Twelve Tomorrows

by Stephen Cass (Contributor), David Brin (Contributor), Greg Egan (Contributor)

A diverse collection of science fiction authors, characters, and stories, featuring contributions by Neal Stephenson, Paul McAuley, Peter Wat, Brian Aldiss, Nancy Fulda, and Greg Eaton.

Originally launched in 2011 by MIT Technology Review, the Twelve Tomorrows series explores the future implications of emerging technologies through the lens of fiction. Featuring a diverse collection of authors, characters, and stories rooted in contemporary real-world science, each volume in the series offers conceivable and inclusive stories of the future, celebrating and continuing the genre of "hard" science fiction pioneered by authors such as Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Robert Heinlein.

The 2013 edition of Twelve Tomorrows begins with an interview with Neal Stephenson, which is followed by Paul McAuley's charming Western set among mutating a-life organisms and a story by Peter Wat about editorial cover-ups for escaped biofuel microbes that cause spontaneous human combustion. Other contributors include Brian Aldiss, Nancy Fulda, and Greg Egan. Color illustrations by Richard Powers accompany the texts.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Anthologies, Short Stories, Short Story Collection

189 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2013

Reviews

[Negativni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Časopis MIT Technology Review od 2014. godine izdaje godišnje antologije SF priča inspiriranih stvarnim novim tehnologijama opisanima u spomenutom časopisu. Čitao sam izdanje iz 2015. U nastavku par riječi o svakoj priči.

"Insistence of Vision" by David Brin
Proširena stvarnost (augmented reality) u službi zakona. Osuđeni zlostavljači ne mogu ni vidjeti svoje potencijalne žrtve. Uz to, tu je i ljubavna priča s "oooooh" krajem.
- 3,5/5

"The Mighty Mi Tok of Beijing" by Brian W. Aldiss
Pričom o unaprijeđenju ljudskog tijela s kojim bi se centar užitka odvojio od otvora za otpad dodavanjem cijevi koja bi omogućila ljudima da izmet izbacuju kroz nožni palac Brian W. Aldiss je očito trollao izdavača i koncept ovog izdanja. Uz toaletni humor tu je i anemična naracija glavnog lika i opisi koji graniče sa rasizmom i seksizmom. Ipak, ne sjećam se kad sam se zadnji puta ovako nasmijao čitajući neku (SF) priču. Jednostavno ne mogu joj dati manje od 5/5 iako se realno može ocijeniti i sa 2/5.

"In Sight" by Sheryl Rydbom
Vrlo kratka priča o ugrađenim osobnim čipovima koji bi zamijenili pametne kartice tekućih i žiro računa, te o tome kako bi ih se lako moglo hakirati. Zanimljive ideje, ali nekako previše generička radnja.
- 3/5

"Transitional Forms" by Paul McAuley
Zanimljiva priča o genetski modificiranom životu, bio-hakerima i kaubojskim šeširima.
- 4/5

"Pathways" by Nancy Kress
Ova je malo duža, Kress se fokusira na jednu eksperimentalnu terapiju liječenja kroz koju piše o problematičnom sistemu dobivanja sredstava za znanstvena istraživanja i traženje lijeka za rijetke bolesti. Zanimljiva priča s uvjerljivim i pamtljivim glavnim likom.
- 4,5/5

"Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" by Allen M. Steele
Ova nosi naslov jedne od meni najdražih pjesama Pink Floyda i još jedna vrlo dobra. Kroz dobro osmišljen svijet bliske budućnosti tu je i kritika kultova i organizirane vjere. Ne bih se začudio da se uskoro i pojavi kult koji će isčekivati pojavljivanje moćnih Heliotropesa.
- 4,5/5

"The Revolution Will Not Be Refrigerated" by Ian McDonald
U neimenovanoj zemlji gdje vlada diktatura, obitelj koja prerađuje i odvozi otpad izgubi posao, što potakne revoluciju. Glavni instrument revolucije je pametni hladnjak. Simpatična kritika trenutne globalne politike velikih sila i njihovog djelovanja na male nerazvijene države.
- 3/5

"The Cyborg and the Cemetery" by Nancy Fulda
O bogatašu i njegovoj inteligentnoj nožnoj protezi.
- 4/5

"Bootstrap" by Kathleen Ann Goonan
Umjetnik nabasa na nano-košulju koja raznim stimulatima kontrolira neuralnu aktivnost. Može li tehnologija unaprijediti umjetnost i umjetnika? Zanimljiva ideja, ali stil pisanja odnosno način konstruiranja rečenica mi nikako nije dopuštao da uđem u priču (primjer: "The feeling of being swathed in thick pink insulation, like everything I’d ever done was futile and stupid, returns. So far I’d at least been pleased with myself about barely scraping by; at least I had that.").
- 3/5

"Zero for Conduct" by Greg Egan
O prvom supravodiču koji funkcionira na sobnoj temperaturi. Egan je radnju smjestio u Iran, a glavni lik je mlada Afganistanka, pa je kroz priču prikazao i tamošnju političko-socijalnu situaciju. Nije ju kritizirao - dovoljno ju je bilo opisati.
- 4,5/5

"Pwnage" by Justina Robson
Ova je napisana tako poetično i zbunjujuće da nisam siguran što sam pročitao. Čini mi se da kroz reference na Moby Dicka, Alisu u zemlji čudesa te metafore sa miševima i štakororima govori o twitteru budućnosti, nekoj budućoj verziji Clouda i neprijateljskom preuzimanju neke firme i/ili hakerskom napadu. Koja je uloga sove?!
- 2/5

"Firebrand" by Peter Watts
Priča počinje rečenicom:
"It had taken a while, but the voters were finally getting used to the idea of spontaneous human combustion."
Nedavno sam se baš sjetio samozapaljivanja, odnosno kako se nigdje više ne spominje. Priča na kraju nije ništa posebno, očekivao sam više od Petera Wattsa koji je razvikan i čiju kolekciju kratkih priča planiram uskoro pročitati.
- 2,5/5

Unatoč ponekoj dvojci ovo je vrlo dobra kolekcija kratkih priča koju preporučujem ljubiteljima žanra.

[mkfs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saw this in a stack, finally got around to reading it.

Q+A : Did not read. Neal Stephenson is up there with Neil Gaman in terms of authors I have absolutely no desire to hear from. Huh, both Neils. Just now realized that.

Insistence of Vision : A decent enough remake of that old Invisible Man episode of Twilight Zone. The shift from "this guy is some cursed supernatural being trapped in a garden" to "oh it's just another extremely unlikely form of punishment" kinda takes the wind out of its sails.

The Mighty Mi Tok of Beijing : Pretty amusing actually.

In Sight : Not bad. Plausible, and short enough that the blather of the two operatives doesn't start to grate.

Transitional Forms : Liked this one. Pretty well done, goes from being a story about nothing to a story about something kinda behind your back.

Pathways : Did not finish. Maybe it was trying too hard to be all trailer-park diction. Really just felt awkward to read.

Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun : Enjoyable enough, though I expected a bit more of a punch coming from Alan Steele.

The Revolution Will Not Be Refrigerated : A bit hit-and-miss, clearly written after a bender of IoT articles. Some good bits, but then there are characters named Hack-Boy.

The Cyborg and the Cemetery : Gotta love a sentient appendage. Possibly the best one in the lot.

Bootstrap : Another good one. It's a bit hand-wavy at times, but

Zero for Conduct : This one started off as hoo-boy, yet another boy-it-sucks-to-live-in-the-third-world story. But it goes somewhere interesting, once the wallowing stops and the "ok, let's use some ingenuity to solve us some problems" starts.

Pwnage : Eh, ok I guess. A bit too much like listening to people talk about their twitter and instagram feeds. Same thing was basically done better in In Sight.

Firebrand : Ah, spontaneous combustion. What would we do without you?

[Mihnea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent sci-fi short stories, some good, some meh.
I think the last 2 weren't my cup of tea, which stained my recollection of the entire book.

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 3 out of 5]

An average collection of tales about what might be in store for us. They are mostly short and most barely give a glimpse of what the future could be. The more interesting tales are those by David Brin, Nancy Kress, Ian McDonald, Nancy Fulda and Greg Egan.

- "Insistence of Vision" by David Brin: an interesting story set in the future where augmented vision can automatically tag and reveal information about people around you. But it is the desire to be seen in an non-augmented view that leads one person to take risks but the risks are also shared by those who use the information provided.

- "The Mighty Mi Tok of Beijing" by Brian W. Aldiss: in a somewhat unusual and possibly disgusting story, a man pioneers a new way for people to get rid of wastes.

- "In Sight" by Cheryl Rydbom: when people get rich using information, information theft becomes a priority especially for those who want to redistribute the wealth of the rich.

- "Transitional Forms" by Paul McAuley: a park ranger patrols an area containing genetically modified lifeforms encounters a possible intruder. In a later conversation, the ranger connects the dots to realise just what the intruder was up to.

- "Pathways" by Nancy Kress: an interesting story about a small clinic in a rural area that is being resented because it is studying a rare form of inherited neurological disease without giving anything in return. When one of the possible subjects agrees to the study and gets ostracised from society from it, the benefits and drawbacks of the study become clear, leading to an re-evalution of what the study is for and who it benefits.

- "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" by Allen M. Steele: a cult gains control of a space ship and aims it for the sun, hoping to force the hands of unknown aliens. The end-result is as expected.

- "The Revolution Will Not Be Refrigerated" Ian McDonald: a story about how in the future, revolutions may depend not so much on guns and guts, but also on the ability of hackers to keep communications alive so the outside world knows what is happening.

- "The Cyborg and the Cemetery" by Nancy Fulda: as a man prepares to die, he also prepares for the future. For he has a cybernetic personality that may be more intelligent than many people know.

- "Bootstrap" by Kathleen Ann Goonan: a rag-picking artist encounters a strange shirt that, after being worn, begins to affect him mentally. Is it trying to help him overcome his neurological problems and who put the shirt there for him to find.

- "Zero for Conduct" by Greg Egan: in the middle-east, an intelligent young girl discovers an interesting material that could change her forever. But she needs her intelligence and the help of the people around her if she is to protect her discovery and make the most of it.

- "Pwnage" by Justina Robson: a strange, confusing tale about tweeting the news and collaborating for a purpose.

- "Firebrand" by Peter Watts: a tale about spontaneous human combustion, probably bought about by modified microbes and how civilisation is going to cope with it.

[Yev · Rating 2 out of 5]

Insistence of Vision - David Brin
A man flirts with a woman who isn't wearing her augmented reality goggles. As long as she doesn't put them on, everything will be fine. The twist is in how the technology works, which would spoil everything. This is a tale of social indignation gone too far.
Enjoyable

The Mighty Mi Tok of Beijing - Brian Aldiss
What's with this writing style? It has be satire, but I didn't find it funny or interesting. A surgeon develops new anatomy for humans based upon the the complaints he received from the women he has sex with. It's very scatalogical.
Blah

In Sight - Cheryl Rydbom
A modern day Robin Hood of identity theft.
Meh

Transitional Forms - Paul McAuley
A security guard for an exclusionary zone filled with a-life, experimental life forms that extract elements from the ground, develops feelings for one of the intruders he has arrested.
Meh

Pathways - Nancy Kress
The Libertarian Party won the presidency. They removed all regulations on corporations, both foreign and domestic. Social spending was eliminated, as were most government agencies. Many Americans became desperate. A foreign medical clinic comes to the mountain people, promising help for their conditions and money to support their families. All they have to do is agree to brain experiments.
Ok

Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun - Alan M. Steele
A guy tells the story of his childhood friend who had a near-death experience, then an existential crisis, in which he went insane and joined an ufo cult. It opens with their mass deaths, then goes back to how it began. This happens against the backdrop of colonizing the solar system.
Blah

The Revolution Will Not Be Refrigerated - Ian McDonald
A cyberpunk satire of the Arab Spring.
Blah

The Cyborg and the Cemetery - Nancy Fulda
Barry's smart prosthetic leg, TJ, became sentient after being connected to his nervous system for so long. TJ really helped him throughout his life. In death, isn't TJ a continuation of Barry in practice? (No.)
Meh

Bootstrap - Kathleen Ann Goonan
Self-impressed pretentious technobabble describing a man's descent into madness, but is actually his ascent into genius, because that's what Goonan decided.
Blah

Zero for Conduct - Greg Egan
A story about chemistry and physics set in the present day. An Afghani girl whose parents were murdered lives with a relative in Iran. She's an industrious genius determined to make the most of her life. It would've been better if weren't essentially all set-up.
Ok

Pwnage - Justina Robson
Social media psychosis.
Blah

Firebrand - Peter Watts
The government and a biofuel company collude to cover up the cases of human combustion that they cause. The viewpoint character is a propagandist that creates false media narratives for them.
Ok

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sci-Fi stories today all deal with horrible dystopian futures, where technology has run amok, or where killer viruses destroy humankind, or where severe environmental catastrophies are pushing humankind to the brink of extinction. Once, a few decades ago, Sci-Fi made people dream of a brighter future. And it inspired people to go out and try to build that future. Can Sci-Fi do it again? Shouldn't Sci-Fi writers try to get people to dream of a better future, where technology helps bring about progress, peace, or at least more interesting lives?

This collection of short and interesting stories was put out by MIT's Technology Review, where the writers were tasked with imagining the impact of currently existing or emerging technology trends, and their implications in the very near future. This IS "Science Fiction", but just barely, as almost all the stories all seem to be set in the next few years. I especially liked "In Sight" by Cheryl Rydbom, "The Revolution Will not Be Refrigerated" by Ian McDonald, and "The Cyborg and the Cemetary" by Nancy Fulda. Anyone interested in future studies or technology as it will impact us and our society in our lifetimes should consider reading and thinking about these entirely plausible short-term future scenarios.

Also, the book is very well designed, with a cool retro mid-60's Sci-Fi feel to it, something Harlan Ellison or Ray Bradbury would approve of. http://www.technologyreview.com/twelv...

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great little collection of short stories. All were brilliant and very unique.

[Andreas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second annual anthology featuring several highly praised and awarded SF authors, with the first The Best New Science Fiction and the current Twelve Tomorrows 2014. Gardner Dozois marked it as a top anthology of 2013.

Contents:
Q&A with Neal Stephenson
"Insistence of Vision" by David Brin
"The Mighty Mi Tok of Beijing" by Brian W. Aldiss
"In Sight" by Sheryl Rydbom
"Transitional Forms" by Paul McAuley
"Pathways" by Nancy Kress
"Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" by Allen M. Steele
"The Revolution Will Not Be Refrigerated" by Ian McDonald
"The Cyborg and the Cemetery" by Nancy Fulda
"Bootstrap" by Kathleen Ann Goonan
"Zero for Conduct" by Greg Egan
"Pwnage" by Justina Robson
"Firebrand" by Peter Watts
Art Gallery of Richard Powers

Can't say much about the Q&A with Neal Stephenson - I liked the very good introduction to his work showing up the connections of his books. The questions - even the audience's questions were quite intelligent and Stephenson's discussions were very good.

★★★★ for David Brin's "Insistence of Vision"
A very good anthology start! The theme of augmented reality where people can blur to have imperceptible identities feels like Vinge's Fast Times at Fairmont High but it's far extended. Brin investigates how criminals can stay within the society instead of being imprisoned by being impeded with special glasses that blur everyone else. It is more a story about ethics than about technology. Some twists and turns make this a very fast and enjoyable read on the background of a believable but not too far-stretched or inventive background.

★★ for Brian W. Aldiss' "The Mighty Mi Tok of Beijing"

SF Grandmaster Aldiss plays the motivation to optimize humanities' anatomy in a very fleshy, splattery way including porn and diarrhea. The tone is playful and fitting to it's oriental background. Probably nothing for the weaker, easily disgusted reader.

★★1/2 for Sheryl Rydbom's "In Sight"

Blatant high tech copy of Robin Hood including the reporters Robyn and Mari and Jack Prince aka Prince John as their counterpart. They hack into personal chips and steal identity using lots of gadgets and tricks to rob the rich and distribute to charities. And produce their own stories as a side-effect.

★★★ for Paul McAuley's "Transitional Forms"

British botanist McAuley stays in his genre:
Plants with biotechnically modified genes - so called a-lifes - gather minerals at mining sites. The problem is that they evolve and spread and the zone is shut down by government to prevent gene-pirates messing things up further. A patrolling ranger encounters an attractive scientist. Things go as they must, she dupes him. There is some beauty in the world-building, like some kind of graffiti pirates enhancing the a-lifes with bioluminescence.

But I know that McAuley can put more awesomeness into 10 pages, e.g. in his The Man.

The story makes you think alone with it's title - transitional forms are life forms that exhibit traits both in its ancestors and descendants. One might wonder where those a-lifes transit to, where the dangers are and how corrupt governments only superficially prevent uncontrolled spreading.

★★★★1/2 for Nancy Kress' novelette "Pathways"

This is the longest and best story so far.
Kress' strength is to put believable characters into flawed settings. In this case, the protagonist suffers of Fatal Familial Insomnia. Medical researchers under a libertarian government experiment with her by directly manipulating her brain using some fancy technology.

I constantly feared some mixture of Flowers for Algernon (curing brain deficits) and Beggars in Spain (sleepless culture) but it developed quite differently:
We follow the young female through her Mississippi setting, family drawbacks and fight to do the right thing.
It brings up questions about the impact and ethics of medical research.
Half a point off because of some large info-dumps.

The story is rightfully included in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-First Annual Collection.

★★ for Allen M. Steele's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"

The author seems to be a Pink Floyd fan - it is a title from 1968, but the story doesn't resemble the orientalistic style of the song at all.

A genius student leaving his MIT life behind entering a sect believing in aliens. They hijack a space-ship, changing direction from Jupiter towards the Sun. It ends as it was told in the first sentence.

Solid writing but pointless story.

★★★ for "The Revolution Will Not Be Refrigerated" by Ian McDonald
Ian McDonald is a British SF author who constantly wins awards since the end of the 80s.

The story's title is a nice reference to a popular 60s Black Power song. The song criticises materialistic behaviour and the role of television and a plea to African Americans to pull away from passive consuming and actively overcome separation.

McDonald's story combines the idea of overcoming passive behaviour with 2010's Arab Spring and The Internet of Things.
The Arab Spring was possible by using social media - Twitter, Facebook etc. for organising the revolution.
This story shows regimes' reactions - they identify main protagonists and micro-control the internet in their respective countries.
But revolutionary forces seek their way around those limitations by installing a new, uncontrolled network connecting refridgerators, toasters etc.

I don't think that the author really got the concept of the Internet of things - connected gaming consoles, refridgerators and toasters is not that advanced; in fact, those are concepts from the 90s. It is only the combination of those themes, innovation driven by need, that makes the story interesting.

★★★★ for "The Cyborg and the Cemetery" by Nancy Fulda
I never heard of the author but the name instantly catched my attention - because I live in a town with the same name :)

An elder, rich, and disabled man bids farewell, reflecting on his life, prepares for the future.

It is one of those rare examples where the SF doesn't turn out to be dystopic - instead of showing dehumanization, his intelligent leg prosthesis gives back humanity.
The author introduces the A.I. prosthesis with a different concept than classical A.I. - it is only intelligent due to the context of being embedded into the wearer's endocrine system which is as important as pure logic induction.

When do we start becoming cyborgs - are glasses already the beginning? Is it really bad?
Is dead a binary process?
When will cybernetical personalities get human rights?

I found the author's article which starts answering some of those questions.

I really liked the story's flow, the interactions of the man with his limb and his granddaughter. Don't expect action or much world-building, though.
I'll definitely watch this author!

★★1/2 for "Bootstrap" by Kathleen Ann Goonan

A PTSD impaired veteran lives as a rag artist. One day he picks up a mysterious nano-tech shirt which super-heroes him. In the author's words it is kind of bootstrapping humanity. I don't know if that word makes any sense to non-computer nerds, though.

I thought of Chackie Chan's comedy-action movie "The Tuxedo", although this one doesn't enhance the protagonist physically but mentally.

The story is a bit chaotic, maybe resembling the protagonist's mental state. For example, it briefly mentions synesthesia but doesn't dive into it, similar to a short attention-span.
And I think the outcome is a bit weak considering and potential the story had with it's good start.

★★★ for "Zero for Conduct" by Greg Egan

Greg Egan won a couple of awards and he shows some good story-telling here.

Room-temperature superconductors would be a real hit for the inventor and Western economy in general. But when the inventor is an Afghani girl Latifa being schooled in Iran, it is a different thing. The author builds a believable genius character in a difficult setting that she has to master somehow.
The story discusses the importance of informal education.

This is one of the longer stories - and where I would have wished for more elaboration with some of the shorter stories, this one could have been shortened without loosing too much.

★★★ for "Pwnage" by Justina Robson

UK's secret service uncovers dissidents by posting Twitter baits in a setting where people permanently connect their senses directly to the Cloud. They witness a legal, insane fast Robin Hood campaign.
Linking with other persons, deep immersion, wikis for criminal organisations - the setting is quite interesting.

If only the prose would be better accessible, less confusing.

★★★ for "Firebrand" by Peter Watts

People drive cars in spite of large numbers of deadly accidents. That is how people are.
In this dark humorous story, the protagonist covers government's small problems with people exploding due to being exposed to a new way of bio-oil production. It is called "spontanous combustion" or "sponcom", which affects society in interesting ways: To demonstrate safety, people started smoking again being contraindicators to sponcom.

The story is quite different to the others in the anthology, rounding it up nicely. I only had some problems with lots of U.S. local abbreviations that I don't know about.

[Artur Coelho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insistence of Vision' - O conto de David Brin imagina um futuro de realidade aumentada pervasiva acessível através de óculos digitais. E imagina uma curiosa forma de punição criminal num mundo de transparência informacional. Em vez de cumprir penas numa prisão, os condenados podem continuar em liberdade, sendo que a sua condenação está sempre visível na realidade aumentada. Continuam livres, mas num ambiente informacional pervasivo a punição funciona através de um ostracismos social completo.

'The Mighty Mi Tok of Beijing' - Brian W. Aldiss dá um contributo com o seu quê de patético neste conto sobre um cientista chinês transformaro em herói por uma humanidade grata. O seu contributo para a felicidade comum? Ter encontrado forma de canalizar as excreções humanas para o calcanhar, desviando-as da partilha de espaço com os orgãos sexuais.

'In Sight' - Cheryl Rydbom contribui um bem urdido conto sobre ciber-espionagem futurista, com um agente ao serviço de justiceiros a roubar a identidade de um milionário conhecido pela arrogância. Num futuro onde chips inseridos no corpo comportam toda a informação digital sobre a pessoa o processo de assalto assemelha-se ao de um franco-atirador que mantém a vítima na sua mira.

'Transitional Forms' - Paul McAuley aborda o que pode correr mal com vida artificial através deste conto, narrado sob o ponto de vista de um segurança de uma zona restrita no deserto americano. A zona é o habitat natural de organismos geneticamente modificados onde a combinação de evolução natural e interferências de bio-hackers leva ao constante surgir de novas mutações. Os interesses financeiros na exploração destes organismos são muitos, mas a ameaça da proliferação de organismos desconhecidos também.

'Pathways' - Um conto longo de Nancy Kress que nos remete para uma américa futura nas mãos de libertários. Num cenário de pobreza progressiva, desinvestimento na ciência e alastrar da desregulamentação selvagem uma rapariga de uma zona pobre do interior americano oferece-se como cobaia de cientistas chineses que buscam uma cura para uma doença neurodegenerativa rara. Dividida entre os receios de uma comunidade local inculta e os dilemas da experiência, a rapariga acaba por perceber que esta é a única forma de poupar a sua família a uma morte dolorosa e certa, acabando por despertar uma forte consciência interventiva. Uma curiosa mistura de distopia política com a premissa de tratamentos que alteram radicalmente a vida das cobaias, que deu a Flowers to Algernon o impacto que ainda tem.

'Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun' - Allen M. Steele utiliza os delírios de um culto que rouba uma nave e se atira para dentro do sol na esperança que os seres alienígenas em que acreditam os salvem para uma belíssima especulação sobre o futuro da humanidade no espaço, com colónias independentes em várias zonas do sistema solar, postos de mineração de recursos naturais em asteróides e atmosferas planetárias e as naves que os interligam à Terra, respeitadoras dos limites físicos a operar com motores atómicos ou velas solares impulsionadas por raios laser emitidos de uma estação no ponto de Lagrange entre a Terra e o Sol. A história do génio que na deriva da vida acaba por se meter com cultistas insanos é uma boa desculpa para o autor pintar um vasto e plausível panorama da exploração do sistema solar.

'The Revolution Will Not Be Refrigerated' - Ian McDonald utiliza com muito bom humor o conceito de internet das coisas misturado com a realpolitik por detrás dos estados falhados onde ditadores entricheirados fazem de tudo para manterem o poder face aos protestos de rua. O conto leva-nos a um ficcional país do médio oriente, onde o petróleo vai mantendo no poder o típico déspota da zona, que está ameaçado pela combinação de classe média irritada e tecnologia de rede, traduzida no processo revolucionário de concentração em praças públicas potenciado pela internet. Este ditador tem a presença de espírito de desligar a rede antes de ordenar aos tanques que carreguem sobre os manifestantes, mas não contou com os escalões mais baixos da sociedade do país. Os habitantes responsáveis pela recolha de lixo nas cidades até um contrato forçado por imposições de credores externos ter entregue o serviço a uma empresa transnacional, sabiam aproveitar e reciclar com a máxima eficiência. Quando, no rescaldo da repressão, começam a reciclar electrodomésticos inteligentes acabam por ter nas mãos a matéria prima para criar uma rede flexível de internet, assente na míriade de frigoríficos com wifi, batedeiras capazes de fazer routing de tráfego e aparelhos com sensores que comunicam através da internet. McDonald consegue misturar a história recente com o mito das revoluções permitidas pela internet, a importância da conexão em rede nas sociedades e desconstrói a internet of things num ritmo de favela chic sob repressão autoritária.

'The Cyborg and the Cemetery' - Nancy Fulda aborda as próteses cibernéticas numa história onde um homem idoso se liberta das obrigações terrenas antes de se lançar num walkabout final pelos desertos australianos, como corolário de uma longa e bem sucedida vida. Não teme a morte, porque deixa para trás a Inteligência Artificial embebida na sua perna robótica, prótese que ao crescer com o seu utilizador acabou por ganhar consciência sintética.

'Bootstrap' - Kathleen Ann Goonan aborda o conceito de tecidos inteligentes com a história de um artista com patologias mentais que encontra uma camisa com nano-tecidos. Protótipo experimental perdido talvez de forma intencional pela DARPA, a camisa ao ser vestida inicia um processo de intensificação dos dotes do utilizador enquanto cura as maleitas psicológicas. Uma visão ingénua do conceito de tecidos inteligentes capazes de monitorizar sinais vitais e dispensar medicação aos seus utilizadores.

'Zero for Conduct' - Greg Egan também opta por um certo ar de favela chic, desta vez numa história onde uma brilhante refugiada afegã no Irão descobre uma solução para supercondução à temperatura ambiente. Orfã de pais que morreram às mãos dos talibans por acreditarem no direito das mulheres à educação, vive e estuda numa cidade iraniana, mas passa o tempo a experimentar combinações moleculares através de computação distribuída, como nos sites e aplicações, bem reais, que transformam em jogos de puzzle os complexos cálculos de química informática. Ao descobrir e sintetizar um composto que permite supercondutividade à temperatura ambiente mostra-se capaz de organizar a rede familiar para levar electricidade e acumuladores supercondutores para a zona remota do Afeganistão de onde provém. Inteligente, sabe que tem de ser triplamente cuidadosa: como refugiada num país que a discrimina, mulher educada no hostil país de origem, e inventora de uma tecnologia revolucionária que despertará a cobiça das grandes empresas de energia, capazes de tudo para lhe roubar a invenção se esta não for devidamente patenteada.

'Pwnage' - Justina Robson imagina um mundo onde as comunicações audio-visuais são internas e pervasivas, com a rede a unir e interligar dispositivos que fazem parte do corpo. A história é narrada por uma agente de segurança interna, cujo trabalho é analisar as tendências e discussões online em busca de elementos considerados dissidentes ou subversivos. Mostra como a privacidade se esvai numa sociedade panopticon.

'Firebrand' - Peter Watts desmonta o tretologuês que oculta os desmandos das grandes corporações neste conto onde a combustão humana espontânea se torna corriqueira. São apontadas causas mirabolantes ou culpados obscuros por uma epidemia de pessoas que sem razão aparente começam a arder. O real culpado é uma empresa de fabrico de biocombustíveis produzidos através da modificação do código genético de algas, que infiltram os ambientes naturais e acabam nos sistemas digestivos humanos com consequências incendiárias. Uma intrigante reflexão sobre os perigos da modificação genética de organismos sem supervisão e o spin mediático que ofusca deliberadamente factos reais.

[Maria Gambale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uneven, but liked a few in here, and I suppose that’s the point with a collection like this. The collection is based around different styles of writing, different chemistries. I appreciate the sweet spot where the articulation of a hypothetical future technological scenario meets good writing. For that, Brian Egan’s Zero for Conduct was my favorite. I was somewhat into Bootstrap by Kathleen Ann Goonan, but it lost me. Nancy Kress’s Pathways has a rich social setting.

[David Radin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. There were a couple stories I really enjoyed, but another couple I couldn't get through. The majority were simply meh. I'm not sure I'm down with the broken language, choppy sentence, stream of conscious style writing that some of the authors used. I appreciate their perspective but it doesn't make for enjoyable reading.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cool read. Found it off the comment part of an article I was reading that was suggesting books off Love Death and Robots. A few stories at the end didn't make much sense to me but I pulled through it.

[Andy Cyca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish this would get reprinted as a proper book instead of "just" a periodical. This is a short anthology of 12 sci fi stories that could well happen soon (if they haven't yet since 2013) The stories are concise and—save for one or two—well written. Fantastic read

[Outis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This features a decent Egan story which has since been reprinted elsewhere, as was Nancy Fulda's (the book's best surprise). It might be the only place where Goonan's amusing story was published though.
Considered as whole however, the volume is strikingly lacking in creativity. Not-so-new tech (or even mere buzzwords) are way too often used to paint over retellings and the stale thinking of has-been authors. The hard SF of days past is a legacy which should be preserved, not some kind of template to be aped.
The less said about Aldiss's story, the better so I'll whine about Steele's as an illustration: grandiose space cadet fantasies (complete with the abolition of NASA) are paired with a vision of a future society which features the social mores of the author's youth.
Too often, the writing is bad as well (awkward exposition and whatnot). Was the topic supposed to make that acceptable?

[Aditi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have given this collection 5 stars, except some stories in this collection were not that good, where as some were truly exceptional. One clarification: this collection is NOT by Neal Stephenson. There are no stories in it by Stephenson, only an interview at the beginning of the book.
Anyhow, I did enjoy these stories immensely as they take applications of recent breakthroughs to the next level of imagination. Some are truly horrifying, such as Firebrand, where as others inspire hope, such as in Pathways. The stories are immensely sensitive to the geo-political climate as well and also reimagine that in the future, in addition to it's interaction with the amazing technologies.
I am looking forward to the next installment in the series!

[Alejandro Melchor · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories were short and to the point, many more like vignettes around the idea of a particular kind of technology, but they all met their goal, which was to give a small glimpse of what effects current and near-future technology can have in society, and that is one of the great strengths of science fiction.

Some stories may be more forgettable than others, but there is no bad apple in the entire basket.

[Jer Hogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The contributor's brief was to write an optimistic SF story. This made the endings predictable but the ideas were well worth the read.

[db · Rating 4 out of 5]

The variety of themes and writing styles make this collection of short stories fun to read

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Watts writes a cynical, maybe tongue-in-cheek, short story about people bursting into flame and exploding and the woman assigned to investigate.

Featured in issue 1 of Forever Magazine.