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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
Cory Doctorow's stories generally have a message, a techno-moral. Something about open-source software, or digital file sharing. This collection is not without strong opinions, but it mixes in more full developed characters and more layered plots.
"When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth": When global disaster strikes, some of the last people left alive are the sysadmins who were called from their beds in the middle of the night to tend the global nodes off the Net. What will they do to stay alive and to rebuild their world?
"Anda's Game": I read this when it was included in "[b:The Best American Short Stories 2005|22430|The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2005 (Best American)|Dave Eggers|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167349159s/22430.jpg|2789642]". Chubby tween Anda gets involved in online gaming, which builds her self-esteem but also enmeshes her in some real-world economics.
"I, Robot": I read this online when it was first written and didn't like the ending, so I skipped it this time around. Doctorow creates two rival systems of robotics (rather than economics)--an authoritarian state that tries to control information and technology development, and a sort of "free market" state where scientists are free to design powerful robots that lack the Three Laws and where people clone multiple copies of themselves. It's the cloning that throws me. I have trouble accepting that as the "happy ending."
"I, Row-Boat": What becomes of sentient robots when humanity abandons the planet in order to live as free-floating intelligence in the ether? One little row boat keeps ferrying diving excurhsions (the free-floating intelligences sometimes want to experience the flesh, so they download into empty human shells). Experiences with an AI-human lovers' quarrel and a coral reef that recently attained consciousness rock Robbie's religious beliefs.
"After the Siege": The techno-moral here is about intellectual property as a tool of oppression, but if you skipped Doctorow's introduction and just read the story, you might be able to concentrate on a harrowing story of what a girl will do to survive in wartime. Definitely the highlight of the collection.
"When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth": When global disaster strikes, some of the last people left alive are the sysadmins who were called from their beds in the middle of the night to tend the global nodes off the Net. What will they do to stay alive and to rebuild their world?
"Anda's Game": I read this when it was included in "[b:The Best American Short Stories 2005|22430|The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2005 (Best American)|Dave Eggers|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167349159s/22430.jpg|2789642]". Chubby tween Anda gets involved in online gaming, which builds her self-esteem but also enmeshes her in some real-world economics.
"I, Robot": I read this online when it was first written and didn't like the ending, so I skipped it this time around. Doctorow creates two rival systems of robotics (rather than economics)--an authoritarian state that tries to control information and technology development, and a sort of "free market" state where scientists are free to design powerful robots that lack the Three Laws and where people clone multiple copies of themselves. It's the cloning that throws me. I have trouble accepting that as the "happy ending."
"I, Row-Boat": What becomes of sentient robots when humanity abandons the planet in order to live as free-floating intelligence in the ether? One little row boat keeps ferrying diving excurhsions (the free-floating intelligences sometimes want to experience the flesh, so they download into empty human shells). Experiences with an AI-human lovers' quarrel and a coral reef that recently attained consciousness rock Robbie's religious beliefs.
"After the Siege": The techno-moral here is about intellectual property as a tool of oppression, but if you skipped Doctorow's introduction and just read the story, you might be able to concentrate on a harrowing story of what a girl will do to survive in wartime. Definitely the highlight of the collection.
Cory Doctorow'dan her biri birbirinden güzel öykülerin olduğu bir derleme bu kitap. Bazı öykülerde ileride yazdıklarına dair ipuçlarını ya da o fikirlerin gelişme noktalarını görebiliyorsunuz. Bu anlamda da Doctorow'un gelişimini görebilmenizi sağlıyor.
Kişisel olarak favori öykülerim After the Siege, Anda's Game ve When Sysadmins Rule the World. Hepsi oldukça iyi öyküler olsa da bu üçü kendisini öne çıkarmayı ve kafamda bazı şeyleri dürtmeyi becerebilenler oldu.
Özetle okunmasında fayda olan bir öykü(ler) kitabı.
Kişisel olarak favori öykülerim After the Siege, Anda's Game ve When Sysadmins Rule the World. Hepsi oldukça iyi öyküler olsa da bu üçü kendisini öne çıkarmayı ve kafamda bazı şeyleri dürtmeyi becerebilenler oldu.
Özetle okunmasında fayda olan bir öykü(ler) kitabı.
I've been on a Cory Doctorow kick lately. Binge reading everything I can get my hands on.
This is a short collection of just six stories by Doctorow, including the flash piece Printcrime, about a man with a printer and a dream; the quite excellent I, Row-Boat about a sentient row-boat who follows the creed of Asimovism getting along on a post-Singularity Earth with hardly any humans left; and the moving After the Siege about a city under siege in more ways than one.
I enjoyed most of these stories, but Doctorow's politics were always present, and some of them could feel a bit preachy. My favourites were I, Row-Boat and Anda's Game, an examination of MMORPGs and the companies that set up sweatshops in the third world to repeatedly 'grind' characters, building them up so they can be sold to Westerners who don't want to have to play up through the 'dull' stuff. That one is probably the most grounded story in the collection, throwing up a lot of issues which are currently having to be dealt with by the online gaming community.
Mostly a fun collection, but only a couple of the stories have the staying power that might make me want to read them again.
I enjoyed most of these stories, but Doctorow's politics were always present, and some of them could feel a bit preachy. My favourites were I, Row-Boat and Anda's Game, an examination of MMORPGs and the companies that set up sweatshops in the third world to repeatedly 'grind' characters, building them up so they can be sold to Westerners who don't want to have to play up through the 'dull' stuff. That one is probably the most grounded story in the collection, throwing up a lot of issues which are currently having to be dealt with by the online gaming community.
Mostly a fun collection, but only a couple of the stories have the staying power that might make me want to read them again.
Colección interesante de historias, casi todas típicas de Doctorow en el estilo y las ideas.
Printcrime: 2/5
Demasiado corta, el mensaje demasiado directo. No es mala, y no vas a perder demasiado tiempo leyéndola, pero al final te vas a preguntar para qué te gastaste.
When Sysadmins Ruled The Earth: 4/5
Un grupo de sysadmins queda encerrado en un datacenter durante una serie de atentados terroristas y crisis a nivel global, y deciden hacer algo para intentar reconstruir lo que puedan.
Interesante, un poco sin rumbo el final, pero bien escrita.
Anda's Game: 5/5
Anda es la mejor jugadora en su juego (un juego genérico de fantasía en primera persona, basados en la descripción), y la contratan para atacar las operaciones de una fábrica de objetos baratos en el juego que esconde explotación laboral fuera del mismo.
Uno de los dos mejores de la colección, sin duda.
I, Robot: 3.5/5
Como el título lo indica, claramente inspirada por Asimov. En esta historia, a diferencia de las de Asimov, no hay sólo un fabricante de robots, y no todos los robots tienen las tres leyes. El conflicto es obvio e inevitable.
El tono asimoviano suena un poco artificial, pero está bien trabajado.
I, Row-Boat: 3/5
Un barco robot que lleva cuerpos humanos "vacíos" que pueden ser ocupados por conciencias humanas remotas, y que cree en la religión del asimovismo (básicamente, seguir las tres leyes), entra en conflicto con un arrecife de coral inteligente cuyo objetivo es erradicar a la humanidad y reclamar los mares del planeta para el coral. Después de eso, se vuelve todavía más raro.
Digamos que si me hubiera quedado sólo con el principio de la historia no llegaba ni a dos estrellas. Pero mejora.
After The Siege: 4.5/5
Una ciudad "pirata" (no respetan la propiedad intelectual e imprimen directamente todo lo que necesitan/quieren) es atacada y a nadie le importa porque son piratas y hay que darles su merecido.
Un poco demasiado directo el mensaje, pero está muy bien contada la historia.
En general, bien. Las historias de Doctorow sufren en cuanto a que la metáfora, o el mensaje que quiere transmitir, es demasiado directo, y estas historias no son la excepción. El problema es que esta característica se acentúa más cuanto más corta es la historia, y eso sumado a la repetición que supone una colección de historias similares lo hace más obvio de lo que es.
Printcrime: 2/5
Demasiado corta, el mensaje demasiado directo. No es mala, y no vas a perder demasiado tiempo leyéndola, pero al final te vas a preguntar para qué te gastaste.
When Sysadmins Ruled The Earth: 4/5
Un grupo de sysadmins queda encerrado en un datacenter durante una serie de atentados terroristas y crisis a nivel global, y deciden hacer algo para intentar reconstruir lo que puedan.
Interesante, un poco sin rumbo el final, pero bien escrita.
Anda's Game: 5/5
Anda es la mejor jugadora en su juego (un juego genérico de fantasía en primera persona, basados en la descripción), y la contratan para atacar las operaciones de una fábrica de objetos baratos en el juego que esconde explotación laboral fuera del mismo.
Uno de los dos mejores de la colección, sin duda.
I, Robot: 3.5/5
Como el título lo indica, claramente inspirada por Asimov. En esta historia, a diferencia de las de Asimov, no hay sólo un fabricante de robots, y no todos los robots tienen las tres leyes. El conflicto es obvio e inevitable.
El tono asimoviano suena un poco artificial, pero está bien trabajado.
I, Row-Boat: 3/5
Un barco robot que lleva cuerpos humanos "vacíos" que pueden ser ocupados por conciencias humanas remotas, y que cree en la religión del asimovismo (básicamente, seguir las tres leyes), entra en conflicto con un arrecife de coral inteligente cuyo objetivo es erradicar a la humanidad y reclamar los mares del planeta para el coral. Después de eso, se vuelve todavía más raro.
Digamos que si me hubiera quedado sólo con el principio de la historia no llegaba ni a dos estrellas. Pero mejora.
After The Siege: 4.5/5
Una ciudad "pirata" (no respetan la propiedad intelectual e imprimen directamente todo lo que necesitan/quieren) es atacada y a nadie le importa porque son piratas y hay que darles su merecido.
Un poco demasiado directo el mensaje, pero está muy bien contada la historia.
En general, bien. Las historias de Doctorow sufren en cuanto a que la metáfora, o el mensaje que quiere transmitir, es demasiado directo, y estas historias no son la excepción. El problema es que esta característica se acentúa más cuanto más corta es la historia, y eso sumado a la repetición que supone una colección de historias similares lo hace más obvio de lo que es.
I've kind of half read this. I listened to When Sysadmins Ruled the World and Anda's Game audiobooks and they were both great! Really love his essays and the fact that in 100 years people will wear goggles and a cape and proclaim DO NOT FEAR! I AM FROM THE INTERNET!