The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances

The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon, 224 pages

After his wife, Edie, dies, Harold lives alone in his longtime home, supported by his Smart Home system and the sentient appliances managed by it. Edie was once a piano teacher, though she spent her dying days in bed, listening to Harold read classic books to her. However, not too long after Edie's death, the AI grid that runs society begins to start pushing Harold out of his family home, and the sentient appliances work together to hatch a plan to keep Harold from being forced into an assisted living home.

Told from the point of view of Scout, the sentient Roomba, this book is a meditation on the decline of humanity as we increasingly rely on technology, as well as a pointed look at how we treat the elderly. And somehow, it's also some weird mashup of The Brave Little Toaster and all of the humans-turned-furniture in Beauty and the Beast. It's a lovely little story though, and well worth some rumination.

The Hospital at the End of the World

The Hospital at the End of the World by Justin C. Key, 400 pages

Pok is at the head of his class, with a bright future in medical school ahead of him. Or so he thinks, until he learns that none of the 12 biggest medical schools — all affiliated with the global AI-based corporation Shepherd Organization — have accepted him, and the only one that has is the AI-averse Hippocrates. A deft coder, Pok pokes around in the Shepherd application files to discover that his files have been tampered with and tries to fix the issues. His anti-AI dad and fellow doctor is convinced that Hippocrates is the right move for Pok, but after Pok's dad dies under mysterious circumstances, Pok realizes that he must flee to Hippocrates. And somehow he must avoid all technological tracking until he gets there if he wants to survive.

With so many technological advancements happening in medicine today, including the integration of some AI elements, this near-future tale functions as a giant flashing, honking warning of the problems that may be on our horizon. It's an interesting, though also terrifying, idea to ponder in this book, especially as Pok begins his classes at Hippocrates and learns how far behind he is by relying on technology to do the heavy lifting of medical care. I'd recommend this for fans of Cory Doctorow and others who amplify the technological issues of today in fiction.

And Side By Side They Wander

And Side By Side They Wander by Molly Tanzer, 112 pages

In the very near future, humans have nearly destroyed the planet, without any real way to fix it. In came an alien race that offered technologies and other solutions to Earth's problems, and all they asked in return was to take some of the best art humans had to offer and display it a their vast treelike space station/museum. The aliens would, of course, give it all back once humans had sufficiently gotten their act together. Three hundred years after the art left earth, we've managed to meet the criteria the aliens laid out so that we can get our art back. But they don't want to give it back, and they've repeatedly put off any efforts at resolution. So what can we do but send some forgeries with a crew of clones, synthetic humans, and a pilot from a different alien race to steal the originals back?

This is billed as a science fiction heist novel (which is like catnip to me), but that's not quite right. Yes, there's a heist, but that's kind of in the background of the main character's musings on what makes something art, what make someone human, why real art is more valued than forgeries, and the nature of museums in general. (That super-helpful alien race sounds suspiciously like the British Empire from time to time) It's a decent book though, one that would be good for a book discussion as there are PLENTY of meaty topics shoved into a very short book.

Mechanize My Hands to War

Mechanize My Hands to War by Erin K. Wagner, 320 pages

Four events hold the center of this novel of Appalachia, AI, and a militant cult:

• The director of the ATF holds a press conference about an AI-soldier-involved shooting
• A farmer and his sick wife bring home an AI nurse and another AI farmhand to help out at their rapidly deteriorating home, surrounded by toxic soil and water
• An ATF agent leads a raid on a house occupied by the child soldiers of an anti-technology militia leader
• An AI soldier spends months awake and captive in a cell following his actions in the raid, which resulted in the death of a child

While it may seem like I've given away the entire story with that bulleted list, but I haven't, as the book looks at those events (and the time before and after them) through the eyes of a variety of characters. It's a bit confusing at the outset, but quickly draws you in, forcing complex musings on morality, personhood, guilt, empathy, and the role of technology in the military. While it would have been nice to get a bit more info about the kids who were armed at the behest of the militia leader (especially since his kid is one of the POV characters), it's a surprisingly intriguing tale, though perhaps not a particularly cheerful one. Still, I'd definitely recommend it!

Where the Axe is Buried

Where the Axe Is Buried by Ray Nayler, 336 pages

In the futuristic Federation, the president is a man whose consciousness keeps getting downloaded to successive bodies as the previous ones die (whether through natural or nefarious means), creating a decades-long regime of little actual change, despite new faces. Now, however, there's a plot to assassinate the president, and if all goes to plan, it may disrupt the flow once and for all. Meanwhile, outside the Federation, many Western European countries have given up on human governance, instead installing AI prime ministers to rule and regulate. But when one starts malfunctioning, it becomes abundantly clear that AI isn't the answer either.

Nayler has a great way of presenting current geopolitical and environmental issues in a thought-provoking way while still offering a compelling and exciting plot. This book is no exception. It's smart, it's complex, and it's a great example of what science fiction can do. Highly recommended.

Moonrising

Moonrising by Clare Barner, 320 pages

Not too many years in our future, genetically modified crops are clearly the way to provide food for an ever-growing human population, though many people don't trust them, thanks to some poorly regulated crops causing widespread illnesses in the science's earlier days. But that's not keeping Dr. Alex Cole from continuing to fight for GMOs, even if there are ecoterrorists threatening her life at all times. When her latest funding request is denied, Alex is forced to accept a position creating a functioning farm on the new moon colony. When she arrives, however, she learns that some of the first consumers of her new crops will be the ultrawealthy tourists who come to stay at a planned moon hotel being built by Emirati billionaire Mansoor Al Kaabi — not at all the people who she wants to help with her science. However, Alex finds Mansoor a surprising ally, and when sparks begin to fly between them, nobody is more surprised than she.

Given that this is supposed to be a science fiction romance blend, one would hope that the science would be solid and that the main characters would be likeable. However, some of the science seemed particularly hand-wavy and convenient, and I found it REALLY hard to root for a billionaire who unrepentantly admits to manipulating and buying off U.S. politicians to benefit his own pocketbook. Nah.

The Afterlife Project

The Afterlife Project by Tim Weed, 272 pages

In the near future, climate change and a global pandemic have decimated the human race, leaving just a few scattered communities still alive and next to no children being born (literally — fertile women are so rare that they're commodities easily kidnapped and thus guarded closely). Given this drastic change, a project originally created to send people to off-world colonies has shifted focus to try sending people 10,000 years into the future in the hopes of re-establishing the human race. And that takes us to this book's second storyline: a scientist from that group has awoken sometime around the year 11,000 AD, and is trying to find some sign of other humans in the vast, environmentally reclaimed world.

Told in alternating timelines between the near future and far, far distant future, this is an interesting take on climate fiction, showing that it's not the world so much as humanity that's suffering from what we've done to the planet. That said, it's also really questionable that the scientists who see what we've done would think that yeeting a human 10,000 years into the future to restart the destructive species is a good idea, which makes that whole premise pretty hard to buy. Between that and a few other problematic choices by the scientists, I'm inclined to think of this as an OK thought experiment, but not a particularly great book.

Palm Meridian

Palm Meridian by Grace Flahive, 256 pages

It's 2067, Florida's partially underwater, and Hannah is ready to celebrate her upcoming death. She lives in the Palm Meridian Retirement Resort, an upbeat world of queer women who haven't let old age slow them down at all, and when she learns that she has terminal cancer, Hannah decides to celebrate and face death on her own terms. However, she can't have a party without some bittersweet memories, especially when her longtime business partner shows up to the party... but the long lost love of her life doesn't. Told in alternating chapters between the day of the party and flashbacks to Hannah's younger days, we get a good look at Hannah's complicated relationships with her friends and loved ones, and why she might want them around in her last day on Earth. It's funny, it's moving, it's bittersweet, it's a lovely book.

Everything for Everyone

 

Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052-2072 by M.E. O'Brien and Eman Abdelhadi (2022) 256 pages

I listened to the audiobook on Hoopla narrated by Charli Burrow and Soneela Nankani. The authors have written this as if they are the oral history interviewers. This is speculative fiction about the near future, but it is in the style of nonfiction. It feels a bit dry, but very real. With the current developments of late-stage capitalism the future presented here is very probable. Many of the people interviewed about their part in the growth of communes in New York city are people of color or queer. We hear from many people who understand activism, abolition, collectivism, and mutual aid as tools to survive the collapse of the old systems. If you are interested in dystopian fiction that is closely tied to reality like Octavia Butler's Parable books or Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, you'll probably enjoy this. It has a hopeful message.

Here

Here by Richard McGuire (2014) 304 pages

The new film Here by Robert Zemeckis starring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright is based on this graphic novel. With such big stars the narrative thread must be more consistent and traditional, but I am still curious to see how it is adapted. This graphic novel is quite abstract with a "camera" view that does not move, but the time period depicted does jump wildly forward and backwards in time. It only gives you glimpses, often in small windows, into the broad stretch of time. We see ancient prehistory, history when no house is in the foreground, nearly the whole twentieth century history in the house that might be the main character, and speculation about our near future. There are some mini stories that are sequential over several pages: siblings sharing a joke, archeologists hoping to find relics on the property, Ben Franklin's family in a colonial house "across the street," a painter from the 1870s, and the building of the house in the foreground. After climate catastrophe, I especially loved the virtual tech imagined a couple centuries into our future. Following the time stamps is a nice mental puzzle, but I think the point is more to see the commonalities of how humans act and react to each other.
 

The Family Experiment

The Family Experiment by John Marrs, 453 pages

In the near future, having kids is too expensive for all but the most wealthy people. To address that issue, an enterprising tech company has come up with virtual children, which, through the magic of haptic suits and VR headsets, can be raised and interacted with in the metaverse throughout their whole "life." To promote this new offering, the company has created a reality show in which five couples and one single man raise virtual kids at an accelerated rate over nine months, at the end of which one winning couple or individual must choose whether they want to keep their virtual child (who, if they've done everything right, they care for as much as they would a biological kid) or if they want to kill that coding and try for a real world baby.

This is a horrifying concept done disturbingly well. There's emotional manipulation, sure, but this book also features social media judgment, child abductions and exploitation, and, well, reality TV. Oh, and some really unlikeable characters. There is an audience for this book, and I know that when those people who want horrifying books about technology and AI and its impact on our lives ask for a recommendation, I'll have this one ready to hand over. Because it IS well-thought-out and executed. Disturbingly so.

Goliath

Goliath by Tochi Onyebuchi, 327 pages

It's just 30-40 years in the future, and after centuries of ecological, economical, and racial disparity in policies and action, the rich white folks of the U.S. have left behind the dregs of the country to live in a space station colony. This book, however, is mainly about those who are left — mainly poor people of color, struggling every day with toxic air and depleting resources. Yes, there are a few people returning from the space colony as journalists and first-wave gentrifiers, but the bulk of this book is about the everyday people who are struggling to survive in New Haven, Connecticut.

This was not an easy book to read on many levels — there's not much of a storyline, and it's hard to tell who's speaking and when each passage is taking place, while the struggles of the left-behind people juxtaposed with the cringey journalists and Earth returnees make the events of the books uncomfortable. But I'm pretty sure this book isn't supposed to be an easy read. It's meant to be read and ruminated on and discussed, and I came out of our Orcs & Aliens discussion last night with a much greater appreciation for the book than I had going into the chat. Read this if you're ready for some deep introspection about race, class, and political and ecological policies in the U.S.

Walkaway

Walkaway by Cory Doctorow, 491 pages

In the not-too-distant future, the gap between the wealthy and the working class has grown to the point that some people who see no chance at ever retiring or finding happiness while working have decided to simply walk away from capitalist society and into the rural areas of the world, creating communities based on helping each other out, using skills when and where needed, and rejecting all of the bartering, money, and competition that defines "default" society. Walkaway follows three young adults who make the decision to walk away, exploring the places they go, the people they meet, the technology that makes walkaway communities possible, and the inherent danger of throwing off the yoke of a consumer/capitalist society. It's an intriguing thought experiment, and while it wasn't a quick read by any means, I enjoyed the thoughtful care Doctorow put into creating this world that is somehow both beyond anything imaginable and disturbingly realistic. I can't wait to see what the Orcs & Aliens make of it tonight!

The Future

 The Future by Naomi Alderman, 415 pages.

Kara reviewed this very cool (and slightly hard to quantify) book here a couple of weeks ago, and I entirely agree with everything she said. Despite a lack of linear plot and many characters doing entirely unrelated things in distant places, this book never felt like it was moving slowly. That being said, I  will say that I felt like the first half of this book was stronger than the second. It felt like the climax of the novel couldn't quite deliver on how strong the rising action was. This also feels like a book that has to be read to be understood. It was an exciting, thought-provoking ride, definitely recommended.
 

The Future

The Future by Naomi Alderman, 415 pages

In the near future, three tech billionaires have determined that when the apocalypse inevitably brings the end of civilization, the three of them should be saved to help reboot the world. (They have the brains and inclinations to do so after all.) Their super-secret warning system, their network of secret bunkers, and years of preparation make them sure that they and their chosen companions will be able to survive the end of times, no matter what sort of disaster it is. Meanwhile, internet-famous survivalist Lai Zhen is fleeing from an assassin in Singapore when her wearable tech starts offering her guidance to escape, revealing a mysterious bit of software that seems to be able to predict the future. And then there's Martha Einkorn, a woman who grew up in an apocalypse cult led by her father and ended up as the assistant to one of the aforementioned tech billionaires. From her place near the head of a social media empire, Martha can see that the parables she learned throughout her childhood are becoming truer and truer, and she's no longer sure how far off her father's prophecies are.

In a lot of ways, this book is almost too realistic — the tech billionaires intent on saving themselves, the data-mining capabilities of the online lives we live, even the online survivalists forums ring VERY true to today's world. But Alderman pushes things a bit farther, and I mean that in a very good way. This is a fast-paced, compelling novel with complex characters and ideas, but one that makes you think HARD about the present and the future. I have very few quibbles with the book (and none that I can discuss here, as they're major spoilers), but even with those, I'm confident in saying this is one of the best books I've read this year. Fantastic read.

We Are Satellites

We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker, 381 pages

In the not-too-distant future, a new technology is available to help people better multitask. It's called a Pilot, and it requires brain surgery to get the glowing piece of equipment working. When teenager David asks his moms for one, he's pretty sure it will help him get a leg up in school, where he's quickly falling behind to his Piloted peers. While one mother is game, the other is a bit of a luddite, particularly when it comes to anything brain-related, as David's younger sister Sophie has epilepsy and is ineligible for Pilots because of her condition. The novel follows the family over the course of several years, exploring the way that this ubiquitous technology changes their individual lives, their relationships to one another, and society at large.

This is a fascinating examination of the ways that technology impacts our lives and our perception of privacy, as well as a multitude of flaws in the health care system. I was absolutely captivated by this story, which, yes, is firmly science fiction, but is also so accessible and intriguing to a non-SF reader. Highly recommended.

Future Tense Fiction

Future Tense Fiction: Stories of Tomorrow, 245 pages

This collection gathers several stories from Slate's Future Tense science fiction series, giving a wide range of perspectives on the near future (within a couple hundred years, let's say). The talent included in this volume is AMAZING, from Nnedi Okorafor's opener, "Mother of Invention," which explores the possible consequences of genetically engineered crops and smart houses to the final story, "The Minnesota Diet,"  by Charlie Jane Anders, which reckons with automated freight and food supply gone awry. These stories touch on everything from human genetic enhancement to artificial intelligence to medical advances, and, incredibly, there's not a bad story in the bunch. Really, this is a fantastic collection, and anyone who's a fan of speculative fiction should give it a read.

The Windup Girl

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, 359 pages

Bangkok of the future is terrifying — climate change has made the tropical climate more extreme; bioterrorism has decimated the population with plagues; foreign GMO agriculture companies dangle plague-resistant crops as bait for bribes; fossil fuels are all but gone and what energy resources remain are tightly controlled; and the ministries of Trade and Environment have created warring (and corrupt) factions within government, destabilizing an already precarious situation. This novel simultaneously follows:

• one of those foreign GMO guys as he attempts to track down Thailand's seedbank while keeping up appearances of running a spring factory;
• the refugee manager of that spring factory, who is always keeping an eye out for himself first;
• the titular windup girl, a New Person genetically inclined to please her human master, whether she wants to or not; and
• a pair of Environment Ministry officers, one of whom is something of a state-sponsored environmental terrorist against the Trade Ministry.

Is it hard to keep all of this straight? Yup. Are any of the characters particularly likeable? Not really. Is the payoff worth it? Eh, still up in the air about that. The last 80-100 pages of this book are really compelling, and focus on a few characters that are barely mentioned in the first 250 pages. The unevenness of this book drives me nuts and makes me wonder how this tied for the 2010 Hugo for Best Novel. It was OK, at best.

Head On

Head On by John Scalzi, 335 pages

In the near future, nearly a tenth of the world has been diagnosed with Haden Syndrome, a disease that leaves their fully functioning brains locked into completely debilitated bodies. Thankfully, technological advances have made it possible for these "Hadens" to remain active in society through the use of "threeps," robotic vehicles that are remotely controlled by Hadens. And one of the ways these Hadens participate? Through the wildly popular Hilketa, a (for now) Haden-only sport that involves one team tearing the head off an opposing player's threep. When a player's actual body dies during a pro exhibition match, Haden FBI agent Chris Sloane is on the case, chasing clues down a rabbit hole of money laundering, doping, and marital infidelity, as well as a cat named Donut.

I loved Scalzi's Lock In, and this is an excellent sequel. Chris and partner Vann are great characters, and there are some great ethical questions that pop up in both books. I hope to read more of these in the future!

Parable of the Sower

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, 352 pages

In the near future, Lauren Olamina lives in a small, walled community outside of Los Angeles. But this isn't the kind of fancy gated community we're used to; no, this one is walled and insular to protect the residents and homes from thieves and arsonists that would take and destroy their meager pantries and closets. When the fire and robbers finally break through the walls, Lauren and two of her neighbors flee to the north, where they hope to find paying work, shelter, and drinkable water. Along the way, they pick up some traveling companions that find interest in Lauren's new religion, Earthseed, as well as her innate vulnerability as a hyperempath — someone who uncontrollably feels the same physical sensations as those around her.

I'd call this book "post-apocalyptic," except that nothing apocalyptic has happened; rather, it's the gradual degradation of society, government, and environment that created the situation in which we find Lauren. It's a world full of disconnected politicians, abject poverty, drought, price-gouging, gun culture, and apathy to human suffering. It's scary, and haunting, how prescient Butler was, publishing this book nearly 20 years ago. It's beautifully written, and somehow full of hope, and I highly recommend it.