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djwudi's review against another edition
4.0
Picked this one up on a whim at the book release party at Norwescon (and got it autographed by editor Jennifer Brozek and contributor M. Todd Gallowglass). Very pleasantly impressed by it - I read a lot of anthologies, and this had an uncommonly strong collection of stories, without even one that I didn't enjoy. Glad I stopped by the party and decided to give this one a shot.
morgandhu's review
3.0
"Bless Your Mechanical Heart," edited by Jennifer Brozek, is structured around a rather interesting theme. As Brozek notes in her Introduction, it's the idea of
...the poignant, sympathetic robot/cyborg that just doesn’t get it… or does get it and can’t do anything about it. That’s what makes some of these stories a kick in the teeth or encourages the reader to sigh with a knowing smile. We all recognize the humanity in the protagonists, even if they don’t recognize it themselves.
And the stories are for the most part very good, and all of them rung thoughtful changes on the theme. One thing I found interesting about many of them - particularly in light of the reference Brozak makes to the 'humanity' of the cybernetic protagonists - was that the authors had so fully and gendered these mechanical men - and women - that I found it somehow wrong not to use gendered pronouns in discussing them.
In Seanan McGuire's "The Lamb," highly realistic androids are placed in classrooms as a deterrent to bullying; programmed both to be targets - so that they, and not vulnerable human children and youths are bullied, assaulted, and tormented - and witnesses who speak out on graduation day concerning the abuse each one has experienced at the hands of their classmates.
Fiona Patton's "The King's Own" tells the story of an android soldier, a member of the special guard of a king in exile, whose special programming allows him to learn emotion and self-awareness, and the human soldier who tells him a lifetime of stories - starting with The Velveteen Rabbit - that show him how.
Mira lives in a world where drone bombs take out random targets at regular intervals. Three years ago, the target was her girlfriend Amy. Mira still grieves for her miscarried child, while her husband Jeff buries himself so deep in his work it's as if he wasn't there. Mira has an android housekeeper named Rachel, who once belonged to Amy, who has been programmed by Jeff to be Mira's substitute lover, and who wants to make Mira happy - but what Mira wants is a child to raise. "The Strange Architecture of the Heart," by Lucy A. Snyder, is funny and sad by turns, and ends with an unexpected answer to Mira's longing.
Jean Rabe's "Thirty-two Twenty-three" looks at what happens when a malfunctioning robot programmed to be a judicial assistant is reprogrammed with everything necessary to serve the religious needs of a diverse group of parishioners on a mining colony.
A batman - or batwoman - is a personal servant assigned to a commissioned officer. In "Just Another Day in the Butterfly War" by M. Todd Gallowglas, a cybernetic batwoman watches over two agents whose role in a temporal war is to keep the enemy from changing the timeline - and changing it back if they succeed.
In "Ever You" by Mae Empson, soldiers killed in battle - and of course, there is a long and bloody war as the background to the story - are brought back to fight again, and again, and again, cloned brains in synthetic bodies. To properly integrate their memories before going back to the front, these "Re-issues" spend a week with someone from their life before going off to fight and die - but at what emotional cost to the spouse, sibling, parent, friend who sends them off - again, and again, and again?
In Sarah Hans' "Rest in Peace," a lonely robot faces centuries alone after the human she has cared for and served through twelve regenerations dies.
A robot, well-maintained, can remain functional for a very long time - and in Dylan Birtolo's "Seeds of Devotion" we meet a robot programmed to do one special thing long after its owner is gone.
"The Imperial Companion" by Lillian Cohen-Moore presents us with a synthetic being designed as the friend and companion of a royal prince, who is reawakened centuries after the violent death of his charge.
Christopher Kellan's "In So Many Words" is a love story, its protagonist a robotic Cyrano de Bergerac who must woo his beloved for another - the human who is his master.
In "Do Robotic Cats Purr in Outer Space?" by Kerrie Hughes, a robotic therapist with the body of a cat and the preserved memories and personality of a human negotiates a subversive deal with one of her clients to secure a future for both of them.
Jason Sanford's "We Eat the Hearts that Come for You" is a tragic tale of a cyborg lover programmed to do the unthinkable - and suffer for it - again and again.
"AIDEd" by Minerva Zimmerman is a chilling tale of escalation of hostilities - set in a futuristic schoolground where students are assigned androids to protect then from any and all dangers.
Mark Andrew Edwards' "The Body as a Ship" follows an aging man through the process of replacing his failing organs one by one.
In the evocatively titled "Of Metal Men and Scarlet Thread and Dancing with the Sunrise" by Ken Scholes, a mechanical servitor, programmed with the knowledge to destroy a city, becomes a dangerous weapon.
In Jody Lynn Nye's "Lost Connection," a woman who has remained too dependent on her childhood robotic companion finds finds someone who will need her old friend far more than she ever did.
Peter Clines' "The Apocrypha of Gamma-202" broaches the question of how a society of robots might view the ancient memory of a creator, Man.
As promised, these tales have a particular poignancy to them, a humanity that is all the more potent because its subjects are so like us - and yet so unlike us. An enjoyable and satisfying collection.
*Lately, I've been thinking a lot about gender balance in anthologies. In this and all future anthologies I comment on, I'll be making notes on this issue. This anthology contains 17 stories, 10 of which are identifiable as being written by women.
...the poignant, sympathetic robot/cyborg that just doesn’t get it… or does get it and can’t do anything about it. That’s what makes some of these stories a kick in the teeth or encourages the reader to sigh with a knowing smile. We all recognize the humanity in the protagonists, even if they don’t recognize it themselves.
And the stories are for the most part very good, and all of them rung thoughtful changes on the theme. One thing I found interesting about many of them - particularly in light of the reference Brozak makes to the 'humanity' of the cybernetic protagonists - was that the authors had so fully and gendered these mechanical men - and women - that I found it somehow wrong not to use gendered pronouns in discussing them.
In Seanan McGuire's "The Lamb," highly realistic androids are placed in classrooms as a deterrent to bullying; programmed both to be targets - so that they, and not vulnerable human children and youths are bullied, assaulted, and tormented - and witnesses who speak out on graduation day concerning the abuse each one has experienced at the hands of their classmates.
Fiona Patton's "The King's Own" tells the story of an android soldier, a member of the special guard of a king in exile, whose special programming allows him to learn emotion and self-awareness, and the human soldier who tells him a lifetime of stories - starting with The Velveteen Rabbit - that show him how.
Mira lives in a world where drone bombs take out random targets at regular intervals. Three years ago, the target was her girlfriend Amy. Mira still grieves for her miscarried child, while her husband Jeff buries himself so deep in his work it's as if he wasn't there. Mira has an android housekeeper named Rachel, who once belonged to Amy, who has been programmed by Jeff to be Mira's substitute lover, and who wants to make Mira happy - but what Mira wants is a child to raise. "The Strange Architecture of the Heart," by Lucy A. Snyder, is funny and sad by turns, and ends with an unexpected answer to Mira's longing.
Jean Rabe's "Thirty-two Twenty-three" looks at what happens when a malfunctioning robot programmed to be a judicial assistant is reprogrammed with everything necessary to serve the religious needs of a diverse group of parishioners on a mining colony.
A batman - or batwoman - is a personal servant assigned to a commissioned officer. In "Just Another Day in the Butterfly War" by M. Todd Gallowglas, a cybernetic batwoman watches over two agents whose role in a temporal war is to keep the enemy from changing the timeline - and changing it back if they succeed.
In "Ever You" by Mae Empson, soldiers killed in battle - and of course, there is a long and bloody war as the background to the story - are brought back to fight again, and again, and again, cloned brains in synthetic bodies. To properly integrate their memories before going back to the front, these "Re-issues" spend a week with someone from their life before going off to fight and die - but at what emotional cost to the spouse, sibling, parent, friend who sends them off - again, and again, and again?
In Sarah Hans' "Rest in Peace," a lonely robot faces centuries alone after the human she has cared for and served through twelve regenerations dies.
A robot, well-maintained, can remain functional for a very long time - and in Dylan Birtolo's "Seeds of Devotion" we meet a robot programmed to do one special thing long after its owner is gone.
"The Imperial Companion" by Lillian Cohen-Moore presents us with a synthetic being designed as the friend and companion of a royal prince, who is reawakened centuries after the violent death of his charge.
Christopher Kellan's "In So Many Words" is a love story, its protagonist a robotic Cyrano de Bergerac who must woo his beloved for another - the human who is his master.
In "Do Robotic Cats Purr in Outer Space?" by Kerrie Hughes, a robotic therapist with the body of a cat and the preserved memories and personality of a human negotiates a subversive deal with one of her clients to secure a future for both of them.
Jason Sanford's "We Eat the Hearts that Come for You" is a tragic tale of a cyborg lover programmed to do the unthinkable - and suffer for it - again and again.
"AIDEd" by Minerva Zimmerman is a chilling tale of escalation of hostilities - set in a futuristic schoolground where students are assigned androids to protect then from any and all dangers.
Mark Andrew Edwards' "The Body as a Ship" follows an aging man through the process of replacing his failing organs one by one.
In the evocatively titled "Of Metal Men and Scarlet Thread and Dancing with the Sunrise" by Ken Scholes, a mechanical servitor, programmed with the knowledge to destroy a city, becomes a dangerous weapon.
In Jody Lynn Nye's "Lost Connection," a woman who has remained too dependent on her childhood robotic companion finds finds someone who will need her old friend far more than she ever did.
Peter Clines' "The Apocrypha of Gamma-202" broaches the question of how a society of robots might view the ancient memory of a creator, Man.
As promised, these tales have a particular poignancy to them, a humanity that is all the more potent because its subjects are so like us - and yet so unlike us. An enjoyable and satisfying collection.
*Lately, I've been thinking a lot about gender balance in anthologies. In this and all future anthologies I comment on, I'll be making notes on this issue. This anthology contains 17 stories, 10 of which are identifiable as being written by women.
jen1110's review
3.0
As with all anthologies, there were some stories that I loved and some that were kind of m'eh. Overall, a pretty good collection.
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