No
introduction this time around, we’re diving right into the stories with some of
the best science fiction published in 2010, as collected in Year’s Best SF 16.
“Petopia” by Benjamin Crowell
Read in Year’s Best SF 16 (2011), edited by
David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
Originally
published in Asimov’s Science Fiction
(June 2010), edited by Sheila Williams
Two
young teens living on the West Coast of Africa discover a technologically
advanced teddy bear in the near future. It made its way from California to
Africa with a shipment of used and discarded computers which one of the teens,
Aminata Diallo, disassembles as her day job. The teddy bear is a toy for rich
kids, kind of like a future version of a Tamagotchi mixed with a cellphone.
Aminata’s brother uses the bear (named Jelly) to become a chess hustler. The
kids are put in a situation where they have to use Jelly to steal money from
other people’s bank accounts in order to help their drunken father get out of a
pinch.
It’s an
odd little story that I can’t help but feel is probably accurate to the way of
life in undeveloped countries. The teens don’t know much about the world
outside of their city but they know enough to be able to hustle and steal from
others using whatever means they have at their disposal. What I call stealing
isn’t considered stealing in the way the kids in this story understand it. They
steal to survive, basically. The most chilling and interesting part of this
story is the idea that ownership in the modern world is a combination of might
makes right and licensed usage of a commodity. Do you truly own your apartment
or is its usage license out to you for an agreed upon fee? There are
interesting ideas at play here but Crowell seems more content on showing a
particular way of life today and how it might look like in the future. A neat
exercise but not one that is particularly exciting.
Rating:
2 stars
As a
near future story it’s not really my kind of thing. Other than putting the fear
of identity theft in the forefront of you mind for a few minutes and providing
the reader with a look at how technology does and will continue to affect
undeveloped countries, the story doesn’t have much to offer.
“Futures in the Memories Market” by Nina Kiriki
Hoffman
Read in Year’s Best SF 16 (2011), edited by
David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
Originally
published in Clarkesworld Magazine (June
2010), edited by Neil Clarke
This
story is almost a masterpiece. I say almost because I think I’m still
internalizing and absorbing what I’ve just read. “Futures in the Memories
Market” is about a woman named Geeta who has a heightened sensitivity to the
world around her. She experiences human senses in a way that the vast majority
of people can’t. It is so intense and captivating that her memories are
recorded, cleaned up and edited with the purpose of them being sold so that
others can experience her memories.
In the
future, memories are commodities to be sold. People like Geeta are hired to
acquire these memories and they’re brought to different locales and planets to
do so. In order to be prepared for sale, the memories must be extracted from
Geeta, leaving her without memories and also without any lasting personality.
The process is one of permanent extraction. It’s not about making a copy of her
memories. Each day Geeta acquires new memories she develops a new personality,
based on her experiences of that day. At night, she sleeps while being plugged
into a machine that forcefully takes her memories and leaves part of her mind a
blank canvas, receptive yet again for the next day’s events.
When a
person “emps” a purchased memory, they get to experience them as that other
person did. Geeta’s heightened senses are part of the memories. You can
temporarily step in another person’s sensory experience. You can be that other
person. Memories, personalities, identity, all are related to experience and
all can be shared. Hoffman expertly navigates these complex subjects while
crafting a poignant story between Geeta and her bodyguards. It’s hauntingly
beautiful.
Ranking:
4 stars
As far
as plot goes this is slight but if you consider the inventive and enchanting
future described in the story, you can’t help but be impressed. Hoffman’s prose
is descriptive and a little poetic. She writes with a subtlety befitting the
subject matter and it makes for a really good read.
“A Preliminary Assessment of the Drake
Equation, Being an Excerpt from the Memoirs of Star Captain Y.-T. Lee” by Vernor
Vinge
Read in Year’s Best SF 16 (2011), edited by
David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
Originally
published in Gateways (2010), Edited
by Elizabeth Anne Hull
Vernor
Vinge is yet another science fiction writer I’ve been planning on trying out.
Just like Joe Haldeman and Robert A. Heinlein before him, I’ve got a book of
Vinge’s patiently waiting for me on the bookshelf. For the curious out there,
it’s a nice looking copy of A Fire Upon
the Deep which I found at my local used book store. It looks like a dandy
good read, full of hard sci-fi goodness. I’m glad I got a chance to sample his
style with this story because it was a pretty damn good one.
Presented
like an excerpt of Captain Lee’s memoir (just like the title promised) this
story is about a planet similar to Earth’s originally called Lee’s World and
later changed to Paradise. After a couple decades of scouring the galaxy for
inhabitable planets, Lee and his crew discover “the most earthlike exoplanet
known”. After making his discovery Lee returns to the planet with a crew of
scientist along with the media. What results an interesting look at what future
space exploration might look like, including media hype unconcerned with any
kind of accuracy, rival scientists, petty squabbling, re-evaluations of old
theories designed to determine the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in
the galaxy, and several more neat ideas, all of which as skilfully presented by
Vinge. The result is a rich tapestry of exploration and bureaucracy. There are
a lot of details packed into this story and I’ll be rereading it again soon to
unpack some of those details in order to look at them with a new perspective.
Ranking:
4 stars
I liked
the ideas, I liked the subtext, and it was skilfully executed. What more do you
want? Well, to be honest, I would have liked it to be about twice the length.
Next week I branch out a little and include a
third book into my Short Story Sunday rotation. That’s crazy! I hope you’ll be
here to witness it. Until then, check out this in-depth interview with NinaKiriki Hoffman at Strange
Horizons.
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