Artificial Condition by Martha Wells - Book Review #262

This is the second book in the Murderbot series and it was a lot of fun.

Our “free,” rogue Murderbot goes back to where it all went wrong.

In this book we explore his ability to move about in free society, keeping to the shadows, and to learn how he came to hack his own governor module and how he became involved in the massacre that has haunted him throughout the last book.

I keep imagining Peter Weller in Robocop.  Our guy is messed up, self-aware, childlike and dangerous as hell.

To investigate his past, he boards a cargo/research ship that is about to depart without a crew.  AI’s are so advanced that, when the ship is not being used by its human crew, it goes off on routine cargo runs to generate revenue.  The AI of this ship is well tuned to interacting with humans and it allows Murderbot aboard so it could have somebody to talk to.

Their interactions are what makes this book work for me.

Lots of fun here.

Martha Wells' website - https://www.marthawells.com/

Martha Wells

The AI Cold War That Threatens Us All by Nicholas Thompson and Ian Bremmer - Wired Magazine article

In the November 2018 issue of Wired magazine, Nicolas Thompson and Ian Bremmer made a compelling case that we could be headed to a new kind of Cold War.

The future of relations between China and the United States revolves around AI, 5G networks, surveillance and intellectual property rights.

I found the whole article chilling and well thought out.  It extrapolates the near future based on today’s headlines and they even offer an alternative to the direction we seem to be on.

That alternative seems, to me at least, a bit optimistic but it is the best possible outcome.

Take the time to dig out the article.  It satisfied the futurist in me.

The article can be found here - https://www.wired.com/story/ai-cold-war-china-could-doom-us-all/

Identity Theft and other stories by Robert J Sawyer - Book Report #261

I enjoyed this book very much.  Not every story worked for me but that's okay.

The real joy of this anthology was the opportunity to read stories that would be very difficult to find today given the publication history.

Below is a list of links of the stories I reviewed from this book.

Enjoy!

I highly recommend the book, it was one of my reading highlights of 2018.

~~~

Identity Theft - https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/10/identity-theft-by-robert-j-sawyer.html

Come All Ye Faithful - https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/10/come-all-ye-faithful-by-robert-j-sawyer.html

Immortality - https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/10/immortality-by-robert-j-sawer.html

Shed Skin - https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/10/shed-skin-by-robert-j-sawer.html

The Stanley Cup Caper - https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-stanley-cup-caper-by-robert-j-sawyer.html

On The Surface - https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/10/on-surface-by-robert-j-sawyer.html

The Eagle Has Landed - https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-eagle-has-landed-by-robert-j-sawyer.html

Mikeys - https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/11/mikeys-by-robert-j-sawer.html

The Good Doctor - I didn't review this flash fiction, well, because I just didn't get it.  I read it twice and tried to get the joke but it escaped me completely.

Ineluctable - https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/11/ineluctable-by-robert-j-sawyer.html

The Right's Tough - https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-rights-tough-by-robert-j-sawyer.html

Kata Bindu - https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/11/kata-bindu-by-robert-j-sawyer.html

Driving a Bargain - https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/11/driving-bargain-by-robert-j-sawyer.html

Flashes - https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/11/flashes-by-robert-j-sawyer.html

Relativity - https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/11/relativity-by-robert-j-sawyer.html

Biding Time - https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/11/biding-time-by-robert-j-sawyer.html

Postscript: E-Mails from the Future - https://eric-the-mailman.blogspot.com/2018/11/biding-time-by-robert-j-sawyer.html

The Code that Crashed the World by Andy Greenberg - An Article Review

First published in Wired magazine’s September 2018 issue, Andy Greenberg shares an excerpt from his book Sandworm, to expose the damage caused by the Russian cyber attack of June 27, 2017.

The author focused on the damage caused to, and effort to recover from, the hack on the Maersk shipping company.

The whole thing read like an action movie and went to expose just how vulnerable the world’s networked computers are.  I found this to be a fantastic read.  It was also very, very scary.  This is not fiction, this happened and can easily happen again.

On the positive side, you can bet that these vulnerabilities are being addressed.  But it all came about because of apathy - since nothing has happened in the past there was no reason to prepare for the future.  Something we are all guilty of, really.

Whey was the last time you changed your passwords?

Link to the Wired article - https://www.wired.com/story/notpetya-cyberattack-ukraine-russia-code-crashed-the-world/

Andy Greenberg's Wired bio - https://www.wired.com/author/andy-greenberg/

Andy Greenberg

After the Sands by Gordon Laxer - Book Report #260

This is a timely book to consider an Alberta economy beyond oil.

I know, saying things like that are blasphemy in a province so dedicated to an extraction economy.  But, one of the things the author promotes is Canadian energy independence by stopping the export of our resources.  This would mean constructing the Energy East pipeline, something Quebec blocked, instead of expanding the Keystone XL line.

East of Ottawa oil products are imported from the Middle East.  This makes for a vulnerable situation if some kind of interruption in supply should happen.

All countries will ultimately protect their own citizens first, but Canada is unprepared to do so.  It would be better to set the stage now instead of waiting for a crisis to force our hand.

It is astonishing to learn how little proven reserves remain of Alberta’s natural gas.  I for one think of this when my furnace kicks in on a cold February morning.

This book is largely a big-picture, government-programs exploration on how to first, secure our current energy supply and then to transition off of carbon fuels to do our part in addressing climate change.

The last three chapters dig into a possible path for Canada.  It points to many other books and groups who are doing a lot of thinking on the subject.  Nothing will change overnight but it is important to explore the ways available to us.

Change is coming.  Will it be a disaster or a new era for humanity?

It’s scary and exciting to contemplate.

Highly recommended.

Gordon Laxer's website - https://www.gordonlaxer.com/

Gordon Laxer

Black Powder by Maria Dahvana Headley

It was a strange and interesting story that had the mood of something that Stephen King and Quentin Tarantino could have co-written.

It had s foreboding heaviness of ancient curses, threatening wildlife, abandoned places and unstoppable violence.  I loved the style of the narration and the character of The Hunter.

Sadly, the story fell apart somewhere and I found myself wishing the story would just end.  I felt it suffered from too many world-building elements.

It was that world-building that grabbed me at the start.


This needs to be a novel with room to breath.

Maria Dahvana Headley's website - https://www.mariadahvanaheadley.com/

Maria Dahvana Headley

Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance by Tobias S Buckell

Gotta love that title.

I had a bit of trouble understanding the world Buckell created but, once I did, it was wholly original and terrific.

It's a morality tale that involves uploaded consciousness, near-immortality and the idea of the singularity that went way past anything I have imagined so far.

That said, it was a pure story of humanity, morality, justice and greed.

It was strange.

It was familiar.

I loved it.



Tobias S Buckell's website - https://tobiasbuckell.com/

Tobias S Buckell

Cannibal Acts by Maureen McHugh

If you can get past the first scene you’ll be okay.

It’s the end of the world and humanity is dying out.

In a secluded town on the Alaskan coast, a small group of people are trying to survive while “at war” with a neighbouring group of survivors.

The scariest part of the author’s story is the realization that society is a very fragile thing.  We can only be “American,” “Japanese” or whatever if all of our systems function properly if we can be kept healthy and fed.

This was a chilling story mostly because the apocalypse is only a year or two in the past. What is normal for us is gone so quickly.

I think this story might keep me up tonight.

Well told.

Maureen McHugh

Dark Run by Mike Brooks - Book Review #259

Finally!

This is my kind of SF.  I grew up watching Star Trek and Star Wars but it was the smuggler's life of Han Solo, Chewbacca and the Millennium Falcon that caught my imagination.  I find the gritty life of trying to make a buck in a far-flung future captivating.

Firefly is another good example of this.  This type of SF, without alien encounters or super-powers, is often described as a Space Western.  I guess that's an apt description because it's just people with their own human motivations - on spaceships.

Anyway, this book felt like a love letter to Firefly and I was desperate to dive into this new take on that kind of structure.  It was all that and a bit more.  Brooks' writing is confident and he was unafraid to make time-skips to move the plot along.  The dialogue was crisp and punched through with humour.

I love that he handled exposition through the narrative.  He only revealed background when it was needed and through dialogue; the reader learned things at the same time as members of the crew did.  This is how character growth is handled in TV and movies because the medium does not lend itself well to exposition.  Adopting this kind of narrative makes this book move quickly.

I felt instantly at home in this book and I am thrilled to know there are at least two more in this world.

The plot?  The rag-tag crew of the Keiko accept a smuggling, no-questions-asked, job to deliver a package to Earth.  Things don't go as planned.  That's enough to get you going.  Trust me, you'll have fun.

Highly recommended.

Mike Brooks' website - http://www.mikebrooks.co.uk/

Mike Brooks

The Orange Tree by Maria Dahvana Headley

I found this to be an interesting way to start a dark February morning.

A broken, sick and troubled poet commissions a carpenter to create for him a golem.  He hopes it will cure him of his crushing loneliness.

But he is not as alone as he imagines.  The influence of others is all around him, even in his creation.

This story was beautiful and disturbing.  There was the feeling of powers held in check by will or simple chance that gave it a foreboding atmosphere.  And yet, it was beautiful and sad and spoke to the fleetingness of life.


It was a surprising story that will stay with me to be sure.

Maria Dahvana Headley's website - https://www.mariadahvanaheadley.com/

Maria Dahvana Headley