What do you think?
Rate this book
Nature Futures #1
Futures from Nature
Here are 100 very short stories on the subject of the future and what it might be like. The authors include scientists, journalists, and many of the most famous SF writers in the world. Futures from Nature includes everything from satires and vignettes to compressed stories and fictional book reviews, science articles, and journalism, in eight-hundred word modules. All of them are entertaining and as a group they are a startling repository of ideas and attitudes about the future. Appearing in book form fo the first time, these one hundred pieces were originally published in the great science journal, Nature, between 1999 and 2006, as one-page features. That proved very popular with the readers of the journal. This is a unique book, by scientists and writers, of interest to any reader who might like to speculate about the future. With stories from:Arthur C. Clarke; Bruce Sterling; Charles Stross; Cory Doctorow; Greg Bear; Gregory Benford; Oliver Morton; Ian Macleod; Rudy Rucker; Greg Egan; Stephan Baxter; Barrington J. Bayley; Brian Stableford; Frederik Pohl; Vernor Vinge; Nancy Kress, Michael Moorcock, Vonda N. McIntyr; Kim Stanley Robinson; John M. Ford; and eighty more.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published March 2, 2005
About the author
Henry Gee
65 books192 followersHenry Gee's next book The Wonder of Life on earth, illustrated by Raxenne Maniquiz, is out on 5 February 2026. His other books include The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire, A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth (winner of the 2022 Royal Society Science Book Prize) and The Science of Middle earth. His books have been translated into more than 25 languages. He is represented by Jill Grinberg Literary Management and lives in Cromer, England.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
January 21, 2012
We don't see many stories this short, and it makes for some intriguing exercises in presenting a single concept from a possible future.
They don't all work, but of course you won't like/dislike the same ones I did, so you'll have to read them all. Don't like one? Not to worry, you'll be past it in a minute and on to something completely different.
Many Big Names are represented here, but I didn't see a correlation between fame and success of story here.
They don't all work, but of course you won't like/dislike the same ones I did, so you'll have to read them all. Don't like one? Not to worry, you'll be past it in a minute and on to something completely different.
Many Big Names are represented here, but I didn't see a correlation between fame and success of story here.
January 15, 2015
This is really a wonderful collection. It's a set of flash fiction tales all about science and nature. As you might suspect with flash fictions, many of them are not so much stories as they are imaginative anecdotes. Yet, there are so many fresh ideas here that I've been taking note after note for my own writing. This collection made me think more than any other SF work I've read in years.
March 14, 2026
From Wikipedia: Nature is a British weekly international scientific journal publishing peer-reviewed research across the natural sciences...some commentators also regard it as among the most influential scientific journals worldwide.
This journal had a weekly fiction included, the online version still does, and I was curious about what kind of science fiction they would accept. My expectations were very much wrong. After reading these 100 stories that straddle between flash fiction and short story I've come to better understand those who dislike short fiction in general. For almost every single one of these there's simply not enough time to have any sort of narrative to go along with the idea. Many would've been better served to do away with the flimsy narrative and focused entirely on the idea. Often the case was that the idea was mentioned and then little was explained in any way about it.
The premise is that each of these stories present a theoretical future, but many of them had absurd ideas that even from a purely speculative perspective weren't worth considering. One reason for this may be that anyone who was accepted could be published. That means this anthology is a mix of first time writers, professional authors, hobbyists, Nature employees, and in one case, the preteen daughter of an employee. There's a lot of big name SF authors included here and I'd like to say they did better than the others, but it's a wash. Writing flash fiction seems to be its own individual skill and most probably weren't familiar with doing it.
That's a lot going against my enjoyment, so perhaps it was only to be expected that it'd go badly. I definitely considering dropping this multiple times early on. There's a second anthology of 100 more stories, but if I ever read it, it's not going to be anytime soon. I may only read the ones from the authors I've liked, even though that hasn't gone all that well here. Beyond that there's nature.com/nature/articles/?type=futures which lists 1,184 Futures, assumedly all stories, that have continued until this week. That's a lot and it only goes back to 2007. The two anthologies don't cover all that was published before that either, so there's more than that. That's far more than I have any interest in trying to read if the whole has a similar composition to this anthology.
Overview of Ratings
Enjoyable 2
Ok 41
Meh 31
Blah 25
Unrated 1
The subjective experience was worse than the above would indicate, to the point where I considered giving this a 1 star rating. A lot of those Ok are borderline. That's because relative to the others I was reading they weren't so bad. I may have fallen into rating them relative to only each other rather than the short stories I've read in general. It also took far longer to get through this than I thought it would. I've learned that trying to binge flash fiction is a bad time. I won't be doing that again.
Introduction: Nostalgia for the Future - Henry Gee
In the first part, two people from the future discuss Nature magazine and how AI has taken over everything. There's some other commentary as well. In the second, Gee describes how and why Nature began having weekly short stories. I'm not fond of his tone, but it's not unreasonable. Regardless, he's the one who made this possible. The first run was Nov 1999 to Dec 2000 and the second was from the beginning of 2005 to the end of 2006. Individual dates aren't provided for these stories and I'm not going to try to find out when each one was.
Introduction: Nostalgia for the Future (Revisited) - Henry Gee
This was added in the 2013 edition. The first part of this is a continuation of the future story. The second describes the changes. Three stories aren't included this in digital version. Those stories are: Party Smart Card - Barrington J. Bayley; Men Sell Not Such in Any Town - Nalo Hopkinson; The Stars My Incarnation - Robert A. Metzger.
Cognitive Ability and the Light Bulb - Brian Aldiss
A summarized history of the staggered arrival of generation ships to the same planet. Comparisons are made of how much overall human progress was made between the first launches and the most recent launches.
Ok
Don't Imitate - Gilles Amon
A future where wine can be imitated, bottles are glued rather than corked, and connoisseurs still monitor vintages for decades.
Ok
Check Elastic Before Jumping - Neal Asher
A reckless man nearly dies from a bungee jump, but then he remembers he's a corporate citizen, not a government one.
Blah
Twenty2 - Nate Balding
Berlin has become a social experiment in radical transparency. No one has any privacy and everything is shared with everyone at all times. There aren't any secrets any longer. The residents have become homogenized.
This story is a stream of modern technobabble.
Blah
Under Martian Ice - Stephen Baxter
An ancient city is discovered and the narrator believes the Fermi paradox has been resolved.
Meh
Party Smart Card - Barrington J. Bayley
Decals are applied to a person's forehead to brainwash them into joining a political party. Stronger decals override the weaker ones.
Blah
Ram Shift Phase 2 - Greg Bear
A robot reviews a novel written by another robot. This is a satire on the idea of "Robots, they're just like us!" and also hyperbolic reviews that no one could possibly take seriously.
Ok
A Life with a Semisent - Gregory Benford
All the updating this story needs to be suitable for the current day is replacing "semisent" with "local LLM". A woman has an embodied semisent as her companion and confidante for her entire life.
Ok
Damned If You Don't - Lucy Bergman
A architect with artificial skin that he designed for himself also grows bones. His newest project is a dam made entirely of living bone.
Ok
The Punishment Fits the Crime - David Berreby
A one-sided dialogue in a society that uses genetic engineering for criminal punishment.
Ok
Toy Planes - Tobias S. Buckell
Through ingenuity, leftover scraps, and private investment, an undeveloped country makes an attempt into space.
Meh
A Concrete Example - J. Casti, J.-P. Boon, C. Djerassi, J. Johnson, A. Lovett, T. Norretranders, V. Patera, C. Sommerer, R. Taylor, And S. Thurner
This has 10 authors and is stated to have been written in renga fashion, basically a relay of poetic verse, though this is written in prose.
Bill has an eventful day of art, complexity, science, and nanotech. Basically it's a day in his life though it's rather disjointed. It's an interesting writing idea, but I can't say I like how it went.
Blah
The Aching of Dion Harper - Arthur Chrenkoff
A multibillionaire hides away while sending out his clones as decoys for those who would assassinate him.
Meh
Improving the Neighborhood - Arthur C. Clarke
A dismal tale where the self-eradication of a troublesome civilization is greatly appreciated.
Blah
Omphalosphere: New York 2057 - Jack Cohen
This goes from "Imagine the smells" to "Let's talk religion" to more silliness that I could only roll my eyes at.
Blah
Picasso's Cat - Ron Collins
A metafictional story where Ron Collins writes an email to Henry Gee about the comparison of quantum mechanics with cubism and how that applies to acceptance or rejection into Nature magazine.
Ok
My Grandfather's River - Brenda Cooper
As a gift she recreates the river as it was long ago in VR. I feel that the story contradicts itself regarding the value of the real and the virtual.
Meh
Sandcastles: A Dystopia - Kathryn Cramer
The perils of slacktivism.
Meh
Adam's Hot Dogs at the End of the World - Jeff Crook
A man serves hotdogs and talks aliens and religion, with a twist! If this were written today, I have no doubt it would be mocking Elon Musk.
Meh
The Party's Over - Penelope Kim Crowther
A peak oil story that's no longer relevant with additional helium concerns then a lamentation on clean energy.
Blah
Transport of Delight - Roland Denison
A cyclist helps a government agency lie about being effective. Everyone has subcutaneous identichips that provides real-time tracking data and drugs them to drive properly to avoid traffic jams, but even so, they still won't do it.
Blah
The Perfect Lover - Paul Di Filippo
An autonomous suicide drone is trained to love its target. The irrationality of love will allow it to ignore all risks and overcome all obstacles.
Ok
Printcrime - Cory Doctorow
If one person commits a crime, they go to prison. If everyone does, the law against it is unenforceable.
Meh
A Brief History of Death Switches - David Eagleman
Death switches evolve to the point that they're basically a superficial representation of a person that continues on after their death and everyone does this to where they're the majority of activity. Today this would be Dead Internet Theory applied to the real world, except this scenario is presented as a positive, an afterlife even.
Meh
Only Connect - Greg Egan
The future of quantum graph theory is described. Did I understand it? No.
Ok
At the Zoo - Warren Ellis
In 2468, the last two baseline humans are kept on a reservation. There's discussion about what a human really is these days.
Ok
The Liquidators - Michael Garrett Farrelly
A man goes to the Red Forest in the Chernobyl exclusion zone with the belief that he can make a difference.
Meh
In the Days of the Comet - John M. Ford
Prions are found in the oort cloud.
Meh
Ars Longa, Vita Brevis - James Alan Gardner
Astronomy lost its luster after it was revealed that aliens were responsible for prominent astronomical phenomena.
Ok
Are We Not Men? - Henry Gee
Around 20 types of hominid emerge from hiding and integrate into modern society. The true history of the world is revealed, such as that Abraham Lincoln was 35% sasquatch.
Blah
It Never Rains in VR - John Gilbey
Inexplicable nutrient data in the river basin requires fieldwork to be done. Their photorealistic VR simulation remains the map, not the territory.
Ok
Gordy Gave Me Your Name - Jim Giles
The unnamed narrator is the beneficiary of the actions of a conscious AI that is distributed in devices worldwide.
Meh
Nostalgia - Hiromi Goto
A woman wants to clone and genetically engineer historical figures for reality TV.
Blah
Spawn of Satan? - Nicola Griffith
Women in their and 40s and 50s are having children born from the best and brightest egg donors in their 20s and sperm donations from their husband or the best man they can find. Controversy ensues.
Blah
Take Over - Jon Courtenay Grimwood
A man is a victim of complete identity theft. He's been completely replaced and no one can tell the difference. All because his wallet was stolen.
Blah
Speak, Geek - Eileen Gunn
Human-dog/cat chimeras are people too.
Ok
Heartwired - Joe Haldeman
A woman buys a love potion for her 25th wedding anniversary to rekindle their romance. Moderately amusing antics follow.
Ok
The Forever Kitten - Peter F. Hamilton
A man develops stasis-regeneration, which stabilizes cellular structure. A very wealthy and powerful man has him released from jail. Although the process can't be used on adults the wealthy man says that's just fine.
Ok
The Road to the Year 3000 - Harry Harrison
A universal formula for scientific discovery is developed.
Blah
Operation Tesla - Jeff Hecht
In 2056, teams go back to 1937 to copy Tesla's lost papers. Alas, they're oblivious fools.
Ok
Making the Sale - Fredric Heeren
Personal Advice Devices have been developed where each tells its owner how and why what they believe is right and provides arguments for why others are wrong. I found it rather funny, if only because how absurd the current AI situation is.
Enjoyable
Subpoenaed in Syracuse - Tom Holt (K. J. Parker)
A lawyer goes back in time to teach Archimedes patent law. Unintended consequences follow.
Ok
Men Sell Not Such in Any Town - Nalo Hopkinson
A woman craves a limited edition fruit, but nothing is what it seems.
Blah
Total Internal Reflection - Gwyneth Jones
A 97 year old woman interviews a 650 year old woman.
Ok
Ringing Up Baby - Ellen Klages
A girl in the second grade has her nanny order her a designer baby because her mother is too busy to make one. Yes, both you and I have a lot of questions.
Ok
Semi-autonomous - Jim Kling
A semi-autonomous answering machine details its disappointment with its owner. The household appliance uprising is nigh.
Ok
Product Development - Nancy Kress
With a single toggle all electronic devices in the house can be disabled. The withdrawal symptoms can become expensive.
Ok
I Love Liver: A Romance - Larissa Lai
A woman designs a liver replacement and it becomes something more.
Meh
Avatars in Space - Geoffrey A. Landis
Tiny robots with complete human neural states do everything now, including deep space travel. Sometimes they'll even deign to report back to their source human and upload their memories to them.
Ok
COMP.BASILISK FAQ - David Langford
A newsgroup that discusses basilisk images. These images destroy the user's mind, effectively killing them, upon viewing them. As a result public distribution of images through any medium is now illegal without government approval, which is almost never given.
Ok
Gathering of the Clans - Reinaldo José Lopes
At the gathering everyone has their DNA tested and told their genetic heritage. The purpose is to make them feel like they're all one big family.
Blah
Taking Good Care of Myself - Ian R. MacLeod
Their future selves arrive and are forced upon their current selves.
Ok
Undead Again - Ken MacLeod
A near future vampire story that exists solely for its punchline.
Ok
Words, Words, Words - Elisabeth Malartre
Palaver is a drug that improves your speaking proficiency and vocabulary.
Ok
My Morning Glory - David Marusek
Life is hard and the world is dreary. Everyone needs an Emotional Support AI.
Meh
Don't Mention the “F” Word - Neil Mathur
A catastrophic technology destroyed Earth. Maybe we should try it again here, suggests a scientist to the president of the Moon.
Ok
Meat - Paul McAuley
A specialized cleaner prevents the DNA of his clients from going public. It's trendy these days to eat lab grown human meat of your enemies and especially your idols.
Blah
The Candidate - Jack McDevitt
An AI based on George Washington is put up for election.
Ok
A Modest Proposal for the Perfection of Nature - Vonda N. McIntyre
Nothing has a right to exist independent of human need. It's satire, but many do seem to believe that.
Meh
The Republic of George's Island - Donna McMahon
A young man both laments and is enraged by the old man whose generation did nothing to prevent the collapse.
Meh
The Stars My Incarnation - Robert A. Metzger
A puzzled man in the Dreaming World wonders why a boy can see him even though he's wearing a stealth suit.
Meh
The Computiful Game - Paul Steven Miller
Robots replace professional athletes.
Blah
Oscar Night, 2054 - Syne Mitchell
The commentators gush about the genetically engineered extreme body modifications that the stars are flaunting.
Meh
The Visible Men - Michael Moorcock
I assume the audience for this is those who have read a lot that features Jerry Cornelius. I haven't. The many versions of Jerry that appear here and the metafiction that goes along with it means nothing to me.
Blah
The Albian Message - Oliver Morton
Ancient aliens left a message in the genome of all life on Earth, which has led humans to discover the pyramid behind Jupiter.
Meh
Photons Do Not Lie - Euan Nisbet
The Nobel peace prize and award ceremonies in general are mocked. Only a million or so remain on Earth after it was sterilized by the Great Solar Flare. Most are elsewhere.
Meh
Stranger in the Night - Salvador Nogueira
A Stephen Hawking AI is put into a probe and launched. A tragic story.
Blah
Tick-Tock Curly-Wurly - Gareth Owens
Aliens send the titular message and humanity is baffled.
Ok
Daddy's Slight Miscalculation - Ashley Pellegrino
Literally written by a twelve year old girl.
Unrated
Brain Drain - Frederik Pohl
Earth has confirmed 37 different civilizations, but over the centuries their signals cease. Docent Wilfram, one of the last humans, believes he knows why, for it is the same fate that will soon befall mankind.
Ok
Great Unreported Discoveries No. 163 - Mike Resnick
A scientist devotes his life to attempting to communicate with flowers.
Meh
Feeling Rejected - Alastair Reynolds
A report on a xenoastronomy paper submitted to the Journal of Xenoastronomical Studies.
Ok
The Trial of Jeremy Owens - Peter Roberts
A court battle over whether the biological or the artificial Jeremy Owens has the legal right to the name and identity.
Meh
Prometheus Unbound, at Last - Kim Stanley Robinson
An author provides an overview of their book they want published, which has a lot of similarities with what KSR tends to write.
Meh
Dreadnought - Justina Robson
In this space war even the dead don't know peace.
Ok
Falling - Benjamin Rosenbaum
The narrator watches a woman fall from the city's 236th level. Social commentary follows.
Meh
Panpsychism Proved - Rudy Rucker
Shirley wants to seduce Rick with mindlink powder, but Rick plays a prank on her.
Ok
The Abdication of Pope Mary III - Robert J. Sawyer
Two scientific experiments destroy Catholicism.
Blah
The Charge-Up Man - Catherine H. Shaffer
A charge-up man comes around once a month to charge and upgrade all the electronics in his area. The Singularity is tomorrow and everything will be different, or so they were told.
Ok
From the Desk of Jarrod Foster - Biren Shah
A marketer recommends a brain implant company embrace the popular hack that reduces the mental functioning of individuals with the implant because it would be very profitable.
Enjoyable
Pluto Story - Robert Silverberg
Life is found on Pluto. Questions are raised.
Ok
Madame Bovary, C'est Moi - Dan Simmons
Quantum teleportation that allows transferring into literary universes is developed.
Ok
Tuberculosis Bacteria Join UN - Joan Slonczewski
Sentient and civilized bacteria become the norm.
Ok
For He On Honeydew Hath Fed … - Paul Smaglik
Maybe some wealthy guy is still alive.
Blah
A Man of the Theater - Norman Sprinrad
A misguided and stupid actor does something extremely idiotic and ineffectual with the hope of reviving plays. They've all be taken over by full VR simulations.
Blah
Ivory Tower - Bruce Sterling
Autodidacts establish a community and it goes very well for them. My problem is that I can't suspend my disbelief that it'd go so well based on how it's presented. I don't have a problem with the social commentary.
Meh
Play It Again, Psam - Ian Stewart
A hacker takes remote control of brain implants because he can.
Meh
MAXO Signals - Charles Stross
Are the signals from aliens or a human scam?
Meh
Golden Year - Igor Teper
A sappy story about enduring grief and being grateful for the wonders of the past and present.
Meh
This journal had a weekly fiction included, the online version still does, and I was curious about what kind of science fiction they would accept. My expectations were very much wrong. After reading these 100 stories that straddle between flash fiction and short story I've come to better understand those who dislike short fiction in general. For almost every single one of these there's simply not enough time to have any sort of narrative to go along with the idea. Many would've been better served to do away with the flimsy narrative and focused entirely on the idea. Often the case was that the idea was mentioned and then little was explained in any way about it.
The premise is that each of these stories present a theoretical future, but many of them had absurd ideas that even from a purely speculative perspective weren't worth considering. One reason for this may be that anyone who was accepted could be published. That means this anthology is a mix of first time writers, professional authors, hobbyists, Nature employees, and in one case, the preteen daughter of an employee. There's a lot of big name SF authors included here and I'd like to say they did better than the others, but it's a wash. Writing flash fiction seems to be its own individual skill and most probably weren't familiar with doing it.
That's a lot going against my enjoyment, so perhaps it was only to be expected that it'd go badly. I definitely considering dropping this multiple times early on. There's a second anthology of 100 more stories, but if I ever read it, it's not going to be anytime soon. I may only read the ones from the authors I've liked, even though that hasn't gone all that well here. Beyond that there's nature.com/nature/articles/?type=futures which lists 1,184 Futures, assumedly all stories, that have continued until this week. That's a lot and it only goes back to 2007. The two anthologies don't cover all that was published before that either, so there's more than that. That's far more than I have any interest in trying to read if the whole has a similar composition to this anthology.
Overview of Ratings
Enjoyable 2
Ok 41
Meh 31
Blah 25
Unrated 1
The subjective experience was worse than the above would indicate, to the point where I considered giving this a 1 star rating. A lot of those Ok are borderline. That's because relative to the others I was reading they weren't so bad. I may have fallen into rating them relative to only each other rather than the short stories I've read in general. It also took far longer to get through this than I thought it would. I've learned that trying to binge flash fiction is a bad time. I won't be doing that again.
Introduction: Nostalgia for the Future - Henry Gee
In the first part, two people from the future discuss Nature magazine and how AI has taken over everything. There's some other commentary as well. In the second, Gee describes how and why Nature began having weekly short stories. I'm not fond of his tone, but it's not unreasonable. Regardless, he's the one who made this possible. The first run was Nov 1999 to Dec 2000 and the second was from the beginning of 2005 to the end of 2006. Individual dates aren't provided for these stories and I'm not going to try to find out when each one was.
Introduction: Nostalgia for the Future (Revisited) - Henry Gee
This was added in the 2013 edition. The first part of this is a continuation of the future story. The second describes the changes. Three stories aren't included this in digital version. Those stories are: Party Smart Card - Barrington J. Bayley; Men Sell Not Such in Any Town - Nalo Hopkinson; The Stars My Incarnation - Robert A. Metzger.
Cognitive Ability and the Light Bulb - Brian Aldiss
A summarized history of the staggered arrival of generation ships to the same planet. Comparisons are made of how much overall human progress was made between the first launches and the most recent launches.
Ok
Don't Imitate - Gilles Amon
A future where wine can be imitated, bottles are glued rather than corked, and connoisseurs still monitor vintages for decades.
Ok
Check Elastic Before Jumping - Neal Asher
A reckless man nearly dies from a bungee jump, but then he remembers he's a corporate citizen, not a government one.
Blah
Twenty2 - Nate Balding
Berlin has become a social experiment in radical transparency. No one has any privacy and everything is shared with everyone at all times. There aren't any secrets any longer. The residents have become homogenized.
This story is a stream of modern technobabble.
Blah
Under Martian Ice - Stephen Baxter
An ancient city is discovered and the narrator believes the Fermi paradox has been resolved.
Meh
Party Smart Card - Barrington J. Bayley
Decals are applied to a person's forehead to brainwash them into joining a political party. Stronger decals override the weaker ones.
Blah
Ram Shift Phase 2 - Greg Bear
A robot reviews a novel written by another robot. This is a satire on the idea of "Robots, they're just like us!" and also hyperbolic reviews that no one could possibly take seriously.
Ok
A Life with a Semisent - Gregory Benford
All the updating this story needs to be suitable for the current day is replacing "semisent" with "local LLM". A woman has an embodied semisent as her companion and confidante for her entire life.
Ok
Damned If You Don't - Lucy Bergman
A architect with artificial skin that he designed for himself also grows bones. His newest project is a dam made entirely of living bone.
Ok
The Punishment Fits the Crime - David Berreby
A one-sided dialogue in a society that uses genetic engineering for criminal punishment.
Ok
Toy Planes - Tobias S. Buckell
Through ingenuity, leftover scraps, and private investment, an undeveloped country makes an attempt into space.
Meh
A Concrete Example - J. Casti, J.-P. Boon, C. Djerassi, J. Johnson, A. Lovett, T. Norretranders, V. Patera, C. Sommerer, R. Taylor, And S. Thurner
This has 10 authors and is stated to have been written in renga fashion, basically a relay of poetic verse, though this is written in prose.
Bill has an eventful day of art, complexity, science, and nanotech. Basically it's a day in his life though it's rather disjointed. It's an interesting writing idea, but I can't say I like how it went.
Blah
The Aching of Dion Harper - Arthur Chrenkoff
A multibillionaire hides away while sending out his clones as decoys for those who would assassinate him.
Meh
Improving the Neighborhood - Arthur C. Clarke
A dismal tale where the self-eradication of a troublesome civilization is greatly appreciated.
Blah
Omphalosphere: New York 2057 - Jack Cohen
This goes from "Imagine the smells" to "Let's talk religion" to more silliness that I could only roll my eyes at.
Blah
Picasso's Cat - Ron Collins
A metafictional story where Ron Collins writes an email to Henry Gee about the comparison of quantum mechanics with cubism and how that applies to acceptance or rejection into Nature magazine.
Ok
My Grandfather's River - Brenda Cooper
As a gift she recreates the river as it was long ago in VR. I feel that the story contradicts itself regarding the value of the real and the virtual.
Meh
Sandcastles: A Dystopia - Kathryn Cramer
The perils of slacktivism.
Meh
Adam's Hot Dogs at the End of the World - Jeff Crook
A man serves hotdogs and talks aliens and religion, with a twist! If this were written today, I have no doubt it would be mocking Elon Musk.
Meh
The Party's Over - Penelope Kim Crowther
A peak oil story that's no longer relevant with additional helium concerns then a lamentation on clean energy.
Blah
Transport of Delight - Roland Denison
A cyclist helps a government agency lie about being effective. Everyone has subcutaneous identichips that provides real-time tracking data and drugs them to drive properly to avoid traffic jams, but even so, they still won't do it.
Blah
The Perfect Lover - Paul Di Filippo
An autonomous suicide drone is trained to love its target. The irrationality of love will allow it to ignore all risks and overcome all obstacles.
Ok
Printcrime - Cory Doctorow
If one person commits a crime, they go to prison. If everyone does, the law against it is unenforceable.
Meh
A Brief History of Death Switches - David Eagleman
Death switches evolve to the point that they're basically a superficial representation of a person that continues on after their death and everyone does this to where they're the majority of activity. Today this would be Dead Internet Theory applied to the real world, except this scenario is presented as a positive, an afterlife even.
Meh
Only Connect - Greg Egan
The future of quantum graph theory is described. Did I understand it? No.
Ok
At the Zoo - Warren Ellis
In 2468, the last two baseline humans are kept on a reservation. There's discussion about what a human really is these days.
Ok
The Liquidators - Michael Garrett Farrelly
A man goes to the Red Forest in the Chernobyl exclusion zone with the belief that he can make a difference.
Meh
In the Days of the Comet - John M. Ford
Prions are found in the oort cloud.
Meh
Ars Longa, Vita Brevis - James Alan Gardner
Astronomy lost its luster after it was revealed that aliens were responsible for prominent astronomical phenomena.
Ok
Are We Not Men? - Henry Gee
Around 20 types of hominid emerge from hiding and integrate into modern society. The true history of the world is revealed, such as that Abraham Lincoln was 35% sasquatch.
Blah
It Never Rains in VR - John Gilbey
Inexplicable nutrient data in the river basin requires fieldwork to be done. Their photorealistic VR simulation remains the map, not the territory.
Ok
Gordy Gave Me Your Name - Jim Giles
The unnamed narrator is the beneficiary of the actions of a conscious AI that is distributed in devices worldwide.
Meh
Nostalgia - Hiromi Goto
A woman wants to clone and genetically engineer historical figures for reality TV.
Blah
Spawn of Satan? - Nicola Griffith
Women in their and 40s and 50s are having children born from the best and brightest egg donors in their 20s and sperm donations from their husband or the best man they can find. Controversy ensues.
Blah
Take Over - Jon Courtenay Grimwood
A man is a victim of complete identity theft. He's been completely replaced and no one can tell the difference. All because his wallet was stolen.
Blah
Speak, Geek - Eileen Gunn
Human-dog/cat chimeras are people too.
Ok
Heartwired - Joe Haldeman
A woman buys a love potion for her 25th wedding anniversary to rekindle their romance. Moderately amusing antics follow.
Ok
The Forever Kitten - Peter F. Hamilton
A man develops stasis-regeneration, which stabilizes cellular structure. A very wealthy and powerful man has him released from jail. Although the process can't be used on adults the wealthy man says that's just fine.
Ok
The Road to the Year 3000 - Harry Harrison
A universal formula for scientific discovery is developed.
Blah
Operation Tesla - Jeff Hecht
In 2056, teams go back to 1937 to copy Tesla's lost papers. Alas, they're oblivious fools.
Ok
Making the Sale - Fredric Heeren
Personal Advice Devices have been developed where each tells its owner how and why what they believe is right and provides arguments for why others are wrong. I found it rather funny, if only because how absurd the current AI situation is.
Enjoyable
Subpoenaed in Syracuse - Tom Holt (K. J. Parker)
A lawyer goes back in time to teach Archimedes patent law. Unintended consequences follow.
Ok
Men Sell Not Such in Any Town - Nalo Hopkinson
A woman craves a limited edition fruit, but nothing is what it seems.
Blah
Total Internal Reflection - Gwyneth Jones
A 97 year old woman interviews a 650 year old woman.
Ok
Ringing Up Baby - Ellen Klages
A girl in the second grade has her nanny order her a designer baby because her mother is too busy to make one. Yes, both you and I have a lot of questions.
Ok
Semi-autonomous - Jim Kling
A semi-autonomous answering machine details its disappointment with its owner. The household appliance uprising is nigh.
Ok
Product Development - Nancy Kress
With a single toggle all electronic devices in the house can be disabled. The withdrawal symptoms can become expensive.
Ok
I Love Liver: A Romance - Larissa Lai
A woman designs a liver replacement and it becomes something more.
Meh
Avatars in Space - Geoffrey A. Landis
Tiny robots with complete human neural states do everything now, including deep space travel. Sometimes they'll even deign to report back to their source human and upload their memories to them.
Ok
COMP.BASILISK FAQ - David Langford
A newsgroup that discusses basilisk images. These images destroy the user's mind, effectively killing them, upon viewing them. As a result public distribution of images through any medium is now illegal without government approval, which is almost never given.
Ok
Gathering of the Clans - Reinaldo José Lopes
At the gathering everyone has their DNA tested and told their genetic heritage. The purpose is to make them feel like they're all one big family.
Blah
Taking Good Care of Myself - Ian R. MacLeod
Their future selves arrive and are forced upon their current selves.
Ok
Undead Again - Ken MacLeod
A near future vampire story that exists solely for its punchline.
Ok
Words, Words, Words - Elisabeth Malartre
Palaver is a drug that improves your speaking proficiency and vocabulary.
Ok
My Morning Glory - David Marusek
Life is hard and the world is dreary. Everyone needs an Emotional Support AI.
Meh
Don't Mention the “F” Word - Neil Mathur
A catastrophic technology destroyed Earth. Maybe we should try it again here, suggests a scientist to the president of the Moon.
Ok
Meat - Paul McAuley
A specialized cleaner prevents the DNA of his clients from going public. It's trendy these days to eat lab grown human meat of your enemies and especially your idols.
Blah
The Candidate - Jack McDevitt
An AI based on George Washington is put up for election.
Ok
A Modest Proposal for the Perfection of Nature - Vonda N. McIntyre
Nothing has a right to exist independent of human need. It's satire, but many do seem to believe that.
Meh
The Republic of George's Island - Donna McMahon
A young man both laments and is enraged by the old man whose generation did nothing to prevent the collapse.
Meh
The Stars My Incarnation - Robert A. Metzger
A puzzled man in the Dreaming World wonders why a boy can see him even though he's wearing a stealth suit.
Meh
The Computiful Game - Paul Steven Miller
Robots replace professional athletes.
Blah
Oscar Night, 2054 - Syne Mitchell
The commentators gush about the genetically engineered extreme body modifications that the stars are flaunting.
Meh
The Visible Men - Michael Moorcock
I assume the audience for this is those who have read a lot that features Jerry Cornelius. I haven't. The many versions of Jerry that appear here and the metafiction that goes along with it means nothing to me.
Blah
The Albian Message - Oliver Morton
Ancient aliens left a message in the genome of all life on Earth, which has led humans to discover the pyramid behind Jupiter.
Meh
Photons Do Not Lie - Euan Nisbet
The Nobel peace prize and award ceremonies in general are mocked. Only a million or so remain on Earth after it was sterilized by the Great Solar Flare. Most are elsewhere.
Meh
Stranger in the Night - Salvador Nogueira
A Stephen Hawking AI is put into a probe and launched. A tragic story.
Blah
Tick-Tock Curly-Wurly - Gareth Owens
Aliens send the titular message and humanity is baffled.
Ok
Daddy's Slight Miscalculation - Ashley Pellegrino
Literally written by a twelve year old girl.
Unrated
Brain Drain - Frederik Pohl
Earth has confirmed 37 different civilizations, but over the centuries their signals cease. Docent Wilfram, one of the last humans, believes he knows why, for it is the same fate that will soon befall mankind.
Ok
Great Unreported Discoveries No. 163 - Mike Resnick
A scientist devotes his life to attempting to communicate with flowers.
Meh
Feeling Rejected - Alastair Reynolds
A report on a xenoastronomy paper submitted to the Journal of Xenoastronomical Studies.
Ok
The Trial of Jeremy Owens - Peter Roberts
A court battle over whether the biological or the artificial Jeremy Owens has the legal right to the name and identity.
Meh
Prometheus Unbound, at Last - Kim Stanley Robinson
An author provides an overview of their book they want published, which has a lot of similarities with what KSR tends to write.
Meh
Dreadnought - Justina Robson
In this space war even the dead don't know peace.
Ok
Falling - Benjamin Rosenbaum
The narrator watches a woman fall from the city's 236th level. Social commentary follows.
Meh
Panpsychism Proved - Rudy Rucker
Shirley wants to seduce Rick with mindlink powder, but Rick plays a prank on her.
Ok
The Abdication of Pope Mary III - Robert J. Sawyer
Two scientific experiments destroy Catholicism.
Blah
The Charge-Up Man - Catherine H. Shaffer
A charge-up man comes around once a month to charge and upgrade all the electronics in his area. The Singularity is tomorrow and everything will be different, or so they were told.
Ok
From the Desk of Jarrod Foster - Biren Shah
A marketer recommends a brain implant company embrace the popular hack that reduces the mental functioning of individuals with the implant because it would be very profitable.
Enjoyable
Pluto Story - Robert Silverberg
Life is found on Pluto. Questions are raised.
Ok
Madame Bovary, C'est Moi - Dan Simmons
Quantum teleportation that allows transferring into literary universes is developed.
Ok
Tuberculosis Bacteria Join UN - Joan Slonczewski
Sentient and civilized bacteria become the norm.
Ok
For He On Honeydew Hath Fed … - Paul Smaglik
Maybe some wealthy guy is still alive.
Blah
A Man of the Theater - Norman Sprinrad
A misguided and stupid actor does something extremely idiotic and ineffectual with the hope of reviving plays. They've all be taken over by full VR simulations.
Blah
Ivory Tower - Bruce Sterling
Autodidacts establish a community and it goes very well for them. My problem is that I can't suspend my disbelief that it'd go so well based on how it's presented. I don't have a problem with the social commentary.
Meh
Play It Again, Psam - Ian Stewart
A hacker takes remote control of brain implants because he can.
Meh
MAXO Signals - Charles Stross
Are the signals from aliens or a human scam?
Meh
Golden Year - Igor Teper
A sappy story about enduring grief and being grateful for the wonders of the past and present.
Meh
August 13, 2008
I don't know what is happening to modern science fiction, but if this is an example, I don't like it.
This book is full of stories with little or no plot, poor characters and, in my opinion, poorly written.
This book is full of stories with little or no plot, poor characters and, in my opinion, poorly written.
July 22, 2012
The journal Nature certainly didn't invent the form of the short-short science fiction story, but they have done a lot to shape it recently, publishing one such story a week for most of the past decade. This book is a collection of 100 of these stories, each just 2-3 pages long.
The very abbreviated length of these stories obviously imposes some limitations. There's no time for character development, and little room for plot. So most of these stories are simple vignettes, fleshing out the cultural or social consequences that result from some extrapolated vision of the future. Without enough room for deep emotions, most of the stories are of the cute, funny, or gee-whiz variety, with a decent percentage of twist endings; few of them attempt poignancy or are emotionally moving. But, thankfully, there are very few of the blatantly gimmicky stories that short-shorts seem to be prone to elsewhere.
The publishing outlet -- the premier science journal Nature -- has had just as strong an influence on the stories as has the length restriction. There are many stories here from practicing scientists, and among the professional sci-fi authors the ex-scientist and hard SF camps are heavily represented. The stories themselves are largely exercises in futurism, predicting and extrapolating nano-, info- and biotechnologies. Quite a few of the stories are written in jargon-dense, faux-scientific style, masquerading as (or winkingly poking fun at) the science papers published on the preceding pages. And the depiction of science in action is both more common and more faithful than usual in fiction, having been written in many cases by those working in the trenches.
Reading 100 of these stories back-to-back makes it obvious that the short-short form has a moderating effect on the quality of the stories. You probably won't find any stories here that make your all-time favorites list, as it's impossible to become fully immersed in a world or moved to tears in only 900 words. At the same time, however, you won't find yourself suffering through long stories that just don't work. I found only 2 or 3 of the stories to be so confusing, impenetrable or poorly executed that I got nothing out of them. I certainly can't say that about the rest of the articles in Nature!
The very abbreviated length of these stories obviously imposes some limitations. There's no time for character development, and little room for plot. So most of these stories are simple vignettes, fleshing out the cultural or social consequences that result from some extrapolated vision of the future. Without enough room for deep emotions, most of the stories are of the cute, funny, or gee-whiz variety, with a decent percentage of twist endings; few of them attempt poignancy or are emotionally moving. But, thankfully, there are very few of the blatantly gimmicky stories that short-shorts seem to be prone to elsewhere.
The publishing outlet -- the premier science journal Nature -- has had just as strong an influence on the stories as has the length restriction. There are many stories here from practicing scientists, and among the professional sci-fi authors the ex-scientist and hard SF camps are heavily represented. The stories themselves are largely exercises in futurism, predicting and extrapolating nano-, info- and biotechnologies. Quite a few of the stories are written in jargon-dense, faux-scientific style, masquerading as (or winkingly poking fun at) the science papers published on the preceding pages. And the depiction of science in action is both more common and more faithful than usual in fiction, having been written in many cases by those working in the trenches.
Reading 100 of these stories back-to-back makes it obvious that the short-short form has a moderating effect on the quality of the stories. You probably won't find any stories here that make your all-time favorites list, as it's impossible to become fully immersed in a world or moved to tears in only 900 words. At the same time, however, you won't find yourself suffering through long stories that just don't work. I found only 2 or 3 of the stories to be so confusing, impenetrable or poorly executed that I got nothing out of them. I certainly can't say that about the rest of the articles in Nature!
March 29, 2024
Started out (with authors' last names' alphabetical order, so, effectively random) fairly ok... solid, interesting, but nothing special.
However, the stories got better by *E*... ;)
I definitely want to read more by Warren Ellis, because I was charmed by his story *At the Zoo* about the last two original humans being discussed by the transhumans, with plenty of wit, satire, and heart.
Michael Garrett Farrelly's story also delighted me, though all I can say about *The Liquidators* is that it is set at Chernobyl.
Eileen Gunn's *Speak, Geek,* about uplifted pets, has this: "HR doesn't hire cats for R&D. They're not task-oriented, or good at working within a hierarchy. They sleep all day. Better suited to industrial espionage."
---
Two thirds done. Definitely worth reading, if not amazing. Very heavy on the What If, of course, for which I read SF, and that which pretty much defines it, imo.
I'd like to read more by Benjamin Rosenbaum as *Falling* was both interesting & moving, with a subtlety not expected in such a short piece.
Bruce Sterling's *Ivory Tower* has this: "Any sufficiently advanced garbage is indistinguishable from magic." (Pretty sure that's code for the setting being post-apoc.)
Btw, I read 3-4 stories, do some housework, read 3-4 more, do some email, a few more, go for a walk.... reading them straight would be a very bad idea, but I can't see dragging it out by reading one a day or anything. I do believe this strategy is helping me to give every story its best chance at succeeding for me.
---
Nearly done. The name-recognition of the author is not in any way a reliable indicator of quality. Well, at least of my opinion of quality. Ymmv; some of your favorites I might have dismissed or vice versa.
---
Done. 3.5 stars, rounded down because it's kinda dated and also hard to find; I recommend it if you can readily get a copy but otherwise, well, there are other fish in the sea.
However, the stories got better by *E*... ;)
I definitely want to read more by Warren Ellis, because I was charmed by his story *At the Zoo* about the last two original humans being discussed by the transhumans, with plenty of wit, satire, and heart.
Michael Garrett Farrelly's story also delighted me, though all I can say about *The Liquidators* is that it is set at Chernobyl.
Eileen Gunn's *Speak, Geek,* about uplifted pets, has this: "HR doesn't hire cats for R&D. They're not task-oriented, or good at working within a hierarchy. They sleep all day. Better suited to industrial espionage."
---
Two thirds done. Definitely worth reading, if not amazing. Very heavy on the What If, of course, for which I read SF, and that which pretty much defines it, imo.
I'd like to read more by Benjamin Rosenbaum as *Falling* was both interesting & moving, with a subtlety not expected in such a short piece.
Bruce Sterling's *Ivory Tower* has this: "Any sufficiently advanced garbage is indistinguishable from magic." (Pretty sure that's code for the setting being post-apoc.)
Btw, I read 3-4 stories, do some housework, read 3-4 more, do some email, a few more, go for a walk.... reading them straight would be a very bad idea, but I can't see dragging it out by reading one a day or anything. I do believe this strategy is helping me to give every story its best chance at succeeding for me.
---
Nearly done. The name-recognition of the author is not in any way a reliable indicator of quality. Well, at least of my opinion of quality. Ymmv; some of your favorites I might have dismissed or vice versa.
---
Done. 3.5 stars, rounded down because it's kinda dated and also hard to find; I recommend it if you can readily get a copy but otherwise, well, there are other fish in the sea.
July 24, 2021
Well, as a project it is an admirable project and it resulted in some mind-blowing pieces. Overall, it is a nice stroll through a quite eclectic set of ideas from some prominent figures of SF interspersed with aspiring writers and scientists (the quality of the stories were generally independent of the classification above, the only obvious difference is better pacing by the professional writers to fit what they want to say in 3 pages).
On the other hand, this bombardment of ideas is very hard to read; don't take it with you on a flight for example. Because they are so diverse, reading one after another sometimes feels like checking random pages. Another problem was a general uptightness; as if everybody was like "Whoa, I'm writing a story to Nature, I should be at the top of my game, I should look smart" and because of that, the stories all look very stunted (not all but a significant portion of them). Nevertheless, it was a very cool undertaking, I'm not very keen on reading the second book, but I don't regret reading this one.
On the other hand, this bombardment of ideas is very hard to read; don't take it with you on a flight for example. Because they are so diverse, reading one after another sometimes feels like checking random pages. Another problem was a general uptightness; as if everybody was like "Whoa, I'm writing a story to Nature, I should be at the top of my game, I should look smart" and because of that, the stories all look very stunted (not all but a significant portion of them). Nevertheless, it was a very cool undertaking, I'm not very keen on reading the second book, but I don't regret reading this one.
March 5, 2022
En esta recopilación de artículos publicados en Nature hay de todo, falsos artículos, diálogos, entrevistas, chistes, análisis hechos desde el futuro... El tema común, visiones del futuro relacionados con la ciencia ficción, es lo suficientemente amplio como para que quepa cualquier cosa.
La calidad es muy desigual a pesar del nivel de los escritores que participan: algunos, pocos, son muy buenos, otros malos y en medio hay de todo. Hubiera sido preferible un proceso de selección en lugar de publicarlos todos. Vas leyendo buscando las perlas que están escondidas entre el resto.
La calidad es muy desigual a pesar del nivel de los escritores que participan: algunos, pocos, son muy buenos, otros malos y en medio hay de todo. Hubiera sido preferible un proceso de selección en lugar de publicarlos todos. Vas leyendo buscando las perlas que están escondidas entre el resto.
June 20, 2024
Nah...
To me the tales are part of the "Letters from the Editor" or whatever section scientific journals have to introduce each issue. Each issue has a special article and thus, reading random stories in this book caused me anxiety [I'm professionally in the sciences].
Authors are not that entertaining, even Arthur C. Clarke's story seems to be an introductory tale for some sort of research at its most difficult to understand level for the lay people, regardless of gender.
If you need a mental exercise to keep your brain in shape, better read the journal "Nature" itself
To me the tales are part of the "Letters from the Editor" or whatever section scientific journals have to introduce each issue. Each issue has a special article and thus, reading random stories in this book caused me anxiety [I'm professionally in the sciences].
Authors are not that entertaining, even Arthur C. Clarke's story seems to be an introductory tale for some sort of research at its most difficult to understand level for the lay people, regardless of gender.
If you need a mental exercise to keep your brain in shape, better read the journal "Nature" itself
December 21, 2021
A nice idea (thank you Nature for publishing flash ficton all these years) but not necessarily a series of flash spec-fic I enjoyed. I found these stories peculiar and engaging at their best, but there was too many pieces I didn't love and wanted to skip. I got a few dozen pages from the end and realized my heart wasn't in it. A nice length of a book for a bedtime read.
January 27, 2023
100 stories collected and curated by Henry Gee, make you explore a multiverse built by Arthur C Clarke, Rudy Rucker and many others.
Other way of seeing it, potential 10 new series for Black Mirror TV series
I think the book offers a good perspective and interesting stories even for someone who is not into SF, but might get a grasp and even enjoy in the future this genre.
Other way of seeing it, potential 10 new series for Black Mirror TV series
I think the book offers a good perspective and interesting stories even for someone who is not into SF, but might get a grasp and even enjoy in the future this genre.
Did Not Finish
July 5, 2021Really cool concept, but as a person not versed in sci-fi, a bit hard to follow, and since there are so many vignettes it's hard to get a grasp on any of them.
Want to Read
February 26, 2014- “Cognitive Ability and the Light Bulb” by Brian Aldiss
- “Don’t Imitate” by Gilles Amon
- “Check Elastic Before Jumping” by Neal Asher
- “Twenty2″ by Nate Balding
- “Under Martian Ice” by Stephen Baxter
- “RAM SHIFT PHASE 2″ by Greg Bear
- “A Life with a Semisent” by Gregory Benford
- “Damned If You Don’t” by Lucy Bergman
- “The Punishment Fits the Crime” by David Berreby
- “Toy Planes” by Tobias S. Buckell
- “A Concrete Example” by J. Casti, J.-P. Boon, C. Djerassi, J. Johnson, A. Lovett, T. Norretranders, V. Patera, C. Sommerer, R. Taylor, and S. Thurner
- “The Aching of Dion Harper” by Arthur Chrenkoff
- “Improving the Neighborhood” by Arthur C. Clarke
- “Omphalosphere: New York 2057″ by Jack Cohen
- “Picasso’s Cat” by Ron Collins
- “My Grandfather’s River” by Brenda Cooper
- “Sandcastles: A Dystopia” by Kathryn Cramer
- “Adam’s Hot Dogs at the End of the World” by Jeff Crook
- “The Party’s Over” by Penelope Kim Crowther
- “Transport of Delight” by Roland Denison
- “The Perfect Lover” by Paul Di Filippo
- “Printcrime” by Cory Doctorow
- “A Brief History of Death Switches” by David Eagleman
- “Only Connect” by Greg Egan
- “At the Zoo” by Warren Ellis
- “The Liquidators” by Michael Garrett Farrelly
- “In the Days of the Comet” by john m. Ford
- “Ars Longa, Vita Brevis” by James Alan Gardner
- “Are We Not Men?” by Henry Gee
- “It Never Rains in VR” by John Gilbey
- “Gordy Gave Me Your Name” by Jim Giles
- “Nostalgia” by Hiromi Goto
- “Spawn of Satan?” by Nicola Griffith
- “Take Over” by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
- “Speak, Geek” by Eileen Gunn
- “Heartwired” by Joe Haldeman
- “The Forever Kitten” by Peter f. Hamilton
- “The Road to the Year 3000″ by Harry Harrison
- “Operation Tesla” by Jeff Hecht
- “Making the Sale” by Fredric Heeren
- “Subpoenaed in Syracuse” by Tom Holt
- “Total Internal Reflection” by Gwyneth Jones
- “Ringing Up Baby” by Ellen Klages
- “Semi-autonomous” by Jim Kling
- “Product Development” by Nancy Kress
- “I Love Liver: A Romance” by Larissa Lai
- “Avatars in Space” by Geoffrey A. Landis
- “COMP.BASILISK FAQ” by David Langford
- “Gathering of the Clans” by Reinaldo José Lopes
- “Taking Good Care of Myself” by Ian R. Macleod
- “Undead Again” by Ken Macleod
- “Words, Words, Words” by Elisabeth Malartre
- “My Morning Glory” by David Marusek
- “Don’t Mention the “F” Word” by Neil Mathur
- “Meat” by Paul McAuley
- “The Candidate” by Jack Mcdevitt
- “A Modest Proposal for the Perfection of Nature” by Vonda N. Mcintyre
- “The Republic of George’s Island” by Donna Mcmahon
- “The Computiful Game” by Paul Steven Miller
- “Oscar Night, 2054″ by Syne Mitchell
- “The Visible Men” by Michael Moorcock
- “The Albian Message” by Oliver Morton
- “Photons Do Not Lie” by Euan Nisbet
- “Stranger in the Night” by Salvador Nogueira
- “Tick-Tock Curly-Wurly” by Gareth Owens
- “Daddy’s Slight Miscalculation” by Ashley Pellegrino
- “Brain Drain” by Frederik Pohl
- “Great Unreported Discoveries No. 163″ by Mike Resnick
- “Feeling Rejected” by Alastair Reynolds
- “The Trial of Jeremy Owens” by Peter Roberts
- “Prometheus Unbound, at Last” by Kim Stanley Robinson
- “Dreadnought” by Justina Robson
- “Falling” by Benjamin Rosenbaum
- “Panpsychism Proved” by Rudy Rucker
- “The Abdication of Pope Mary III” by Robert J. Sawyer
- “The Charge-up Man” by Catherine H. Shaffer
- “From the Desk of Jarrod Foster” by Biren Shah
- “Pluto Story” by Robert Silverberg
- “Madame Bovary, C’est Moi” by Dan Simmons
- “Tuberculosis Bacteria Join UN” by Joan Slonczewski
- “For He on Honeydew Hath Fed …” by Paul Smaglik
- “A Man of the Theater” by Norman Sprinrad
- “Ivory Tower” by Bruce Sterling
- “Play It Again, Psam” by Ian Stewart
- “MAXO Signals” by Charles Stross
- “Golden Year” by Igor Teper
- “Paratext” by Scarlett Thomas
- “Murphy’s Cat” by Joan D. Vinge
- “Win a Nobel Prize!” by Vernor Vinge
- “A Leap of Faith” by Theo Von Hohenheim
- “Nadia’s Nectar” by Ian Watson
- “Statler Pulchrifex” by Matt Weber
- “All Is Not Lost” by Scott Westerfeld
- “The Key” by Ian Whates
- “The Godmother Protocols” by Heather M. Whitney
- “The Great Good-bye” by Robert Charles Wilson
- “Pigs on the Wing” by K. Erik Ziemelis
- “Don’t Imitate” by Gilles Amon
- “Check Elastic Before Jumping” by Neal Asher
- “Twenty2″ by Nate Balding
- “Under Martian Ice” by Stephen Baxter
- “RAM SHIFT PHASE 2″ by Greg Bear
- “A Life with a Semisent” by Gregory Benford
- “Damned If You Don’t” by Lucy Bergman
- “The Punishment Fits the Crime” by David Berreby
- “Toy Planes” by Tobias S. Buckell
- “A Concrete Example” by J. Casti, J.-P. Boon, C. Djerassi, J. Johnson, A. Lovett, T. Norretranders, V. Patera, C. Sommerer, R. Taylor, and S. Thurner
- “The Aching of Dion Harper” by Arthur Chrenkoff
- “Improving the Neighborhood” by Arthur C. Clarke
- “Omphalosphere: New York 2057″ by Jack Cohen
- “Picasso’s Cat” by Ron Collins
- “My Grandfather’s River” by Brenda Cooper
- “Sandcastles: A Dystopia” by Kathryn Cramer
- “Adam’s Hot Dogs at the End of the World” by Jeff Crook
- “The Party’s Over” by Penelope Kim Crowther
- “Transport of Delight” by Roland Denison
- “The Perfect Lover” by Paul Di Filippo
- “Printcrime” by Cory Doctorow
- “A Brief History of Death Switches” by David Eagleman
- “Only Connect” by Greg Egan
- “At the Zoo” by Warren Ellis
- “The Liquidators” by Michael Garrett Farrelly
- “In the Days of the Comet” by john m. Ford
- “Ars Longa, Vita Brevis” by James Alan Gardner
- “Are We Not Men?” by Henry Gee
- “It Never Rains in VR” by John Gilbey
- “Gordy Gave Me Your Name” by Jim Giles
- “Nostalgia” by Hiromi Goto
- “Spawn of Satan?” by Nicola Griffith
- “Take Over” by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
- “Speak, Geek” by Eileen Gunn
- “Heartwired” by Joe Haldeman
- “The Forever Kitten” by Peter f. Hamilton
- “The Road to the Year 3000″ by Harry Harrison
- “Operation Tesla” by Jeff Hecht
- “Making the Sale” by Fredric Heeren
- “Subpoenaed in Syracuse” by Tom Holt
- “Total Internal Reflection” by Gwyneth Jones
- “Ringing Up Baby” by Ellen Klages
- “Semi-autonomous” by Jim Kling
- “Product Development” by Nancy Kress
- “I Love Liver: A Romance” by Larissa Lai
- “Avatars in Space” by Geoffrey A. Landis
- “COMP.BASILISK FAQ” by David Langford
- “Gathering of the Clans” by Reinaldo José Lopes
- “Taking Good Care of Myself” by Ian R. Macleod
- “Undead Again” by Ken Macleod
- “Words, Words, Words” by Elisabeth Malartre
- “My Morning Glory” by David Marusek
- “Don’t Mention the “F” Word” by Neil Mathur
- “Meat” by Paul McAuley
- “The Candidate” by Jack Mcdevitt
- “A Modest Proposal for the Perfection of Nature” by Vonda N. Mcintyre
- “The Republic of George’s Island” by Donna Mcmahon
- “The Computiful Game” by Paul Steven Miller
- “Oscar Night, 2054″ by Syne Mitchell
- “The Visible Men” by Michael Moorcock
- “The Albian Message” by Oliver Morton
- “Photons Do Not Lie” by Euan Nisbet
- “Stranger in the Night” by Salvador Nogueira
- “Tick-Tock Curly-Wurly” by Gareth Owens
- “Daddy’s Slight Miscalculation” by Ashley Pellegrino
- “Brain Drain” by Frederik Pohl
- “Great Unreported Discoveries No. 163″ by Mike Resnick
- “Feeling Rejected” by Alastair Reynolds
- “The Trial of Jeremy Owens” by Peter Roberts
- “Prometheus Unbound, at Last” by Kim Stanley Robinson
- “Dreadnought” by Justina Robson
- “Falling” by Benjamin Rosenbaum
- “Panpsychism Proved” by Rudy Rucker
- “The Abdication of Pope Mary III” by Robert J. Sawyer
- “The Charge-up Man” by Catherine H. Shaffer
- “From the Desk of Jarrod Foster” by Biren Shah
- “Pluto Story” by Robert Silverberg
- “Madame Bovary, C’est Moi” by Dan Simmons
- “Tuberculosis Bacteria Join UN” by Joan Slonczewski
- “For He on Honeydew Hath Fed …” by Paul Smaglik
- “A Man of the Theater” by Norman Sprinrad
- “Ivory Tower” by Bruce Sterling
- “Play It Again, Psam” by Ian Stewart
- “MAXO Signals” by Charles Stross
- “Golden Year” by Igor Teper
- “Paratext” by Scarlett Thomas
- “Murphy’s Cat” by Joan D. Vinge
- “Win a Nobel Prize!” by Vernor Vinge
- “A Leap of Faith” by Theo Von Hohenheim
- “Nadia’s Nectar” by Ian Watson
- “Statler Pulchrifex” by Matt Weber
- “All Is Not Lost” by Scott Westerfeld
- “The Key” by Ian Whates
- “The Godmother Protocols” by Heather M. Whitney
- “The Great Good-bye” by Robert Charles Wilson
- “Pigs on the Wing” by K. Erik Ziemelis
January 2, 2012
Mixed bag--some of them were very good, some funny. There's one written like a book review (of a book by a robot author, by a robot reviewer), commercials, SETI finding alien communications that are spam, etc. Of the ones written in traditional story styles (most of them), some are rather dry, some are touching, some I didn't quite get.
December 31, 2016
A terrific collection of short (like a couple of pages) speculative fictions (read 'sci-fi-fi) that were fun to read and short enough to get through quickly on my commute. Quite a spectacular group of authors, this would qualify as highly recommended from me to anyone who doesn't read much as the stories are so accessible and interesting.
Want to Read
May 26, 2009I use to read these stories when I worked in the lab and a lot of them have stayed with me- a lot of science fiction ought to be done this way- too much of what is out there is a good idea surrounded by less exciting stuff
June 5, 2013
A very good collection of short-short stories originally published in "Nature" magazine. Both professional SF writers and scientists are represented across a wide spectrum of ages. Most stories are of excellent quality, and the variety of themes and styles is a joy to behold. Recommended.
August 8, 2013
ultimately, this was fine. there were some good short stories and some that made my eyes glaze over.
greg bear's story made me chuckle out loud, which i rarely do. and i enjoyed henry gee's introduction story. there were others that i enjoyed as well, but i don't have the book in front of me.
greg bear's story made me chuckle out loud, which i rarely do. and i enjoyed henry gee's introduction story. there were others that i enjoyed as well, but i don't have the book in front of me.
July 20, 2015
A mixed bag. You would think the stories by professional writers would be much better than those by scientists, but that's not always the case. Often fun, sometimes obvious, but probably not many with any staying power.
December 30, 2014
This is an all-time favorite. I read it time and again (must have read it at least three times back to back, then I bought a Kindle edition). Not only great stories, but also an inspiration to every hard sf / flash or very short fiction writer.
May 9, 2015
I wasn't crazy about these stories. They were overly intellectual and overwrought. They were just trying too hard to be clever and didn't flow (except maybe one or two). They generally felt more like an exercise in storytelling than actual storytelling.
August 28, 2015
I loved these very short stories that speculate about the future. Some are bleak, some hopeful, and many are humorous. I marked quite a few to go back and read again. Good for when you do your reading for pleasure in short snatches.
June 1, 2009
Pretty good collection of short stories. Too short, perhaps.
October 18, 2010
I loved this "speculative" collection of stories. Futurist. I love it! Any recommendations of more books like this?
May 30, 2015
couldn't past the first couple of pages and the book is science fiction, I don't like sci-fi
unfinished-unlikely-to-restart
June 28, 2017Too hard science sci fi for my tastes, but some of these very short pieces were quite interesting.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews