Juliet Ulman

Fourteen good stories, some of them great, all investigating the possible consequences (utopia or dystopia or in-between) of some technology already in play now in the 2010s and 2020s.

Like with most antholologies, one or two stories left me scratching my head, not sure what they were about, where they took place, whether they were lacking or were beyond my limited ability to understand them - even though, scene by scene, they all did keep my interest.

Analee Newitz's "When Robot and Crow show more Saved East St. Louis" was one of the best sci-fi stories I've read in a while.

Charlie Jane Anders "The Minnesota Diet" ends the book in a quirky but satisfyingly upbeat way. show less

The coolest thing about this collection is that Slate published an actual scientist's "response" to the scientific premise of each story. Just google "slate response to 'title'" and you'll find it. (You can also find the stories free to read online the same way.)

I won't comment on every story, instead I will focus mainly on the ones that prompt me to want to read more by the author. But I will be picky, because A. my to-read list is already out-of-hand and B. I have (finally!) learned that a show more writer of a short story that I like is not necessarily writing novels that I like. Most here are pretty darn good though, even if predominantly rather dark.
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Ok done. Turns out the only author I truly want to read more by is already on my list, and I've already loved her two primary works. [a:Maureen F. McHugh|110206|Maureen F. McHugh|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1323332255p2/110206.jpg]
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The Minnesota Diet:

I grew up in farm country. I know that this is real. Too much naïve reliance on 'smart' supply webs is a bad idea, on any scale from using Alexa to control your furnace to the scenario in this story. Christopher Wharton's response agrees. But it's Anders' story that engages. And I will always make sure that I have some protein in the pantry and that I know where all the manual override switches are.
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I didn't understand one story at all so I googled and found this:
Could the Experiences of Our Ancestors Be “Seared Into Our Cells”?
A science journalist responds to Carmen Maria Machado’s short story “A Brief and Fearful Star.”
https://slate.com/technology/2018/06/science-journalist-erika-hayasaki-responds-...
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Overall, recommended. Esp. because you can read the stories online. But I do hope they inspire you to read more by some of the various contributors..

Merged review:

Full-on Sense of Wonder and What If. Thank you for the best smile of the week. Thought-provoking, too. Looking for more by the author now. show less

Entertaining short stories set on near-future Earth. They reminded me of John Wyndham - sci fi light, as I think of it. Nothing too strenuous, just a bunch of clever stories that move current science ahead a few years to see what might happen if certain ideas come to fruition. Very enjoyable, and a book that's easy to whip right through.

I read this short story in its French version, translated by [a:Sara Doke|2930261|Sara Doke|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png], and published in the anthology [b:Utopiales 2016|32655423|Utopiales 2016|Gérard Klein|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1476695805s/32655423.jpg|53228504]. The original story can be read online on Slate.com. Click here.

It's about a fembot, one of the many Mika Models as they are called, who has killed show more (decapitated) her owner, who apparently had certain "dirty" plans in mind. She heads to the police office and asks for punishment. Evidence is presented on the spot, which makes the detective (Rivera) question what happened. They drive back to the scene of the crime, where they find the man's body. All the while, Rivera can't suppress having feelings for the bot, which is normal, as she's designed in such a fashion.

The bot also has all the functions of a proper robot: scanning, sending/receiving information, manipulating manners, etc. And so, its proprietary (the company that manufactured Mika) quickly sends over a lawyer, even if the robot asks for a real one, an independent one.

It's not the best story about fembots/sexbots (which do exist in today's world), about AI's, but it does provide food for thought, also in the context of self-driving card, for example. Who is responsible for the acts of a robot? The robot itself? Can/does it have the same rights as a human being? Or is it the owner who's responsible? Or the company that manufactured the robot? Etc., etc. Let's also not forget the manipulative functions of such robots. In other words: Brave New World.

All in all, an entertaining and smooth read. For more robot stories, I'll gladly direct you to [a:Isaac Asimov|16667|Isaac Asimov|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1341965730p2/16667.jpg]'s [b:The Complete Robot|50091|The Complete Robot (Robot #0.3)|Isaac Asimov|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1405467461s/50091.jpg|2361910], for example, which I reviewed last year. show less