The Nanotech Chronicles

by Michael Flynn

Contents:

• Prelude
• Soul of the City
• The Washer at the Ford
• Remember'd Kisses • (1988)
• The Laughing Clone
• Werehouse • (1990)
• The Blood Upon the Rose

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

339 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1991

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. Please see this page for the list of authors.

Michael Francis Flynn (born 1947) is an American statistician and science fiction author. Nearly all of Flynn's work falls under the category of hard science fiction, although his treatment of it can be unusual since he has applied the rigor of hard science fiction to "softer" sciences such as sociology in works such as In the Country of the Blind. Much of his short fiction has appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact.

Flynn was born in Easton, Pennsylvania. He earned a B.A. in Mathematics from LaSalle University and an M.S. in topology from Marquette University. He has been employed as an industrial quality engineer and statistician.

Library of Congress authorities: Flynn, Michael (Michael F.)

Reviews

[Andrew Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short collection of only 6 stories, actually a fixup of a couple short stories, a short novel, and three novelettes, but one that really shouldn't be missed!
The opening couple of short stories were pretty good, unflawed at least, but didn't exactly grab me. That happened with the novela, The Washer at the Ford, which I would say should be required reading! It provides a very good look at the differences between how persons and people are two different things when it comes to how the world works. I'm mangling this badly, but it really is a great read.
The following two pieces didn't thrill me;
Remember'd Kisses is insightful in an introspective vein, but I felt it too melancholy for my tastes.
the Laughing Clone is supposed to be a murder mystery concerning clones, but I lost interest with the flaws that dropped, such as clones with identical fingerprints. Clones (and even identical twins) do have same DNA, but fingerprints differ as those genes express during growth.
Werehouse is a very good moral story, done with some dark but still funny irony.
Lastly The Blood Upon The Rose... I'm not sure what to say about it that wouldn't spoil it, but it's a very good story to read; it was the story that boosted this to the forth star though!

[Michael Burnam-Fink · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because a couple of scholars wrote about using it to teach an engineering ethics course on nanotech. From that angle, it's pretty good, presenting multiple views of a radically transformative technology from the lab to the street. It lacks the arc light brilliance of The Diamond Age, tends toward expositors rather than fully-fleshed characters, but it does fairly present many positions on emerging tech, although it is ultimately biased towards technolibertarianism against a kind of Green Theology.

[Eden · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first two stories were pretty impressive, but quality fell off pretty sharply after "The Washer at the Ford". Still a thrilling read.

[michael white · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather enjoyable collection of stories threaded together to tell the story.