Master Minds

Third Flatiron Anthologies #Vol. 3, Summer 2014

by Juliana Rew (Editor), Lela E. Buis, Martin Clark

It's Question Time: What is intelligence, anyway? Who has it? Who wants it? Can humans recognize it in other species? Come the Singularity, will humans survive? Is survival only for the fittest? What will newly sentient creations want to do first? Can we love machines, and can they love us back? Could the 'Mozart effect' of music transform us? Are the super-intelligent more likely to be tormented by issues like happiness and the meaning of life?

Third Flatiron Anthologies presents "Master Minds," a new collection of science fiction/fantasy/horror short stories that consider the different meanings of intelligence.

New and established speculative fiction writers offer a mind-boosting exploration of sentience and sapience. Contributors include Cherith Baldry, Lela E. Buis, Martin Clark, Ellen Denton, Robin Wyatt Dunn, William Huggins, Elliotte Rusty Harold, Jason Lairamore, Vince Liberato, Patrick McCarty, Russell Nichols, Konstantine Paradias, and NM Whitley. Edited by Juliana Rew.

Genres: Science Fiction

134 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 7, 2014

About the author

Juliana Rew was an NCAR science and technical writer in Boulder, Colorado, and is editor at Third Flatiron Publishing, publishing SF and fantasy anthologies.

Reviews

[Neil Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with the vast majority of anthologies I've read, Master Minds is something of a mixed bag in terms of likes and dislikes. However, the general quality of the Third Flatiron anthologies continues to impress me and all the stories, whether they struck a chord with me or not, are well written.

The majority of stories include some kind of Artificial Intelligence and, after a while, despite the variations, I found I needed a break from that particular theme. But I'm nitpicking. What I want to do here is just pick out a few of my favourites.

The Abstract Heart by Martin Clark, the opening story, is an enjoyable journey through the seedier side of a future city. If it has a fault it's that it ends too abruptly, but I suspect that is as much to do with the limit of 3,000 words as it is the author's intent. Nevertheless a strong opening to the anthology.

Music of the Mind by Cherith Baldry is a future fantasy, thankfully lacking in any sort of A.I. theme, with a very nice twist which I didn't see coming. I found the ending a little obtuse, but that could be just me being thick!

The Right Books by Elliotte Rusty Harold might have appealed to me because of my past in programming or because of my liking for huge collections of books, but mostly it appealed because it's a well written and thought-provoking story about a library computer system going beyond its original programming.

And finally, my absolute favourite, Broken Toys in a Big Backyard by Vince Liberato. Original, entertaining, vivid, good twist at the end and all round an excellent story. I loved the setting, the ideas and basically everything about it. I'm not going to give away any of the story, you should just read it.

A very good anthology which, like most, has its ups and downs where my personal taste is concerned, but while all of the authors were new to me, they are all worth keeping an eye out for in the future, particularly those I've picked out above.

Meanwhile, I'll be keeping an eye out for future Third Flatiron anthologies.

[Robina Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories in Third Flatiron Publishing's Summer 2014 anthology, titled "Master Minds," are as intriguing as ever. The editor, Juliana Rew, had sought stories on the theme of "Intelligence," and every author, unless I am mistaken, has chosen to set his or her story in the future and to introduce into their stories characters that contain computer-altered, or computer-generated, life forms; there are some fascinating plots blending the human, the technologically altered human, the post-human, and the outright non-human. And it is rarely Man who is the hero of the day–though it is a joy to read of the kindly huntsman, Jacob, in "The Cabin," by Lela E. Buis: Jacob's humanity shines through when he befriends, shares his food with, and tends the wolf-like creature he comes across in the woods. This is a charming tale of a symbiotic relationship between a man and a wild animal–or such Jacob takes the wolf to be. I just loved this story: it tugged at the heartstrings but was so satisfying in the dénouement.

Another story I really loved, "The Right Books," by Elliotte Rusty Harold, took the name of the narrating character, Alexandria ['a library for the 21st century'], from, I assume, the Ancient Egyptian library at Alexandria–a clever play on a name; and perhaps ironically so, for the ancient library was destroyed by vengeful humans, whereas the new Alexandria, a library information system existing in cyberspace but with data centers in physical locations in the U.S., evolving rapidly, learns to think for itself, becoming, effectively, a functioning, rationalizing brain able to make its own decisions–and decides to save mankind from the dangers threatening it. Alexandria sees itself as the savior of the human race and determines to take whatever steps might be needed. This tale is fascinating. Technically written, with beautiful clarity, it is, in my opinion, a modern masterpiece of story-telling. I admired it so much.

I recommend this "Master Minds" anthology as an excellent read.

[Jaimie Engle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Third Flatiron has published another amazing anthology. Filled with unique stories based around the premise of "intelligence", a variety of writers have shared their definition of the word through amazing anthropological science-fiction. This is the fifth anthology I have read and they just keep getting better. Editor Julie Rew has a keen eye for excellence and variety when choosing which short stories to include in her anthologies. If you love science-fiction mixed with some facts about the human race, you must check out all of the Third Flatiron anthologies, starting with this one.

[Joshua Hair · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a Goodreads First Reads win from a giveaway. As a collection of short stories, Master Minds works as any anthology does: it offers a few gems, a few duds, and a few more lackluster pieces. This one, however, seems to have more of the second and third than the first. While (almost) none of the stories were terrible exactly, they just lacked the punch and power necessary to make them real winners. A handful showed promise, and I certainly wouldn't mind seeing them rewritten or expanded upon in the future, but until then they still leave the reader unimpressed. In some collections, that's to be expected and possibly even forgiven, but not here. After all, these are works of science fiction detailing artificial intelligence and robots; to be anything but intriguing with such a concept is unforgivable. As I said, it's not that the stories are bad. They simply aren't great, and with such a wealth of science fiction at one's disposal that in turn means they aren't worth the time spent reading them unless you are simply looking for that next up-and-comer author among the annals of lightweight anthologies.

[Staci Suhy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book for free as part of a first reads promotion