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sarah_stokes's review against another edition
4.0
*Hands up* I bought this just for the [a:Neal Stephenson|545|Neal Stephenson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1430920344p2/545.jpg] story, but I was tempted to keep reading - partly because I knew there was a [a:Cory Doctorow|12581|Cory Doctorow|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1361468756p2/12581.jpg] tale coming along in a few pages, and it really is a cracking concept for a collection. As in, the concept came first, and from enquiring minds at that...
If you think, or even hope, that smart fiction can marry with smart science and make the world a smarter place, read on! I can't promise that I'll find the time to read all anthologies so greedily and thoroughly but this one had me from cover to cover.
If you think, or even hope, that smart fiction can marry with smart science and make the world a smarter place, read on! I can't promise that I'll find the time to read all anthologies so greedily and thoroughly but this one had me from cover to cover.
katjonzz's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
jvantland's review against another edition
5.0
This collection has been my lunch companion for most of the summer, slowly winding through its 500 pages. These short stories have helped me gain a new imagination for a future where we work together to avert climate disasters, better understand our connections to one another and the planet, and reach beyond our despair to make a beautiful new future.
Every story isn’t a literary masterpiece, but each one offered me another opportunity to practice optimism and hope, to stretch myself in wonder at what could be. I am so grateful to these writers for their work.
Every story isn’t a literary masterpiece, but each one offered me another opportunity to practice optimism and hope, to stretch myself in wonder at what could be. I am so grateful to these writers for their work.
house_of_scatha's review against another edition
3.0
Some good stories in here; some so-so stories. I would have liked more that had been written by writers who weren't North American. Even the stories in "exotic" settings had a certain sameness to them. Stand out stories from Cory Doctorow, Karl Schroeder, James L. Cabias, Brenda Cooper, and Madeline Ashby.
amandasystems's review against another edition
3.0
This collection of short stories should in theory be precisely what I want. It’s not. Some of the stories are great; surprising, funny, and thought-provoking. Most are ok, and some a corny or just plain annoyingly bad. I suggest reading a few pages and if you can’t stand the tone of voice–move on to the next story.
pbrown12303's review against another edition
2.0
Mixed bag
Some of these stories are good tales, others are good technical speculation, but many are just tedious reads. Almost not worth the time.
Some of these stories are good tales, others are good technical speculation, but many are just tedious reads. Almost not worth the time.
mburnamfink's review against another edition
5.0
Back in 2011, a chance encounter between Michael Crow and Neal Stephenson lead to a discussion about who was to blame for the sorry state of our collective imaginations: the best minds of our generation who spend their time design spam filters and social media apps, or science fiction writers who churn out endless dystopias and apocalypses. From this chance encounter was born the Center for Science and Imagination and Project Hieroglyph, with the goal of bringing scientist fiction writers in contact with actual scientists with a mandate to imagine a world where problems could be solved, as an inspiration to solving them. Now, three years later this is the book, and trust a guy who has read 117 science fiction books since 2010, it is GOOD.
The stories in this collection cover topics including space exploration, entrepreneurship, drones, civil liberties, education, climate change, and more, book-ended by Stephenson's Tall Tower, a 20 km steel structure that could cut space launch costs in half-for starters. Stephenson opens with a classically Heinleinian engineering epic of how the Tower is built--think "The Roads Must Roll" or "Blowups Happen". Bruce Sterling closes with the same tower 200 years in the future, inhabited by the decadent and wicked religious dreamers of an Earth that is being abandoned by the Ascended Masters, and the quixotic quest of a cowboy to ride his old horse to the very top. My two very favorite stories were "By the time we get to Arizona" by Madeline Ashby, who provides a The Prisoner inspired take on reforming American's Kafkaesque immigration system with a six week panopticon trial period in a model border town, and "Degrees of Freedom" Karl Schroeder, who uses augmented reality to provide a fascinating and inspiration lens on democracy, legitimacy, and collective decision making. Not everyone manages to hit as solidly, but there's no filler here, and very few reused ideas.
I've rarely seen such a creative, energetic, and yet solidly themed collection. The tent-poles are pieces from masters of the genre, names that you should recognize like Neal Stephenson, Bruce Sterling, Elizabeth Bear, Gregory Benford, David Brin and Cory Doctorow. All these major talents bring their A game, and fans of any of them should check out the collection. This might just be some of the best science fiction you'll read in a long time: Retro without being old-fashioned, optimistic without being panglossian.
Disclosure notice: While I am a grad student at ASU and have been following Hieroglyph's progress eagerly since it's inception, I have no financial or institutional connection to it. I just think it's super cool.
((Addendum: And Lawrence Krauss is a blowhard. Skip the introduction))
The stories in this collection cover topics including space exploration, entrepreneurship, drones, civil liberties, education, climate change, and more, book-ended by Stephenson's Tall Tower, a 20 km steel structure that could cut space launch costs in half-for starters. Stephenson opens with a classically Heinleinian engineering epic of how the Tower is built--think "The Roads Must Roll" or "Blowups Happen". Bruce Sterling closes with the same tower 200 years in the future, inhabited by the decadent and wicked religious dreamers of an Earth that is being abandoned by the Ascended Masters, and the quixotic quest of a cowboy to ride his old horse to the very top. My two very favorite stories were "By the time we get to Arizona" by Madeline Ashby, who provides a The Prisoner inspired take on reforming American's Kafkaesque immigration system with a six week panopticon trial period in a model border town, and "Degrees of Freedom" Karl Schroeder, who uses augmented reality to provide a fascinating and inspiration lens on democracy, legitimacy, and collective decision making. Not everyone manages to hit as solidly, but there's no filler here, and very few reused ideas.
I've rarely seen such a creative, energetic, and yet solidly themed collection. The tent-poles are pieces from masters of the genre, names that you should recognize like Neal Stephenson, Bruce Sterling, Elizabeth Bear, Gregory Benford, David Brin and Cory Doctorow. All these major talents bring their A game, and fans of any of them should check out the collection. This might just be some of the best science fiction you'll read in a long time: Retro without being old-fashioned, optimistic without being panglossian.
Disclosure notice: While I am a grad student at ASU and have been following Hieroglyph's progress eagerly since it's inception, I have no financial or institutional connection to it. I just think it's super cool.
((Addendum: And Lawrence Krauss is a blowhard. Skip the introduction))
simsian's review against another edition
2.0
There are some decent stories here, some that will doubtless live second lives in future publication, but overall the big ideas herein presented overwhelm story and characters so as to wring the life from very interesting technologies. I've never cared for hard bought at the expense of characters, and this is no exception.
tdeshler's review against another edition
3.0
As with many short story collections, some were good, some not so much. I especially liked the longer stories. Taken as a whole, the array of big ideas were inspirational.
danperlman's review against another edition
4.0
I love the concept of short stories written by both science fiction writers and by scientists, looking forward at what might really be achievable in a foreseeable future, given current technology and what's under development. The writing, being from a disparate group of writers, is uneven in quality - some of the stories are spectacular, some are really good, some are good, and some are a little ho-hum. But overall, a great read.