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Our Own Devices
Mid-century retro speculative fiction. Nine new stories and three essays on our obsession and entanglement with technology, based on historical fact, in the Zeitgeist of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. With 31 archival pictures. Gilles Messier was born in Winnipeg in 1989. As an aerospace engineer, his interests concern the use and misuse of technology in war, nuclear energy and space exploration.
- GenresShort Stories
240 pages, Paperback
First published November 8, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 30, 2013
Messier seems to be an author who's grown up out of his time, fascinated as he appears to be with the technology of the mid-20th century (and the quirky back cover 'Best Before 31st Dec 1969 line). His fascinations seem more in line with a child of the generations spanning the 50s, 60s and 70s, when we could all imagine we'd have personal jetpacks by the year 2000 and there'd be little we couldn't do.
His approach is an interesting one, examining humanity via the technology it creates and basing the stories around them - as he points out in his introduction, archeologically what tends to remain after meat and bone has decayed are the objects we leave behind, so surely they're a fit topic for stories. Perhaps it's an apt time now that we've the distance to begin to judge consequences. I'm not entirely sure it's as radical a concept as he's trying to make out (particularly given the hard SF tradition) but I like the pretension and ambition of his stated aims.
Unfortunately that approach, the predominance of technology, leads to the first major flaw here - the characters are all rather flat and one dimensional, secondary to the objects and concepts Messier's really interested in. So when a Russian astronaut's dying alone on the surface of the moon, or a character's realising the consequences of wartime actions or even making a discovery there's no real emotion conveyed, instead we're more told how they're feeling than shown it. That's simply an aspect of the approach the author's taken, and if you generally find your way to the heart of stories through character this might be unengaging.
The other flaw here is an overtly didactic approach - while the three groups of three are effectively structured to approach the subjects from different angles the introductory essays to the subjects aren't really needed, setting out the author's personal views. The content of the stories should be strong enough to stand on their own for these to be unnecessary and generally are, often to the point of preaching, particularly in the sections regarding nuclear technology. 'A Is For Atom' is the worst offender in that sense, you can almost sense the author screaming at you. It's a shame when a far more subtle story like The Fisherman and the Genie has shown the contrasting hazards and excitement of the technology so well.
There are some fine moments here when the author comes out of the literary pulpit though, usually when asking questions about cost of progress - Hypothermia is uncomfortable, with the lead character's somewhat horrific wartime actions having beneficial consequences but, via his wife's reaction, being morally questioned. In The Ocean Of Storms, despite the unemotional lead character, is a genuinely terrifying concept and The Fisherman and the Genie is refreshingly subtle in the contrast between the wonder of discovery and the possible consequences of hazardous work.
Perhaps then this is a little clumsy at times, but there are certainly flashes of promise here and there. If the author could learn to trust the reader a little more rather than spelling things out carefully for him (a possible consequence of coming to literature from an apparent scientific background) and work a little more on characters being more than mouthpieces then he could develop in interesting directions. As it stands, this is a solid introduction to the story of mid-20th century technology and provides plenty of interesting directions for further exploration.
His approach is an interesting one, examining humanity via the technology it creates and basing the stories around them - as he points out in his introduction, archeologically what tends to remain after meat and bone has decayed are the objects we leave behind, so surely they're a fit topic for stories. Perhaps it's an apt time now that we've the distance to begin to judge consequences. I'm not entirely sure it's as radical a concept as he's trying to make out (particularly given the hard SF tradition) but I like the pretension and ambition of his stated aims.
Unfortunately that approach, the predominance of technology, leads to the first major flaw here - the characters are all rather flat and one dimensional, secondary to the objects and concepts Messier's really interested in. So when a Russian astronaut's dying alone on the surface of the moon, or a character's realising the consequences of wartime actions or even making a discovery there's no real emotion conveyed, instead we're more told how they're feeling than shown it. That's simply an aspect of the approach the author's taken, and if you generally find your way to the heart of stories through character this might be unengaging.
The other flaw here is an overtly didactic approach - while the three groups of three are effectively structured to approach the subjects from different angles the introductory essays to the subjects aren't really needed, setting out the author's personal views. The content of the stories should be strong enough to stand on their own for these to be unnecessary and generally are, often to the point of preaching, particularly in the sections regarding nuclear technology. 'A Is For Atom' is the worst offender in that sense, you can almost sense the author screaming at you. It's a shame when a far more subtle story like The Fisherman and the Genie has shown the contrasting hazards and excitement of the technology so well.
There are some fine moments here when the author comes out of the literary pulpit though, usually when asking questions about cost of progress - Hypothermia is uncomfortable, with the lead character's somewhat horrific wartime actions having beneficial consequences but, via his wife's reaction, being morally questioned. In The Ocean Of Storms, despite the unemotional lead character, is a genuinely terrifying concept and The Fisherman and the Genie is refreshingly subtle in the contrast between the wonder of discovery and the possible consequences of hazardous work.
Perhaps then this is a little clumsy at times, but there are certainly flashes of promise here and there. If the author could learn to trust the reader a little more rather than spelling things out carefully for him (a possible consequence of coming to literature from an apparent scientific background) and work a little more on characters being more than mouthpieces then he could develop in interesting directions. As it stands, this is a solid introduction to the story of mid-20th century technology and provides plenty of interesting directions for further exploration.
March 11, 2013
Unfortunately, this was a tiring, pretentious and poorly written book. More importantly, the book lacked compassion and humanity,not because of the supposed technical details (in fact the book contained little to none)but mainly because of the authors confusion of what constitutes scientific rigour with sociopathic characteristics in the behavioural sciences.
Given that this was a book on historical technological fiction, the timeline of which begins in the book in WWII, I was expecting at least a mention of Turing or the beginnings of the computer.
Instead the emphasis is placed on the 'experiments' in the concentration camps , which the reader can only read with unease.
The author makes several attempts to demonstrate his erudition throughout the book ,but this is more prominent in the preface.
In doing so he comes across as lacking in it.
In the preface he lectures and frequently underestimates his readers in a paternalistic tone. He states his opinion as if it were fact, without citations.
He incorporates misplaced quoted from Dawkins R. and philosopher Hannah Arrendt, which do little to contribute to the books central theme of 'literary materialism' as ascribed by the author.
He alludes to Evolutionary Biologist, Richard Dawkins 1980's book 'The Extended Phenotype', which succeeded 'The Selfish Gene' .
'So too with humans, though our creations are unfettered by rigid genetic programming.' Had the author 'researched' genetics, he might have come across the concept of epigenetics, he may have discovered that the genetic programming is far from rigid. Although this would have been an irrelevant concept to include in the book, admittedly the book is full of them.
Given that this was a book on historical technological fiction, the timeline of which begins in the book in WWII, I was expecting at least a mention of Turing or the beginnings of the computer.
Instead the emphasis is placed on the 'experiments' in the concentration camps , which the reader can only read with unease.
The author makes several attempts to demonstrate his erudition throughout the book ,but this is more prominent in the preface.
In doing so he comes across as lacking in it.
In the preface he lectures and frequently underestimates his readers in a paternalistic tone. He states his opinion as if it were fact, without citations.
He incorporates misplaced quoted from Dawkins R. and philosopher Hannah Arrendt, which do little to contribute to the books central theme of 'literary materialism' as ascribed by the author.
He alludes to Evolutionary Biologist, Richard Dawkins 1980's book 'The Extended Phenotype', which succeeded 'The Selfish Gene' .
'So too with humans, though our creations are unfettered by rigid genetic programming.' Had the author 'researched' genetics, he might have come across the concept of epigenetics, he may have discovered that the genetic programming is far from rigid. Although this would have been an irrelevant concept to include in the book, admittedly the book is full of them.
May 21, 2020
I was provided this book by the publisher for reviewing purposes.
Our Own Devices, is an interesting and thought provoking collection of short stories based on actual history. Best of all there's a detailed collection of notes at the end of the book which details precisely what each short story was based on in reality and some notes about the history of such events.
I found the story relating to the Australian nuclear tests of particular interest as an Australian and in this along with several of the other short stories brought to light some history I wasn't aware of.
If you're interested in history, technology and/or short stories this would be a good book to pick up. It's a quick read, yet quite thought provoking and gives plenty of information in the notes for those wishing to learn more about the topics raised.
Our Own Devices, is an interesting and thought provoking collection of short stories based on actual history. Best of all there's a detailed collection of notes at the end of the book which details precisely what each short story was based on in reality and some notes about the history of such events.
I found the story relating to the Australian nuclear tests of particular interest as an Australian and in this along with several of the other short stories brought to light some history I wasn't aware of.
If you're interested in history, technology and/or short stories this would be a good book to pick up. It's a quick read, yet quite thought provoking and gives plenty of information in the notes for those wishing to learn more about the topics raised.
June 24, 2020
[Disclaimer: Ho ricevuto il libro grazie al programma Early Reviewer di LibraryThing] Questo libro comprende nove racconti con un tema comune: sono tutti ambientati tra il 1940 e il 1969, e parlano di scienza. D'accordo, la fantascienza dovrebbe scrivere di scienza, ma in questo caso siamo anche oltre la hard sf: il libro ha persino un'appendice che spiega quali sono i fatti alla base dei racconti, oltre che varie fotografie d'epoca. Devo però dire che il testo non mi è piaciuto molto. Secondo me le storie sono troppo asciutte: sembra quasi che Messier sia più interessato a mostrarci vicende plausibili che a costruire una storia accattivante. C'è qualche eccezione, però: mi sono piaciute "The Fisherman and the Genie" (anche se non ho capito il riferimento alle Mille e una notte), "The Highest Step" e soprattutto "In The Ocean Of Storms", che è un gioiellino.
June 3, 2020
A technology-themed short story collection, not (to my mind) very original, and in style and tone reminiscent of the Golden Age of Sci-Fi with its unabashed homage to technology and what it can accomplish, both for the good of mankind and otherwise. Sadly, I found these stories neither gripping nor memorable, maybe due to, as another reviewer quite fittingly put it, “lack of compassion and humanity”, maybe due to poor character development. I find it difficult even now to recall what each individual story was about, let alone what it set out to tell us.
June 29, 2014
At the heart of Our Own Devices is the authors desire to focus on the impact of technology on our society in the twentieth century. The three sections of the book deal with WWII, nuclear energy and Space exploration, particularly how these advances have impacted our humanity, both for good and bad.
From the beginning, the stories are edgy, and drenched with irony; the first story is set during WWII, in a concentration camp, where medical experiments are taking place. It is a bold move to begin a book in this manner, yet, when the character is revisited in the future, his evil past is juxtaposed against his ability to help a person in need of medical help, based on the experiments he took part in during his work with the Nazi regime. Many reviewers have stated that they wish that more attention was paid to character development, but personally, I understand the author’s decision to pay more attention to the cold, impersonal nature of the technology which the human mind has given the world.
I enjoyed this book, and I am surprised that Mr. Messier is so young; being born decades after much of the technology he writes about was invented. That said, if I have any complaints about this book, it would be that the author tends to preach at times, putting forth his opinions, rather than utilizing facts; facts based on research would have added more to the stories, and while he utilized some articles and archival photos throughout the book, I would have liked to see more technical research utilized.
As I stated, Mr. Messier is a young talent, and I look forward to reading future works, as I imagine his style will mature. This collection could have been much greater, but I appreciate the idea, and the stories were not hard to read, as I found them entertaining.
June 19, 2013
While not for everyone, "Our Own Devices" is an entertaining but not-too-demanding look at situations spread throughout the twentieth century where technology itself is the central character, rather than human beings. As the author states in the introduction, certain classes of reader will have no problem at all with this approach, while others may find it unrelatable. There's nothing wrong with writing for your audience, if the audience is well-defined and under-served.
The writing seemed to work best toward the end, when the author related his own experiences in transforming theory into practice at an engineering competition. This story is the most emotionally authentic of all, for obvious reasons. Additionally, I found the various essays throughout the book to provide a useful guide to the material ahead, and was glad to find the explanatory text in the epilogue -- I was often surprised to learn which parts were factual, and found this to be one of the most rewarding aspects of the book.
I'd agree with an earlier reviewer who said that some stories were distractingly preachy and vitriolic, and the ones that highlighted ethical questions were more successful. Rather than ridiculing the hypocrisy of alternate viewpoints, my advice to the author would be to focus on the human forces that have allowed technology to be an agent of harm, or that have corrupted its public perception; such as greed, groupthink, and susceptibility to distraction.
I found "Our Own Devices" to be a promising and surprising first effort, and hope to see more from Messier in the future.
The writing seemed to work best toward the end, when the author related his own experiences in transforming theory into practice at an engineering competition. This story is the most emotionally authentic of all, for obvious reasons. Additionally, I found the various essays throughout the book to provide a useful guide to the material ahead, and was glad to find the explanatory text in the epilogue -- I was often surprised to learn which parts were factual, and found this to be one of the most rewarding aspects of the book.
I'd agree with an earlier reviewer who said that some stories were distractingly preachy and vitriolic, and the ones that highlighted ethical questions were more successful. Rather than ridiculing the hypocrisy of alternate viewpoints, my advice to the author would be to focus on the human forces that have allowed technology to be an agent of harm, or that have corrupted its public perception; such as greed, groupthink, and susceptibility to distraction.
I found "Our Own Devices" to be a promising and surprising first effort, and hope to see more from Messier in the future.
May 5, 2013
This book of short stories looks at how scientific advances such as Nuclear Power can be both misused and used. How advances in science which can now save lives have started out with the intent of taking lives. And how our relationship as people with these "powers" are looked at with these possible uses in mind.
An interesting book which is well written this is a quick read but the thoughts it leaves afterwards will be there for longer.
An interesting book which is well written this is a quick read but the thoughts it leaves afterwards will be there for longer.
April 4, 2013
Excellent collection of stories. Difficult to understand the format initially, but found each topic offered a fascinating insight into previously unpublicised areas of the subject matter.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews