Reviews and Comments

An interesting near-future thriller mainly set on the Con Dao archipelago in Vietnam, where a species of intelligent, communicative octopus have been discovered. To try to communicate with them, a specialist in octopus has been called in, and she will have to work alongside an android, which may be the first sentient AI created, and a security officer who is deadly serious in protecting the area from all intruders.

The attempts at communication with the octopus is the main basis for the story. But layered upon it are philosophical discussions over the nature of the octopus itself, how they may see the world and how you approach and communicate with sentient beings that don't share the same senses or even a brain network with us: octopus limbs can operate independently of the brain, and they send messages by changing the patterns on their skin.

Subplots in the story focus on a hacker who has been asked to hack into an extremely sophisticated neural network, and on a slave crew on an AI controlled ship hunting for fish in a world where predatory fishing companies have overfished the oceans and are eager to exploit the remaining places with fish. They serve to flesh out this world where wars have been fought, and new regional nations have risen, eager to make their mark on the world. AI technology has also matured and taken over many jobs, while people feel more isolated in a world where AI mediated communications is the norm.

At the end, various parts come together to show that the octopuses have their own ideas on communicating and dealing with humans, leaving the future open for further interactions, but on the octopuses terms.

An excellent book about a global machine that people don't often think about: the global ocean. A machine takes in energy and does work, and the author shows how the ocean does that. The ocean takes in the energy of the sun, stores it mainly as heat, and uses it to move water in great currents all over the world. This affects how organisms live, for those at the surface to those living in the depths.

The book starts with showing how the machine works physically. Light from the sun heats the surface, causing evaporation and currents to form as cold water moves in to replace the lost water. The earth's rotation swirls the currents as they move north or south, which are further affected by land masses in their path. The author goes from the equator to the poles, showing how the workings of the machine affect the local conditions in areas.

All of this, of course, affects how organisms will live, by taking advantage of the conditions caused by the machine, whether to move about, eat or to breed. Humans are not exempted, as sailing ships and other early vessels also took advantage of the currents. Reading the currents also allows humans to predict where good fishing ground might be located.

All this human activity has lead to disruptions in the global ecosystem, for marine organisms depend on a predictable machine in order to survive. As an example, whaling lead to a collapse in marine microorganisms because the microorganisms depend on iron to grow, and a major source of iron was whale poop, which is now in short supply. The changing climate has also led to warmer water temperatures and changing currents, which are disrupting the lives of organisms.

In closing, the author offers some thoughts on how to reduce such disruptions. But the major point of the book is to make people more aware of the ocean and the machine that is running in it, and not to treat the oceans as a 'blank spot' that we can all throw our troubles (and refuse) into and not consider the consequences.

An average issue of Interzone, with interesting stories by E.G. Condé, Prashanth Srivatsa, Matt Hollingsworth and R. Wren.

• "Sibilance" by E.G. Condé: an investigator goes to Jupiter to discover why production of a vital source of fuel for fusion is diminishing. What he discovers would be an unexpected source of intrusion that can drive people, and machines, mad.

• "Warmth" by Seán Padraic Birnie: in a bedroom, a shadow moves in a way that shadows don't, and the occupant can only freeze in fear, or be warmed by the end.

• "Drafting" by Rachael Cupp: a teenager drafts a letter to a friend, first for hating her for stealing her boyfriend, then correcting it to maybe it is for the best, in a world where they are isolated from each other in shelters.

• "The Spirit Machines" by Prashanth Srivatsa: in an alternate past and future, two robots animated by magic guard a Buddha's relic from the relatives of a king who want to claim in. In the end, they fail; or do they?

• "When I Was the Red Baron" by Matt Hollingsworth: in a story containing violence and self injury, a young boy sees his father commit suicide, which has him rolling his crayon in the blood, which gives him chilling powers of destruction when used from drawing. As he becomes a parent, having used the crayon a few times to deadly effect, he is now faced with one final choice. But it may be his young son who might change his decision.

• "Carrigan" by R. Wren: an Irish person goes home to the farm where he/she grew up. But having to deal with relatives who don't know what to make of her is the least of her problems when her uncle accidentally awakens ancient people from the bog. Now they need to be appeased to leave the land alone.

• "The Clockwork Heart of Heaven" by Roby Davies: a fantastical story about a mechanical deity born from the mind of a man who might go on to dominate the earth and absorb humanity in its quest for godhood. But not if one man and a team of intelligent primates can stop it in time.

A better than average issue, with interesting stories by Alice Towey, Fiona Moore, Carolyn Zhao, Carlie St. George.

• "Fishy" by Alice Towey: a fun story of an AI-based robotic fish to lived out its days on the shelf of a researcher. Until one day when the researcher dies, and his daughter comes looking for his last piece of work that could change the world, and the fish may provide the answer.

• "The Portmeirion Road" by Fiona Moore: in a future after the collapse of civilization, a woman goes to a town containing an archive in the hopes of finding a way to help a child at asthma live for longer. But the price the archive asks for the information may be too much for her.

• "In Which Caruth is Correct" by Carolyn Zhao: a woman has to learn to deal with her past traumas in a world where such traumas can create singularities that get people caught in the past.

• "The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video" by Thomas Ha: in a future where works are digital, one person discovers an old book whose contents would not change. That would lead him into a conflict with another person who only wants to get rid of such content, for it cannot be changed to suit what the person wants.

• "The Texture of Memory, of Light" by Samara Auman: an out of work artist is mourning the death of her mother. She then discovers her mother's artificial arm, which brings back a flood of memories, tainted by her implant. Now she has to decide whether to continue with her artistic career at the company that may have killed her mother, or join striking workers, just like her mother did when she was alive.

• "The Blinding Light of Resurrection" by Rajeev Prasad: a surgeon is smuggling printed body parts out of a hospital to save his wife from cancer. But his activities are suspected by his friend, who also used to love his wife. The surgeon's love for his wife drives him to take risks: perhaps too many, when love turns to jealousy.

• "The Weight of Your Own Ashes" by Carlie St. George: an alien on earth has an accident and dies. But the alien's consciousness inhabits several bodies, and another body arrives to take the previous one's place on earth. But this leads to tensions in a relationship the alien is having with a human, who cannot deal with the death of the previous body or accept the replacement.

• "Our Father" by K. J. Khan: on the life of a man who has to wake up while on a colony ship on its way to another planet and accept his fate that he may not have descendents.

A fascinating and readable book about how the ecology of roads (and cars) is changing the face of the earth. With millions of kilometres of roads on the face of the earth, it is no wonder they are changing how animals behave and move about (or don't) when faced with a road. But it's not just animals: in the last chapter, the author shows how roads have been used to enforce racial segregation in the USA.

The first part of the book deals with how roads can kill animals. The most obvious is ending up as roadkill. But roads (and cars) also cut across migration paths, forcing animals to either starve (by staying where they are on one side of the road) or risk being killed trying to cross. Roads also cut across the territories of animals like the mountain lion in California, isolating them and causing in-breeding. Roads are especially deadly to amphibians and reptiles who bask on roads to get warm and whose natural instinct is to stay still instead of running from danger.

The second part looks at other effects roads have on the environment. The US Forest Service maintains roads in wild areas for access and safety. But these roads affect wildlife, and there is now a movement to restrict roads or to remove them. Noise pollution from roads also have an effect, with wildlife either having to call louder to be heard, or by failing to hear predators due to the covering noise. Road verges are a controversial topic, for they often have high levels of road pollution, yet may offer a refuge for animals driven off land beside the verges due to development. The story of the Monarch butterfly is a case in point, with milkweed being planted on road verges to help they survive; but doing so may kill them in the long term. Road kill also attracts scavengers like vultures, which can help them thrive, if the road doesn't kill them. Beside the land and air, roads can also affect water life. Roads cross streams and rivers using culverts, with can block the migrating path of salmon and other water life, and cause pollution in run-offs.

The third part looks at what can be done to mitigate the effect of roads. One change has been the building of wildlife crossings to help animals cross roads. But these usually work only when the crossings have been properly designed for them. People who help rehabilitate wildlife struck by vehicles also have a role, but an unappreciated one, which could lead to stress and even suicide among them. Instead of discarding roadkill, it can be collected to aid in research to learn about the condition of animals when they are killed. New road building could also be done with the needs of animals in mind, instead of adding them to roads afterwards. Finally, roads could also be removed or redeveloped, especially in areas where roads have historically been used to demolish or obstruct communities as a form of racial segregation.