Lettie Prell

A classic society adapting to technology story. In a world where (wealthy) people are beginning to be resurrected after their death in artificial bodies - and, potential, resurrected again and again when these wear out - young Sonata makes the decision to limit her reincarnations to no more than two, making herself a "limited edition" in order to make her existence more meaningful.



This novella does a good job of positing how society views this technology, but also the effects it has on the show more individuals when they find themselves as superhumans who can choose to dispassionately view their emotions and, of course, to ask if it is indeed "that it will never come again is what makes life so sweet." show less

I'm sure it's great, for the right audience. It's a how-to for "aliens". An example was something like "don't swim for too long, they think their water is scary and will then think your scary". "It's okay to talk to dolphins but don't talk to their pets or they'll think something is wrong", etc...

Thank you Ms Prell, Tor, and GR friend Jim. I love short SF, packed with discussable ideas like this one is. And there's a lot to love in the writing, too. I'd definitely consider reading a novel by the author.

Excellent. (prob wouldn't read again so it's not a 5* for me)

A single mother struggles in the real world. It's all too much for her... "Buying food. Making meals. Taking showers. Needing a car to drive yourself to work. Shoveling snow. Dusting. Laundry. Calling someone to come fix stuff when it breaks down. ... the body breaking down."

She gets involved in beta-testing a VR world. Since she is a mother, her choices affect her young son. She thinks he will adjust to her choices. We get to see show more how that works out for her.

{novelette - 27 pages} show less