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kat_book's review against another edition
15 oct: În engleza online aici Old Paint: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/lindholm_01_16_reprint/
31 dec: restul
FICTION
“The Algorithms of Value” by Robert Reed- kind of boring
“The Abduction of Europa” by E. Catherine Tobler-
31 dec: restul
FICTION
“The Algorithms of Value” by Robert Reed- kind of boring
“The Abduction of Europa” by E. Catherine Tobler-
aretaa's review against another edition
3.0
Mixed bag.
Loved:
"Extraction Request" by Rich Larson
"Everybody Loves Charles" by Bao Shu
"Old Paint" by Megan Lindholm
Didn't like the rest.
Loved:
"Extraction Request" by Rich Larson
"Everybody Loves Charles" by Bao Shu
"Old Paint" by Megan Lindholm
Didn't like the rest.
arkron's review against another edition
5.0
The complete opposite to [b:Christine|10629|Christine|Stephen King|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327270815s/10629.jpg|1150571] set some 30 years in the future. Main protagonist is the family of a single mom who had a quite wild youth. She inherits an "old" station car from the 2020s - old from the point of view of her children but quite futuristic from mine with its artificial intelligence. The story involves some action with nano viruses turning cars aggressive and the "old" car has its moments. This SF part philosophizes on AI reliability with safety relevant themes. Maybe it is also related to Pixar Cars. But at the core of the story is the relationship of the family members, the deceased grandpa and the car. Technology and social relations without horror - loving it!
thereadingoutlaw's review
3.0
For my first go-round with Clarkesworld magazine, I thought that I came out the other side no worse for wear!
Of all the stories, "Old Paint" was definitely my favorite. A light science fiction story about what happens to old cars in the world of future vehicles (and written by Megan Lindholm aka Robin Hobb, no less!) this story did such a wonderful job personifying the car that I found myself in tears by the end. Not many, but still, there were tears. I really didn't care for the other re-print, which was a commentary on art and forgery and value, but got lost in the lack of quick world-building that I feel helps stories like this one so, so much in short format.
In terms of the newly published fiction, I think my two favorites were "Algorithms of Value", which looked at AI, intelligence, contribution, and how we truly define when or whether a life has 'value'; and "Everybody Loves Charles", the story of a lonely Korean boy who spends his day live-casting into the mind and consciousness of another person - Charles - who just happens to be a famous spaceship racer. This entire universe is one in which the lifestyle vlogging of today's YouTube has blended with VR technology to the point where not only can you watch your favorite celebrities, you can actually nerologically experience their life. The story was sad on the one hand, but also largely empowering and a really, really sharp commentary on today's celebrity culture!
And, as per usual, the non-fiction articles that Clarkesworld included were short little think-piece bits, this time about AI and the developments of AI and VR technology.
After this, my first ever Clarkesworld experience, and I'm really really happy with my subscription!
Of all the stories, "Old Paint" was definitely my favorite. A light science fiction story about what happens to old cars in the world of future vehicles (and written by Megan Lindholm aka Robin Hobb, no less!) this story did such a wonderful job personifying the car that I found myself in tears by the end. Not many, but still, there were tears. I really didn't care for the other re-print, which was a commentary on art and forgery and value, but got lost in the lack of quick world-building that I feel helps stories like this one so, so much in short format.
In terms of the newly published fiction, I think my two favorites were "Algorithms of Value", which looked at AI, intelligence, contribution, and how we truly define when or whether a life has 'value'; and "Everybody Loves Charles", the story of a lonely Korean boy who spends his day live-casting into the mind and consciousness of another person - Charles - who just happens to be a famous spaceship racer. This entire universe is one in which the lifestyle vlogging of today's YouTube has blended with VR technology to the point where not only can you watch your favorite celebrities, you can actually nerologically experience their life. The story was sad on the one hand, but also largely empowering and a really, really sharp commentary on today's celebrity culture!
And, as per usual, the non-fiction articles that Clarkesworld included were short little think-piece bits, this time about AI and the developments of AI and VR technology.
After this, my first ever Clarkesworld experience, and I'm really really happy with my subscription!
kittyg's review
3.0
Okay, so this was the first time for me reading Clarkesworld and subscribing to a short sff magazine of any kind and I have to say there were some ups and downs, but that is to be expected of course.
I began by reading on of the 'Classic Fiction' reads (which are reprints) and I started out with "The True Vintage of Erzuine Thale" by Robert Silverberg which was very classic in tone. This is a story which somewhat reminded me of Poe (although maybe that was my imagination running away with me) and was all about a rather eccentric situation with a man who drank huge quantities of wine each day and complained about life. He also happened to be in possession of a vintage wine of some renown so that also added to the story. For me, this was easily a 3.5* read as it was fun and I liked revisiting the more classic style of fantasy writing. It was engaging throughout and I liked the way it was worded and the overall tones of the story. It felt very rich, kind of like I imagine good wine would be (although I don't like wine myself).
After a decent beginning things went a little downhill when I began to read the 'Original Fiction' with only one of the 4 actually making a good and lasting impression on me. "The Algorithms of Value" by Robert Reed didn't really interest me that much and felt a little unconvincing. 2*
"The Abduction of Europa" by E. Catherine Tobler was again not overly my cup of tea and so I wasn't really into it. 2*
"Extraction Request" by Rich Larson I didn't even try to really finish up becuase it just bored me unfortunately and I wasn't a fan. 1*
But, "Everybody Loves Charles" by Bao Shu was probably one of my favourite short stories as it was sci-fi and engaging in all the right ways. This is a fairly long story which talks about the various methods of technology evolving over time and how this works. It's all about 'livecasting' which I interpreted a the evolvement of 'livestreaming' which we already have today, and it was utterly fascinating to me to see the ways in which our society might move forward and be manipulated by new technologies. I really enjoyed the premise and characters, and it was by far the most interesting of all the 'Original Fiction', 4*s
Finally I went to the last of the 'Classic Fiction' reads which was "Old Paint" by Megan Lindholm (aka Robin Hobb) and I really enjoyed this one too. It was a story all about an old car, set in a futuristic version of our world. The cars have developed sentience of a kind, and it's a really quite sweet story to read and imagine. Again, 3.5*s
Finally the non-fiction by Ken Liu which spoke about the advancement of AI and how AI is being developed to a point where it can craft stories or help humans to make better stories was really fascinating and something that I hadn't heard of or read before so that one was a 3.5*s too.
There was also an artist interview which was nice to read through and a list of some of the best fiction of 2015 which I will be trying to track down and read some of as many of the names were familiar to me and I know they craft great stories.
On the whole, for my first Clarkesworld issue I wasn't disappointed and though not everything worked entirely for me, I did feel that the longer stories and non-fiction were all good in their own ways. 3*s overall and I look forward to next months one!
I began by reading on of the 'Classic Fiction' reads (which are reprints) and I started out with "The True Vintage of Erzuine Thale" by Robert Silverberg which was very classic in tone. This is a story which somewhat reminded me of Poe (although maybe that was my imagination running away with me) and was all about a rather eccentric situation with a man who drank huge quantities of wine each day and complained about life. He also happened to be in possession of a vintage wine of some renown so that also added to the story. For me, this was easily a 3.5* read as it was fun and I liked revisiting the more classic style of fantasy writing. It was engaging throughout and I liked the way it was worded and the overall tones of the story. It felt very rich, kind of like I imagine good wine would be (although I don't like wine myself).
After a decent beginning things went a little downhill when I began to read the 'Original Fiction' with only one of the 4 actually making a good and lasting impression on me. "The Algorithms of Value" by Robert Reed didn't really interest me that much and felt a little unconvincing. 2*
"The Abduction of Europa" by E. Catherine Tobler was again not overly my cup of tea and so I wasn't really into it. 2*
"Extraction Request" by Rich Larson I didn't even try to really finish up becuase it just bored me unfortunately and I wasn't a fan. 1*
But, "Everybody Loves Charles" by Bao Shu was probably one of my favourite short stories as it was sci-fi and engaging in all the right ways. This is a fairly long story which talks about the various methods of technology evolving over time and how this works. It's all about 'livecasting' which I interpreted a the evolvement of 'livestreaming' which we already have today, and it was utterly fascinating to me to see the ways in which our society might move forward and be manipulated by new technologies. I really enjoyed the premise and characters, and it was by far the most interesting of all the 'Original Fiction', 4*s
Finally I went to the last of the 'Classic Fiction' reads which was "Old Paint" by Megan Lindholm (aka Robin Hobb) and I really enjoyed this one too. It was a story all about an old car, set in a futuristic version of our world. The cars have developed sentience of a kind, and it's a really quite sweet story to read and imagine. Again, 3.5*s
Finally the non-fiction by Ken Liu which spoke about the advancement of AI and how AI is being developed to a point where it can craft stories or help humans to make better stories was really fascinating and something that I hadn't heard of or read before so that one was a 3.5*s too.
There was also an artist interview which was nice to read through and a list of some of the best fiction of 2015 which I will be trying to track down and read some of as many of the names were familiar to me and I know they craft great stories.
On the whole, for my first Clarkesworld issue I wasn't disappointed and though not everything worked entirely for me, I did feel that the longer stories and non-fiction were all good in their own ways. 3*s overall and I look forward to next months one!
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