. But do we want it? and can we trust them?
- In: David Brin
- 3 Comments
I’m now around 400 pages into Existence, and it’s like I’m reading a completely different book by a completely different author. The pace has drastically picked up, the plot now has every bit of my attention, the characters are getting interesting, it’s damn good. And the reveal? damn. and the second reveal? holy shit, hotdamn! I now care about what is happening in Existence, and the scales are quickly tipping from “disappointed” to “this is pretty damn cool!”
But will they tip enough?
As my interest in the plot has increased, so has my appreciation for the asides and commentaries on near-future technologies and society’s reaction to them. Things like crowdsourced journalism and whistle-blowing, theories about autism, gene manipulation, self replicating machines, our growing interactions and dependence on the internet, the possibility of uploading the minds and personalities of people who are trapped in severely damaged or disabled bodies, so many things that many of us are talking about right now.
Even better, reading the book now feels like enjoyment rather than work.
Still, some severe annoyances keep rearing their ugly heads, such as a wordplay trick that quickly feels gimicky, loose ends that don’t go anywhere, and writing mechanics.
minor spoilers ahead:
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