Exploring one universe at a time. Interested in #Nature, #Photography, #NaturePhotography, #Science, #ScienceFiction, #Physics, #Engineering.
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AI will be the defining development of the twenty-first century. Within two decades, aspects of …
My Haunting Idol: a detective story set in a virtual world where a dead singing idol appears as a ghost to a fan who wants to solve the murder mystery.
The Shape of My Name by Nino Cipri is a time travel story about what …
A time-travel story told linearly from the point of view of the first-person narrator, who grows up hating the name (not said in the story) given to her by her mother. Then she learns of the time-travel machine maintained by her family for generations (and its limitations) and goes on a journey to discover herself and the reason her mother eventually leaves her.
As in most time-travel stories, it all comes back full circle once the narrator realizes what she wants and is willing to reconcile with her mother.
The Shape of My Name by Nino Cipri is a time travel story about what …
Can be read on-line at [ www.tor.com/2015/03/04/the-shape-of-my-name/ ]
When young Ira arrives for her appointment, she is prepared to be transported to The …
Two technicians prepare a person for a one-way trip: being reduced to data and sent to a destination thousands of light-years away.
But discussions during the preparations and afterwards shows the doubts one technician has over the purpose of offering the trip to those who want to do it.
Pauly is a good son. When he brings home three beautiful Masquerades, he's expecting that …
Can be read on-line at [ www.tor.com/2021/03/24/masquerade-season-pemi-aguda/ ]
AI will be the defining development of the twenty-first century. Within two decades, aspects of …
Contactless Love: in this future, new variations of COVID-19 continue to appear. One woman isolates herself in her home to keep safe, and finds companionship online. But when her virtual partner tries to surprise her by turning up, but ends up falling ill, she has to fight her instincts to keep safe to be by his side before it is too late. She will also have to contend with contact tracing technology that will try to keep her away.
For the residents of this mycological ecosystem, creating art feeds the World around you and …
Set in a place that appears to be a sealed, biologically contained world, this is a story about two people in love who don't fit in the society of artistic giving and taking, who push at the boundaries which, biologically speaking, push back.
One person is interested in ancient artistic technologies and, through trial and error, produces a new form of artistic expression: paper. The other uses the paper to produce artwork that questions the existence of their enclosed world and asks what is outside it.
Both are dangerous questions to ask in this world and when the world pushes back at them, they know they have no choice but to push at the boundaries and see what lies beyond them.
AI will be the defining development of the twenty-first century. Within two decades, aspects of …
Twin Sparrows: an interesting look at a future where custom AIs help to educate children and to direct their growth. The story concerns a pair of twins, each adopted by two families. Each twin has different personalities (one outgoing and competitive, the other withdrawn but artistic). But despite their different lives, they would be drawn back together in their time of need.
AI will be the defining development of the twenty-first century. Within two decades, aspects of …
Gods Behind the Masks: in Nigeria, a young man, whose fake video catches the interest of a group who want to discredit a masked political group with another fake video. The solution he uses would involve a 'deep fake' that would provoke a political scandal. But he has second thoughts about the job and needs to find a way out.
More than a hundred years from now, an arborist fighting to save the last remaining …
Based on the actual Future Library project, where stories are collected to be published in a hundred years time on trees planted at the beginning of the project, this story takes a fantastical and magical spin by imagining the project in a world on the brink of ecological disaster, and the forest is the last remaining one in the world.
Told in first person by the curator of the project, the story jumps in time from the beginning of the project to where the first tree was felled, to be used to publish the first story collected, and after. This is where things begin to turn strange, as the narrator realizes a truth about the trees that the Foundation may not want the dying world to hear, and has her jailed as an eco-terrorist to bury the truth.
It is a bleak story of a world with no ecological future, …
Based on the actual Future Library project, where stories are collected to be published in a hundred years time on trees planted at the beginning of the project, this story takes a fantastical and magical spin by imagining the project in a world on the brink of ecological disaster, and the forest is the last remaining one in the world.
Told in first person by the curator of the project, the story jumps in time from the beginning of the project to where the first tree was felled, to be used to publish the first story collected, and after. This is where things begin to turn strange, as the narrator realizes a truth about the trees that the Foundation may not want the dying world to hear, and has her jailed as an eco-terrorist to bury the truth.
It is a bleak story of a world with no ecological future, where the efforts of one person to tell the truth about the trees aren't enough to save humanity.
A better than average issue with some intersting stories by Nalo Hopkinson, Graham Edwards, Eleanor Arnason, K. A. Teryna, Hayley Stone and Jennie Goloboy.
"Broad Dutty Water: A Sunken Story" by Nalo Hopkinson: an interesting story in a future when global warming has caused water to cover much of the world. A girl with newly added augments attempts to use them before they are ready, causing her to crash in a storm. On an island, she finds something new, but it would have to wait for rescue to find in the form of her augmented pet pig.
"A Dime" by Megan Lindholm: a story of s payphone used yearly by a character to call home, but never seems to be able to find the time to go home for Christmas. But maybe this time she will.
"What Makes You Forget" by Victor Pseftakis: in a mining town there is a …
A better than average issue with some intersting stories by Nalo Hopkinson, Graham Edwards, Eleanor Arnason, K. A. Teryna, Hayley Stone and Jennie Goloboy.
"Broad Dutty Water: A Sunken Story" by Nalo Hopkinson: an interesting story in a future when global warming has caused water to cover much of the world. A girl with newly added augments attempts to use them before they are ready, causing her to crash in a storm. On an island, she finds something new, but it would have to wait for rescue to find in the form of her augmented pet pig.
"A Dime" by Megan Lindholm: a story of s payphone used yearly by a character to call home, but never seems to be able to find the time to go home for Christmas. But maybe this time she will.
"What Makes You Forget" by Victor Pseftakis: in a mining town there is a mysterious Hole that hints at the ability to fulfil the wishes and wants of people, but for a price. For a mother who works at the mine but has big ambitions for her sons, it may be a price she may be willing to pay at the end.
"A Vast Silence" by T. R. Napper: a petty thief is on the run from the law, unknowingly carrying with him a 'voice' that may be the cause of the pursuit. Discovering what the voice is and why it is important enough to make police officers murder to get it back is part of the story.
"The Reckoning" by Alexander Glass: in historic England, Christopher Marlowe meets Will Shakespeare, who warns him of his impending death. But it can be avoided, for this Shakespeare is from the future, and offers him a way to escape his fate.
"Castellia" by Graham Edwards: in a world where castles of stone come to life and can move, one castle makes a journey north on a journey to discover why it has been awakened and the role it will play at the end of the trip.
"Laki" by Eleanor Arnason: a fantasy story based on a real life eruption of an Icelandic volcano, involving trolls and one wise old sheep.
"Mad Milk" by Natalia Theodoridou: in a war between two countries, a general also looks for revenge for the murder of her lover. But as the war progresses, helped along by milk that gives warlike furry and strength, she begins to doubt the reasons for the war. But it may be too late, for the horrors caused by her actions cannot be undone.
"Lajos and his Bees" by K. A. Teryna, translated by Alex Shvartsman: a fairy tale-like story of a man more at home in the forest who has a magical connection with bees. But then the harmony is disturbed by the entry of love, and things would never be the same.
"The Black Dog Gone Gray" by Hayley Stone: a nice short tale of a person given the task to train a young girl to live with her condition. Through patience, and lots of cake, he manages, but not without some tantrums in between.
"A Demon’s Christmas Carol" by Jennie Goloboy: the usual demon gets summoned, but there's nothing usual in this story about a demon who prefers to be on Earth, taking care of children and hoping to find one particular person.
A Better Way of Saying by Sarah Pinsker is a fantasy about a young man, …
A light fantasy set in the early days of film when 'talkies' did not exist and people were hired to shout out the title cards of silent movies in cinemas, to aid the illiterate people in the audience.
But one teenager hired for the job grows upset with the way some title cards don't work for the scene and shouts out his own versions. This has an unexpected effect that would become important when, years later, he shouts out words to change the result of an act he witnesses.
This act, by the way, would appear to have been a real-life incident. Whether the after-effects of the act are the result of the teenager is left as an exercise for the reader.
AI will be the defining development of the twenty-first century. Within two decades, aspects of …
The Golden Elephant: in India, a girl is interested in her classmate. But her family's AI insurance company's app continually makes recommendations to keep her away from him, showing the limitations of a deep learning system that optimizes insurance policies by keeping people away from undesirable actions.
"A Demon’s Christmas Carol" by Jennie Goloboy: the usual demon gets summoned, but there's nothing usual in this story about a demon who prefers to be on Earth, taking care of children and hoping to find one particular person.
"The Black Dog Gone Gray" by Hayley Stone: a nice short tale of a person given the task to train a young girl to live with her condition. Through patience, and lots of cake, he manages, but not without some tantrums in between.