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TRSF 2011
A diverse collection of science fiction authors, characters, and stories, featuring contributions by at Cadigan, Elizabeth Bear, Joe Haldeman, Ken Liu, Tobias Buckell and others, as well as color illustrations by Chris Foss.
TRSF is the first iteration of the Twelve Tomorrows series. Published by MIT Technology Review, this volume brings together original stories by leading science fiction authors inspired by today's emerging technologies. Featuring a diverse collection of authors, characters, and stories rooted in contemporary real-world science, each volume in the series offers conceivable and inclusive stories of the future, celebrating and continuing the genre of "hard" science fiction pioneered by authors such as Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Robert Heinlein.
Pat Cadigan, Elizabeth Bear, Joe Haldeman, Ken Liu, Tobias Buckell and others offer stories about space flight, biocomputing, virtual reality, and filmmaking. Ranging from sad to hilarious, but always thought-provoking, the stories are interspersed with beautiful full-page color illustrations from the work of SF illustrator Chris Foss.
TRSF is the first iteration of the Twelve Tomorrows series. Published by MIT Technology Review, this volume brings together original stories by leading science fiction authors inspired by today's emerging technologies. Featuring a diverse collection of authors, characters, and stories rooted in contemporary real-world science, each volume in the series offers conceivable and inclusive stories of the future, celebrating and continuing the genre of "hard" science fiction pioneered by authors such as Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Robert Heinlein.
Pat Cadigan, Elizabeth Bear, Joe Haldeman, Ken Liu, Tobias Buckell and others offer stories about space flight, biocomputing, virtual reality, and filmmaking. Ranging from sad to hilarious, but always thought-provoking, the stories are interspersed with beautiful full-page color illustrations from the work of SF illustrator Chris Foss.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
147 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 28, 2012
A decent list of stories about the technological future. Most of the stories as short (a few pages long) and just develop on an idea. But some are thoughtful stories like those by Cory Doctorow, Ken Liu, Ma Boyong, Geoffrey A. Landis and Elizabeth Bear.
- "The Brave Little Toaster" by Cory Doctorow: when your home is invaded by a beverage that fakes its status ("I'm outgassing," to the fridge, "I'm toxic," to the garbage disposal unit), how do you get rid of it? Well, the answer may well be to a brave little toaster build before the time of intelligent gadgets.
- "Indra's Web" by Vandana Singh: in a complex network of biological power generators, one suddenly goes off-line. As the scientists struggle to discover 'the problem' with the generator, one of them realises that the network is more than it appears and the answer lies with her relationship to her own grandmother.
- "Real Artists" by Ken Liu: a fan of a computer animation studio finally lands her dream job to work at the studio. But when she discovers how the studio actually makes their animated wonders, will she find that her dream of being an artist at the studio shattered?
- "Complete Sentence" by Joe Haldeman: a sentence to a virtual jail where two months appear to pass every minute sounds good; unless you feel that you really deserve the sentence.
- "The Mark Twain Robots" by Ma Boyong: robots that tell jokes may sound like a good idea until they run up against Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics.
- "Cody" by Pat Cadigan: a biological courier is kidnapped in an attempt to unlock the data carried within him, locked by his DNA. Little do the kidnappers know that this courier has a secret that will keep the data even more secure.
- "The Surface of Last Scattering" by Ken MacLeod: a man prepares to meet his father, released from jail after many years for a enormous crime. What he is not prepared for is the confession by his father and the reason for the crime in this world where information about the past is not as permanent as it seems.
- "Specter-Bombing the Beer Goggles" by Paul Di Filippo: in a world where augmented reality has taken over, a man gives in and installs an app to make women appear like elves from a game (the only way he can get turned on). Then he meets a woman who rejects augmented reality and it turns out to be a good thing when the augmented world comes crashing down.
- "Lonely Islands" by Tobias Buckell: in a world where environmental disasters have taken their toll, some people are still not willing to give up what they consider essential for their lives.
- "The Flame Is Roses, The Smoke Is Briars" by Gwyneth Jones: a new way of looking at things may turn out to be the key to unlocking a view of the past
- "Private Space" by Geoffrey A. Landis: a chance meeting between a girl and two guys who are planning a 'hack' at MIT would later lead all three on an audacious way to getting a rocket into space.
- "Gods of the Forge" by Elizabeth Bear: a researcher tries to conquer her fear of trying dangerous things. As it turns out, she would need to do so when her search for academic papers unexpectedly turns up research that she knows she must expose before the military can put it to dangerous use.
- "The Brave Little Toaster" by Cory Doctorow: when your home is invaded by a beverage that fakes its status ("I'm outgassing," to the fridge, "I'm toxic," to the garbage disposal unit), how do you get rid of it? Well, the answer may well be to a brave little toaster build before the time of intelligent gadgets.
- "Indra's Web" by Vandana Singh: in a complex network of biological power generators, one suddenly goes off-line. As the scientists struggle to discover 'the problem' with the generator, one of them realises that the network is more than it appears and the answer lies with her relationship to her own grandmother.
- "Real Artists" by Ken Liu: a fan of a computer animation studio finally lands her dream job to work at the studio. But when she discovers how the studio actually makes their animated wonders, will she find that her dream of being an artist at the studio shattered?
- "Complete Sentence" by Joe Haldeman: a sentence to a virtual jail where two months appear to pass every minute sounds good; unless you feel that you really deserve the sentence.
- "The Mark Twain Robots" by Ma Boyong: robots that tell jokes may sound like a good idea until they run up against Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics.
- "Cody" by Pat Cadigan: a biological courier is kidnapped in an attempt to unlock the data carried within him, locked by his DNA. Little do the kidnappers know that this courier has a secret that will keep the data even more secure.
- "The Surface of Last Scattering" by Ken MacLeod: a man prepares to meet his father, released from jail after many years for a enormous crime. What he is not prepared for is the confession by his father and the reason for the crime in this world where information about the past is not as permanent as it seems.
- "Specter-Bombing the Beer Goggles" by Paul Di Filippo: in a world where augmented reality has taken over, a man gives in and installs an app to make women appear like elves from a game (the only way he can get turned on). Then he meets a woman who rejects augmented reality and it turns out to be a good thing when the augmented world comes crashing down.
- "Lonely Islands" by Tobias Buckell: in a world where environmental disasters have taken their toll, some people are still not willing to give up what they consider essential for their lives.
- "The Flame Is Roses, The Smoke Is Briars" by Gwyneth Jones: a new way of looking at things may turn out to be the key to unlocking a view of the past
- "Private Space" by Geoffrey A. Landis: a chance meeting between a girl and two guys who are planning a 'hack' at MIT would later lead all three on an audacious way to getting a rocket into space.
- "Gods of the Forge" by Elizabeth Bear: a researcher tries to conquer her fear of trying dangerous things. As it turns out, she would need to do so when her search for academic papers unexpectedly turns up research that she knows she must expose before the military can put it to dangerous use.
January 12, 2012
I wanted to go with four stars because there are two stories I thought were far below the rest but the others are so strong that I thought I'd give it the benefit of the doubt. My favorites were "Real Artists" by Ken Liu which was one of the best short stories from 2011 that I've read, "The Mark Twain Robots" by Ma Boyong is a rare chance to see what top notch SF short fiction from China looks like (it looks good apparently), "Specter Bombing the Beer Goggles" by Paul di Filippo is the funniest story in the collection and also maybe the most frightening and "Private Space" by Geoffrey Landis is the traditional feel SF story about exploration of new technology by recent college graduates. I'll definitely be looking for this year's edition when it comes out.
August 1, 2019
1. The Brave Little Toaster • short story by Cory Doctorow [7/10]
2. Indra's Web • short story by Vandana Singh [6/10]
3. Real Artists • short story by Ken Liu [6/10]
4. Complete Sentence • short story by Joe Haldeman [7/10]
5. The Mark Twain Robots • short story by Ma Boyong? (trans. of 马克吐温机器人?) [5/10]
6. Cody • short story by Pat Cadigan [6/10]
7. The Surface of Last Scattering • short story by Ken MacLeod [5/10]
8. Specter-Bombing the Beer Goggles • short story by Paul Di Filippo [3/10]
9. Lonely Islands • short story by Tobias S. Buckell [as by Tobias Buckell] [3/10]
10. The Flame is Roses, the Smoke is Briars • short story by Gwyneth Jones [6/10]
11. Private Space • short story by Geoffrey A. Landis [5/10]
12. Gods of the Forge • short story by Elizabeth Bear [6/10]
Overall - 5.5/10
2. Indra's Web • short story by Vandana Singh [6/10]
3. Real Artists • short story by Ken Liu [6/10]
4. Complete Sentence • short story by Joe Haldeman [7/10]
5. The Mark Twain Robots • short story by Ma Boyong? (trans. of 马克吐温机器人?) [5/10]
6. Cody • short story by Pat Cadigan [6/10]
7. The Surface of Last Scattering • short story by Ken MacLeod [5/10]
8. Specter-Bombing the Beer Goggles • short story by Paul Di Filippo [3/10]
9. Lonely Islands • short story by Tobias S. Buckell [as by Tobias Buckell] [3/10]
10. The Flame is Roses, the Smoke is Briars • short story by Gwyneth Jones [6/10]
11. Private Space • short story by Geoffrey A. Landis [5/10]
12. Gods of the Forge • short story by Elizabeth Bear [6/10]
Overall - 5.5/10
September 26, 2021
When I read Entanglements edited by Sheila Williams (I liked it very much) I found out it was the sixt volume of an annual MIT publication dedicated to hard science fiction. TRSF 2011 was the first issue. It contains twelve short stories from different writers, twelve different visions of how technologies (near or far from reaching) can affect life. I really like this kind of literary experiment and I will read the other issues.
Favorite stories:
- The Brave Little Toaster
- Indra’s web
- The Mark Twain Robots
- Lonely Islands
Favorite stories:
- The Brave Little Toaster
- Indra’s web
- The Mark Twain Robots
- Lonely Islands
June 29, 2025
Mostly fine, the two best stories that I'd give five stars are Elizabeth Bear's Gods of the Forge and Ken MacLeod's The Surface of Last Scattering.
December 11, 2011
For me, the most exciting thing about the new annually published science fiction magazine TRSF is that it’s published by Technology Review Magazine, one of the most interesting science and technology magazines on the market. What’s so special about Technology Review? It’s published by MIT, a.k.a. the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which is the premiere engineering, science, and research institution in the world.
I should also mention that I work at MIT, and I received my copy of TRSF from the publisher. So, I may be a slight bit biased here, but good fiction speaks for itself and TRSF sings! Given MIT’s intellectual and scientific resources, it is not surprising that Technology Review (TR to those of us who know and love the magazine) features some of the most fascinating articles about cutting edge science, clever new inventions, and mind-boggling discoveries being written today. Science + Fiction + MIT = TR, an awesome hard science fiction magazine that will get your imagination going.
The concept behind the publication of TRSF is fascinating. After all, how many science and technology magazines start a science fiction magazine in this day and age?
Having Technology Review branch out into new territory and publish TRSF as an annual science fiction magazine, featuring near future hard science fiction is truly exciting. After all, imagination goes a long way toward spurring and encouraging new scientific discoveries. You never know, maybe someday the science fiction in one of these stories may become science reality. Now, that would be exciting!
The contributors of the first annual TRSF are all very talented writers, most of whom I’ve read before. In the introduction, editor Stephen Cass says:
Inspired by the real-world technological breakthroughs covered online and in print by Technology Review, these authors bring you 12 visions of tomorrow, looking at how the Internet, computing, energy, biotecnology, spaceflight, and more might develop, and how those developments might affect the people who have to live with them.
While all of the stories in TRSF were engaging, well written and inspiring, there were a few that stood out:
“Complete Sentence” by Joe Haldeman is one of my favorites in the bunch. It’s a chilling tale of crime and punishment that will make you think twice about guilt, innocence, and the the choices we make.
“Real Artists” by Ken Liu has a flavor of being a little too true and will make you wonder how those big blockbuster movies are really made. The next time you go to the movies, you might even find yourself looking around the theater wondering . . . *spoilers!*
“Private Space” by Geoffrey A. Landis is a high flying story that captures the spirit of combining imagination and science into something that not only could happen but probably will happen–at some point. On a side note, while this wasn’t my favorite story in the magazine, it did a wonderful job of capturing the MIT spirit of curiosity, invention, and contributing to science.
“The Brave Little Toaster” by Cory Doctorow is a nice way to kick-off TRSF. It’s a short piece that will make you think twice about automatically accepting those nifty product samples that marketing reps handout at malls, on the street, and other public places. While it is an exciting to think of living in a truly networked world, there is something to be said for the simple technologies that do what we want them to do no matter what they think they should do.
The Table of Contents for TRSF is listed below.
The Brave Little Toaster – Cory Doctorow
Indra’s Web – Vandana Singh
Real Artists – Ken Liu
Complete Sentence – Joe Haldeman
The Mark Twain Robots – Ma Boyong
Cody – Pat Cadigan
The Surface of Last Scattering – Ken MacLeod
Specter-Bombing the Beer Goggles – Paul Di Filippo
Lonely Islands – Tobias Buckell
The Flame Is Roses, The Smoke Is Briars – Gwyneth Jones
Private Space – Geoffrey A. Landis
Gods of the Forge – Elizabeth Bear
TRSF is available in print as well as in a digital format for your Kindle or Nook.
I should also mention that I work at MIT, and I received my copy of TRSF from the publisher. So, I may be a slight bit biased here, but good fiction speaks for itself and TRSF sings! Given MIT’s intellectual and scientific resources, it is not surprising that Technology Review (TR to those of us who know and love the magazine) features some of the most fascinating articles about cutting edge science, clever new inventions, and mind-boggling discoveries being written today. Science + Fiction + MIT = TR, an awesome hard science fiction magazine that will get your imagination going.
The concept behind the publication of TRSF is fascinating. After all, how many science and technology magazines start a science fiction magazine in this day and age?
Having Technology Review branch out into new territory and publish TRSF as an annual science fiction magazine, featuring near future hard science fiction is truly exciting. After all, imagination goes a long way toward spurring and encouraging new scientific discoveries. You never know, maybe someday the science fiction in one of these stories may become science reality. Now, that would be exciting!
The contributors of the first annual TRSF are all very talented writers, most of whom I’ve read before. In the introduction, editor Stephen Cass says:
Inspired by the real-world technological breakthroughs covered online and in print by Technology Review, these authors bring you 12 visions of tomorrow, looking at how the Internet, computing, energy, biotecnology, spaceflight, and more might develop, and how those developments might affect the people who have to live with them.
While all of the stories in TRSF were engaging, well written and inspiring, there were a few that stood out:
“Complete Sentence” by Joe Haldeman is one of my favorites in the bunch. It’s a chilling tale of crime and punishment that will make you think twice about guilt, innocence, and the the choices we make.
“Real Artists” by Ken Liu has a flavor of being a little too true and will make you wonder how those big blockbuster movies are really made. The next time you go to the movies, you might even find yourself looking around the theater wondering . . . *spoilers!*
“Private Space” by Geoffrey A. Landis is a high flying story that captures the spirit of combining imagination and science into something that not only could happen but probably will happen–at some point. On a side note, while this wasn’t my favorite story in the magazine, it did a wonderful job of capturing the MIT spirit of curiosity, invention, and contributing to science.
“The Brave Little Toaster” by Cory Doctorow is a nice way to kick-off TRSF. It’s a short piece that will make you think twice about automatically accepting those nifty product samples that marketing reps handout at malls, on the street, and other public places. While it is an exciting to think of living in a truly networked world, there is something to be said for the simple technologies that do what we want them to do no matter what they think they should do.
The Table of Contents for TRSF is listed below.
The Brave Little Toaster – Cory Doctorow
Indra’s Web – Vandana Singh
Real Artists – Ken Liu
Complete Sentence – Joe Haldeman
The Mark Twain Robots – Ma Boyong
Cody – Pat Cadigan
The Surface of Last Scattering – Ken MacLeod
Specter-Bombing the Beer Goggles – Paul Di Filippo
Lonely Islands – Tobias Buckell
The Flame Is Roses, The Smoke Is Briars – Gwyneth Jones
Private Space – Geoffrey A. Landis
Gods of the Forge – Elizabeth Bear
TRSF is available in print as well as in a digital format for your Kindle or Nook.
April 13, 2026
ENJOYABLE
Real Artists - Ken Liu
Cody - Pat Cadigan
Specter-Bombing the Beer Goggles - Paul Di Filippo
Indra's Web - Vandana Singh
OK
Gods of the Forge - Elizabeth Bear
Private Space - Geoffrey A. Landis
The Mark Twain Robots - Ma Boyong
Lonely Islands - Tobias S. Buckell
MEH
The Brave Little Toaster - Cory Doctorow
The Flame Is Roses, The Smoke Is Briars - Gwyneth Jones
Complete Sentence - Joe Haldeman
The Surface of Last Scattering - Ken MacLeod
Real Artists - Ken Liu
Cody - Pat Cadigan
Specter-Bombing the Beer Goggles - Paul Di Filippo
Indra's Web - Vandana Singh
OK
Gods of the Forge - Elizabeth Bear
Private Space - Geoffrey A. Landis
The Mark Twain Robots - Ma Boyong
Lonely Islands - Tobias S. Buckell
MEH
The Brave Little Toaster - Cory Doctorow
The Flame Is Roses, The Smoke Is Briars - Gwyneth Jones
Complete Sentence - Joe Haldeman
The Surface of Last Scattering - Ken MacLeod
February 26, 2012
Good but not great science fiction.
Read
January 10, 2022Cadigan, Jones, Doctorow, Singh, Liu, MacLeod
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