Guardian Angels and Other Monsters

Clockwork Dynasty #1.5 - One for Sorrow

by Daniel H. Wilson

From the New York Times bestselling author of Robopocalypse comes a fascinating and fantastic collection that explores complex emotional and intellectual landscapes at the intersection of artificial intelligence and human life. A VINTAGE BOOKS ORIGINAL.

In "All Kinds of Proof," a down-and-out drunk makes the unlikeliest of friends when he is hired to train a mail-carrying robot; in "Blood Memory," a mother confronts the dangerous reality that her daughter will never assimilate in this world after she was the first child born through a teleportation device; in "The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever," a physicist rushes home to be with his daughter after he hears reports of an atmospheric anomaly which he knows to be a sign of the end of the earth; in "Miss Gloria," a robot comes back to life in many different forms in a quest to save a young girl. Guardian Angels and Other Monsters displays the depth and breadth of Daniel H. Wilson's vision and examines how artificial intelligence both saves and destroys humanity.

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Indigenous, Robots

304 pages, Paperback

First published March 6, 2018

About the author

A Cherokee citizen, Daniel H. Wilson grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He earned a Ph.D. in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Reviews

[Sylvain Neuvel · Rating 5 out of 5]

By page 9, I was grinning like a kid on his first carnival ride. I love everything out of Daniel Wilson’s mind — it’s fun and it’s fast — and the short story format takes it into overdrive. Thrilling, touching, funny, heartbreaking and scary as hell, there’s nowhere this rollercoaster won’t take you. Grab on to those pages and hold tight. You’re in for one hell of a ride.

[Graeme Rodaughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who knows me knows I love inventiveness, and that's what's on 5 star display here.

Not every story in this selection is a full blown winner but most of them are.

There is a wry, dark humour in some of these stories, and unlikely courage, and often poignant sadness and tragedy as humanity collides in one way or another with the fruits of their robot/AI offspring.

There are stories here that will stay with me and I'm always thankful to find memorable affective writing.

Recommended for anyone who likes sci-fi or robots, and short stories.

[Paul Falk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who better to write about the potential advancement of artificial intelligence than someone especially instilled with supporting knowledge? That would be author, Daniel Wilson. He'd come well-prepared to the otherworldly gunfights with a PhD in robotics. Armed to the teeth.

I was held entranced with an impressive display of his genius that danced through the pages. A well-written narrative of swashbuckling short stories covered the soaring gamut of the author's imagination.

An eclectic array of artificially, gifted robots paraded through the storylines. Each conveying its own unique purpose and source of energy and power. Given a front row seat, I was transported to another world. Another planet. Another solar system. Or did I ever leave planet Earth? There was no way to really know. I suppose, in the end, it didn't really matter. The curtain rose. The show began. And I fell into lockstep with the guardian angels and other monsters. An entertaining read.

I am grateful to NetGalley and Vintage Books/Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Lena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the best collection I’ve ever read. I will remember The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever for the rest of my life.

This book challenged my expectations of science fiction. It’s my favorite genre and now I’ll always want more.

Miss Gloria ★★★★★
Strong start. The story of the undying love and devotion of a nanny robot to his charge.

The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever ★★★★★
"We will always have the stars."
Full on heartrending tear jerking perfection. The story feels like a highly personal nightmare.

Jack, The Determined ★★★☆☆
A robot finds out his true nature unkindly but seems to take it in religious stride.

The Executor ★★★★☆
A father determined to give his daughter a better life.

Helmet ★★★★☆
Here we go with the horror! Enslaved Africans in radioactive hellholes and terrifying machinery.

Blood Memory ★★★★★
"Oh yes, Mama," she whispers, smiling wide.
Oooh shivers I liked that. At first I thought it was going to be another poignant parental devotion tale but the horror slowly crept in catching me off guard. Excellent!

Foul Weather ★★★★☆
The relationship between human actions and the weather are explored by a meteorologist after a shocking experience on a plane. It read like Stephen King story.

The Nostalgist ★★★☆☆
Sad little story of a boy realizing he is a robot version of a real boy.

Parasite ★★★★☆
"Still alive..."
Freaky zombie horror from the world of Robopocalypse.

God Mode ★★☆☆☆
Not sure if this was an Alzheimer’s death scene or an I’m-about-to-get-a-robot-body scene. First story I didn’t like.

Garden of Life ★★★☆☆
Entomologist finds metal bugs.

All Kinds of Proof ★★★☆☆
Pretty low brow story of a blue collar guy getting attached to little dog like mail robot.

One For Sorrow ★★★★★
A story of Elena in England while Peter was at war in India. Loved it! Now I want to read A Clockwork Dynasty all over again!

Special Automatic ★★★☆☆
A special needs kid in the hood builds a robot to gain respect. It was ok.

The average rating is 3.7, which is fantastic for any collection/anthology, but I don’t feel that reflects how memorable some of these stories were so I’m adding a star.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know it's an old complaint, but I do wish GR let us rate on 1/2, or even better, on 1/4 stars. For me, thIs book is better than a 3, but not quite a 4. I probably would have gone either with a 3.5 or a 3.75 if I could have. The short stories in this anthology hit on a lot of the complex emotional and physical issues that might arise as we advance in robot and artificial intelligence. None of the stories are very heavy at all into science or science fiction, but rather look at the human side of things. I think I would have given it a higher rating personally if it did hit on the science a little more. Otherwise, not a bad collection.

[Ashleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75✪'s
There are so many things to like about this book of short stories. The writing is amazing and each story really draws you in. Daniel H. Wilson's imagination and the atmosphere he creates (dark, bleak, depressing) is next level, I felt for the characters almost immediately - just fantastic. I was creeped out, teary eyed, horrified, and intrigued.

My favourites = The Blue Afternoon hat Lasted Forever (broke my heart), Blood Memory (creepy AF) & Special Automatic.

I would absolutely recommend if you enjoy reading sci-fi.

The Blue Afternoon that Lasted Forever
"It is very late, my darling, and the stars are in the sky. That means it's time to give you a kiss. And an Eskimo kiss. Now I will lay you down and tuck you in, nice and tight, so you stay warm all night. ... I hold her tight as we rise together into the blackness."

Blood Memory
"A mama does anything for her babies. She protects that downstream blood, always, because it matters more than her own. When it's all over and we blink good-bye and let go our last breath - it's only our blood that we leave behind."

[Tyler Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avg-3.93

I really enjoyed this anthology! Many of the stories were very emotional, and it on different themes using robots to enhance the messages. Out of 14 stories there was only 1 (Blood Memory) I didn't like, which is awesome for an anthology, or collection really! The rest I loved to varying degrees, with my favorites being "The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever", "The Executor", "One for Sorrow: A Clockwork Dynasty Story" and "Special Automatic". One for Sorrow makes me realize I need to read A Clockwork Dynasty! So glad I read this, having picked it up for a group read. It spoke very much to the human and emotional side of things for me, not being too heavy on the science, which I loved personally!

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[TraceyL · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first couple of stories blew my mind. I went through the author's books, adding everything I could find to my wishlist. They were very unique and I could feel the characters' desperation. But the rest of the stories ranged from confusing to boring. I ended up feeling disappointed, since the beginning had so much promise.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall, 2.5 stars rounded down. There were a couple of good stories, but most were just OK or real stinkers. All the stories feature a robot in some fashion. Some 'good', some 'bad', & others just out of control. The latter were the scariest & there were some really neat ideas in them, but he tried too hard to wring the emotion out & usually went on far too long. Most would have been better if they'd been half the length, sometimes cutting the dross out of the middle, but as often by ending much sooner. More often than not, the length added details that didn't work well with the earlier ones or extended them too much. I can suspend my disbelief & overlook some issues when there's an abrupt end with a good twist, but not when it's hammered into idiocy.

Table of Contents:

Miss Gloria - A novel idea for a guardian robot, but it went on too long & the end was hammered into idiocy.

The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever - No actual robot, just a father who pretty much is one. It didn't work for me since the setting was too ridiculous.

Jack, the Determined - was disturbing & good due to that.

The Executor - was silly, but kind of fun. Good ending.

Helmet - A neat, horrific idea with an obvious ending that was hampered by too much detail that didn't make sense. Why bother with the human at all? It seems like a lot of resources wasted simply to punish them & drive them mad. Sadism in the extreme? I suppose, but I just couldn't believe it enough for it to work.

Blood Memory - just grotesque, although the idea behind it was interesting, but it's been done before & better.

Foul Weather - A good idea, but the cause/effect didn't make any sense, so that destroyed the story right at the end, a severe disappointment.

The Nostalgist - good & sad about fooling our senses.

Parasite: A Robopocalypse Story - Gross & horrific, it was very much like the earlier story "Helmet" in that it didn't make any sense. Why bother with the human at all? It seems like a lot of resources wasted for no logical reason. If they'd tried to kill the humans, it would have made more sense.

God Mode - Interesting & rather haunting. I think it works better in text which has definite sections that the audio lacked.

Garden of Life - Short, to the point, & narrated by Stephen Rudnicki. One of the best of the bunch.

All Kinds of Proof - Long, rambling, pointless, & so boring I wish I hadn't stuck with it. Worst of the bunch & that's really bad.

One for Sorrow: A Clockwork Dynasty Story - Interesting & somewhat spooky.

Special Automatic - just silly, especially the capture in the middle.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was already a fan, and this did not disappoint! Who doesn't want a robot in tune with them to protect them? I mean really?

[Dianah (onourpath) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daniel H. Wilson had to go a very *very* long way to get me to love a sci-fi/fantasy short story collection, but go he did. I'm staunchly not a fan of sci-fi/fantasy, or short story collections for that matter, so the fact that I loved this book is kind of weirding me out right now. Even typing this is giving me all kinds of cognitive dissonance! These stories are super fun with lip-biting suspense and sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat tension, and there's even a bit of empathy and heartbreak braided in here and there (very sneaky). Several of the stories were so strong, I groaned when they were over -- I was nowhere near being done with those characters. Bravo, Daniel H. Wilson, you've cracked a tough nut with your slyly addicting stories! Now, time to move on to Clockwork Dynasty!

[ReadBecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting futurism/tech short story collection. They seemed to start off a bit sentimental, but quickly went more toward Black Mirror-esque horror. Over all these were in the 2.5-3.5 star range, except for a few outliers.

- The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever: A physicist rushes home to his young daughter as the world is on the verge of chaos, as a specialist how do you cope with fully knowing something those you love won't understand. Really reminded me of the film Melancholia, which I also love. 5/5

- Miss Gloria: A robot nanny/bodyguard starts "body hopping," booting its program into any computer it can along the way to rescue it's charge from a kidnapper. 4/5

- God Mode: A couple fall in love, as the stars suddenly disappear from the sky. 4/5

All the rest:

- Jack the Determined: A professor and his assistant attend a conference

- The Executor: A man seeks to claim the prize of a famous estate inheritance, how far will he go to ensure treatment of his chronically ill child.

- Helmet: Humanity lives in hiding from warrior robots known as Helmets, but what happens when they are caught?

- Blood Memory: A futurist Changeling story.

- Foul Weather: A meteorologist views a storm pattern from a plane.

- The Nostalgist: An elderly man and his child struggle to replace his implants, he's adamant in needing though the child is unsure why.

- Parasite: Military swarm in, but parasites take the bodies of the dead.

- Garden of Life: Entomologist wandering in search of new species comes upon a location teeming with potential finds.

- All Kinds of Proof: The postal service hires a drunk to walk a delivery robot around in order to learn pathing

- One for Sorrow: In the woods an ancient clockwork fay waits, when a man and his apprentice stumble into her home.

- Special Automatic: Bullies beware, a boy who is disabled/disfigured builds himself a robotic bodyguard.


I generally enjoyed the collection over all, the main gripe is that there was definitely a pretty strong traditional "manly" framing of perspective almost across the board, it wasn't very overt other than maybe 2-3 stories yet was fairly apparent.

[Grapie Deltaco · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

A haunting, disturbing, and (at times) claustrophobic collection of dark adult sci-fi stories that get told through different styles from one author. From the apocalypse to fighting tyrannical men in power to vengeance, we explore numerous themes in stories suspended in time.

There’s a true sense of fear and hopelessness that runs through the minds of this cast of characters. I think I much prefer this book to Robopocalypse.

There’s one issue I couldn’t really ignore that I understand probably wasn’t done intentionally but is still something I noticed regardless. In the story Blood Memory, I couldn’t help but be a bit uncomfortable with the multiple mentions of how dark-skinned the little Black girl was when she is also the villain of the story. Beatrix is a monster with a mind distorted beyond correction and to put emphasis that she’s a dark skinned girl was definitely…a choice.

Overall, this collection was difficult to put down and regularly gut wrenching.

CW: death, grief, murder, torture, slavery, kidnapping, animal cruelty, dated language in reference to indigenous people, reference to genocide, reference to rape, ableism (& frequent use of r-slur), mentions of child abuse

[Tim Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark, but well crafted. "Blue Afternoon" was particularly good.
A couple of the stories didn't work for me, but that's a pretty good hit rate for short stories.

[Carol Reich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of short stories featuring robots: creepy, sad, and engaging, with a few touches of humor.

[Lori L (She Treads Softly) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guardian Angels and Other Monsters by Daniel H. Wilson is a very highly recommended collection of fourteen short stories that examine how artificial intelligence both saves and destroys humanity. The writing is excellent and the stories are well-paced, thoughtful, and emotional. This compilation starts out and ends strong. Guardian Angels and Other Monsters is an outstanding selection for science fiction and short story fans. I was captivated by the majority of the stories with the exception of one story that I liked less than the others, which is a stunning recommendation for any short story collection.

Contents include:
Miss Gloria: Chiron is a robot whose life's work is to teach and protect Miss Gloria until she can take care of herself. Miss Gloria knows that Chiron is an excellent playmate and she loves him. In his own way, the machine also loves the girl.
The Blue Afternoon that Lasted Forever: After seeing images on the television that only a few people understand the implications of, an astrophysicists rushes home to his 3-year-old daughter.
Jack, the Determined: Jack, a most loyal and obedient student, is accompanying the Professor while he delivers a report on his most important scientific work.
The Executor: In order to protect his daughter, a man visits the Executor’s office in an attempt to get control of a family inheritance.
Helmet: The wordless huge, robotic Helmets appear and show the strength of the controlling Triumvirate by violently stopping uprisings.
Blood Memory: A mother is determination to do anything to help her daughter, the first and only human being born to teleportation.
Foul Weather: A meteorologist discovers the truth behind the adage: "Foul weather breeds foul deeds."
The Nostalgist: An old man tries to live in the past the only way he knows how.
Parasite: a Robopocalypse Story: A horrific war story of a battle against a thinking machine that calls itself Archos. (This is a Lark Iron Cloud story.)
God Mode: "In all of this forgetting, there is this one constant thing. Her name is Sarah. I will always remember that. She is holding my right hand with her left. Our fingers are interlaced, familiar. The two of us have held hands this way before. The memory of it is there, in our grasp. Her hand in mine. This is all that matters to me now. Here in the aftermath of the great forgetting."
Garden of Life: A taxonomist collects samples when he stumbles across something that he has never seen before.
All Kinds of Proof: A drunk is hired to train a mail-carrying robot that he names the Shine and considers him a friend. "[H]e doesn’t judge, doesn’t interrupt, and he goes with me everywhere. When he walks, it makes this nice wheezing sound. His narrow little feet are coated in a layer of tacky rubber and each step lands quiet and smooth. And he always keeps up. The two of us walk together..."
One for Sorrow: A Clockwork Dynasty Story set in England, 1756, and starring the childlike avtomat Elena Petrova.
Special Automatic: James is an abused and bullied teen who has a neurostimulator sunk into his brain behind his ear to prevent seizures. Although everyone thinks he is stupid, James is much more intelligent than they realize. The proof is found in the robot he built and named Special Automatic.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Penguin Random House.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2018/0...

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Technology, science, and humanity collide in Daniel H. Wilson's newest, a collection of shorts featuring bits and pieces of all three of those subjects.

In the opening tale, "Miss Gloria", a robot does its utmost best to save the child it's been created to teach and protect. In "Helmet" a boy learns the all too horrific truth about the electronic monsters that plague his world. "Parasite: A Robopocalypse Story" brings us back to the world of Robopocalypse and "One For Sorrow: A Clockwork Dynasty Story" brings us back to, you guessed it, A Clockwork Dynasty!

The book is a mix of previously published pieces and pieces new to the collection. "The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever", which finds a father racing home to be with his daughter as a disaster he's one of the few to recognize looms, appeared in Carbide Tipped Pens. "God Mode" appeared Press Start to Play, and the aforementioned "Parasite" actually appeared in 21st Century Dead.

Altogether, it's a really fantastic collection. Some of the tales are poignant and touching. Others are downright scary. All of them are utterly thought provoking and wonderful. I should note, too, that this is the first time Wilson's shorts have appeared together in one place. If you haven't read him before, this is a great starting place. And if you're a longtime fan, this is definitely a must have for your collection!

Here's the full TOC:

"Miss Gloria"
"The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever"
"Jack, the Determined"
"The Executor"
"Helmet"
"Blood Memory"
"Foul Weather"
"The Nostalgist"
"Parasite: A Robopocalypse Story"
"God Mode"
"Garden of Life"
"All Kinds of Proof"
"One for Sorrow: A Clockwork Dynasty Story"
"Special Automatic"

[Fern · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent collection of short stories with robots - computer and steampunk variants - as a unifying motif. Thoroughly enjoyed the scene setting and various incarnations of artificial intelligence. Worth a second read for the finer detailing.

[Madeleine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the first story so much that I wanted to buy the book for a friend. But as I progressed through, it started to feel like a slog. I didn't give up on the book because some of his ideas are so interesting to me, so this gets 3 stars.

[Shirley Cagle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have not enjoyed a book of short stories as much as I enjoyed this collection in a very long time. Loved them all!

[Saskia_madding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I wasn't thrilled with every story in the book, it definitely had some gems in it. I really enjoyed the exploration of what the future could look like, what it means to be human, and what it means to be worthwhile or alive.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goddamn this motherfucker. Goddamn him to hell. I'm so insanely jealous of this guy's talent, it's ridiculous. What's funny is that I didn't expect this book to be that good. Mind you, I've read three of Wilson's other books and loved them. But I didn't think this book would surpass them. But goddamn, it did. "Miss Gloria" was about a robot named Chiron who was designed to take care of a little girl named Gloria. Apparently Gloria's dad is some rich dude with a lot of enemies so he builds Chiron to protect her. One day said bad guys show up and shoot Chiron and take off with Gloria. Chiron's "consciousness" ports over to other electronic devices - a crane, a car, a drone, etc. - to try to save Gloria. Eventually the bad guy ends up tangling on the side of a cliff and Gloria, who Chiron taught to stand up for herself, hits the bad guy’s fingers and makes him fall, so she saved herself. I thought this was a really inventive way to tell an old fashioned chase story. It reminded me a little of a Ray Bradbury story - it was told simply and it moved beautifully, never stopping to take a breath. AND there was a moral - in the end, you can only depend on yourself. “The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever” was one of my favorite stories in the collection. It was about a physicist who’s also a single father. On the news he sees a report about a cosmic event that occurred and he drops everything and races home to be with his daughter. Thing is, nobody seems to understand the event but him. It’s an event where gravity seems to be reversed and everything “falls” into the sky. So he grabs his daughter, cuts a whole in his bathroom wall, and ties himself and his daughter to the pipes in the wall, which he believes will keep them grounded, literally. But the event apparently can’t be avoided and the guy and his daughter get sucked up, too. For me, what sold this story was the physicist, the narrator. He’s such an intellectual, such a man of science, that he thinks about everything scientifically, even parenting. So while this story was a tragedy ultimately, it did make me laugh reading about the physicist’s interpretation of fatherhood and divorce. And it was so beautiful how this guy was so bound to science and yet put all those thoughts aside when he was with his daughter. “Jack, The Determined” was a weird story in that I had no idea what was happening until the end. It’s about a guy named Professor and his companion, Jack, who are in France for some academic exhibition. And they’re at some cafe and meet some girl and Jack wants coffee but the Professor says he can’t have it and it goes back and forth until Jack says he doesn’t want it. And then it cuts to a talk the Professor gives and it’s revealed that Jack is actually a robot but he has no idea he’s a robot (thus his desire for coffee). So, again, it was a weird one that I was on the fence about until the end. Probably the weakest story in the collection, but not bad. “The Executor” was probably my favorite story in the collection. This story could’ve EASILY been made into a novel but instead Wilson boiled it down into one of the sharpest, most entertaining short stories I’ve ever read. It’s a sci-fi noir story about a guy named Philip Drake who is one of the heirs to the Arkady Ransom, which was established a long time ago (this is far in the future) by some scientist. It’s this HUGE inheritance but it’s protected by this AI persona named The Executor. In order to “win” the fortune, you have to be a descendant of the scientist and solve a riddle, which Drake is unable to do at first. He has a baby daughter who has an affliction called meta-Parkinson’s, and he wants to get the money just so he can help her deal with said affliction. But he fails to answer the riddle. And then he’s threatened by a bunch of other heirs to stop trying to win the fortune. But he’s bound and determined to win it for his daughter. So it’s this noir detective story where he eventually blasts his way into the Arkady building and solves the riddle. But his daughter is the heir and won’t get the fortune until she turns 18. So Drake makes a deal with The Executor: take care of the kid and he’ll go away. It’s assumed by the end that he dies but that’s not certain. Again, I LOVED this story. It’s a perfect example of how to present a fully fleshed-out world with fully fleshed-out characters and a hell of a fun story in as few pages as possible. It was so good that I wish Wilson would turn it into a novel, it was that much fun. Absolutely brilliant. “Helmet” was another Bradbury-esque yarn about a kid named Ajani and his younger brother, Chima. They live in some apocalyptic wasteland called Ukuta and they’re attacked daily by golden suits of armor called Helmets. One day a Helmet takes Ajani to some building where Ajani is turned into a Helmet. A group of three old guys called The Triumvirate controls the Helmets, who terrorize these wasted communities like Ukuta. So Ajani is locked inside the Helmet and aware of what’s going on but he has no control over it. He fights Chima, kills him (obviously not willingly), but not before Chima disables the control unit on the back of Ajani’s Helmet. After that, Ajani can control the Helmet and he kills the Triumvirate. At least, that’s strongly implied. What made this story so good was that I felt claustrophobic the entire time. Wilson actually made you feel like you were stuck inside this suit, unable to control anything that was happening. It was like a scary, darker Bradbury story. “Blood Memory” was pretty fucked up. It was about a couple who has a daughter but at the moment the mother is about to give birth, the power goes out at the hospital and they can’t get the kid out without doing a C-section, which they can’t do. So some creepy guy suggests teleporting the kid out. Thing is, teleportation can only be used for inanimate objects. Use it on people and the people go crazy. And they look fucked up. Sort of like in The Fly but nowhere near that violent. So in a moment of desperation, they teleport the kid out. But the kid grows up and seems very odd. They think she might be autistic but it’s more insidious than that. She puts the family cat through the teleport and is obsessed with what she saw whilst in the teleporter. By the end of the story, she goes into the teleporter and pulls her mother and father in with her. This was one of those Children of the Corn-type stories that’s insanely creepy because it’s a fucked-up kid terrorizing adults. Only, like Wilson’s other stories, it was done in a new and fun way. Dark as hell, I really liked it. “Foul Weather” was about a former weatherman who, while on a plane, gets caught in a bad storm. But the bad storm makes people do and think dark things. Like hurting themselves and others. That’s what’s implied, anyway. At any rate, the storm is so bad that the cabin depressurizes and a woman is sucked out. But she’s the only casualty. And the flight lands safely. This was very Twilight Zone-esque in that it reminded me of that episode where a guy thinks he sees a gremlin on the wing of the plane but he can’t be sure. Only this was more insidious because something bad actually happened on the plane. Not one of the better stories of the collection but I liked the old school weatherman narrator and his description of weather, how you never know what chaos it’ll bring. “The Nostalgist” is a story I read years ago as an e-single but couldn’t remember what it was about. It’s about a grandfather who needs new “Eyes and Ears” (both of which are trademarked) because his are on the fritz. The devices allow him to see and hear the world as a beautiful, peaceful place. And when they don’t work, all the badness seeps in. So he goes to find new Eyes and Ears, only he gets hassled by two military dudes who try to confiscate the Eyes and Ears. His grandson, who lives with the guy and is disfigured, steps in to help his grandfather, and it’s revealed that the grandson actually died a long time ago and the robot is something the guy made to keep him company. And the Eyes and Ears make the robot appear that it’s actually the grandson. This was sort of a fable in that the moral was that we need to accept the world as the shitstain it is and accept that things aren’t perfect. It was sad and kind of beautiful, too, how the old man just wanted his grandson back. “Parasite: A Robopocalypse Story” was a total fake-out. I love the Robopocalypse books and I was psyched for a new story in that world. But this shit was just an excerpt of the second book, Robogenesis. It seemed like Wilson just crammed this in there to hit a page count. The story itself wasn’t bad and worked great in Robogenesis. It’s just like, c’mon, man, don’t be lazy, don’t phone it the fuck in. Disappointing. “God Mode” is about a video game designer who falls in love with a girl named Sarah. He meets her on a bus after she falls and hits her head and he steps in to help her. They begin dating and one day the stars stop appearing. Just like that, they’re gone, and nobody knows why. And then other things start disappearing. To the video game designer, it’s like a video game being taken apart - a fully realized world slowly being deleted. And then it’s revealed that Sarah and the designer’s consciousnesses are uploaded somewhere and then they die. That’s how it seems, anyway. This was like an episode of Black Mirror - it was about two people who love each other and their love is preserved via technology. Again though, that’s how it seems. The ending was a little vague. I liked the idea that they were in a video game that was being deleted, though. “Garden of Life” was about a naturalist that captures a bug that’s really a self-replicating robot. And…that was it. It was only a few pages long and not much of a story. It’d make a great opening chapter to a novel, though. “All Kinds of Proof” might be the most inventive story in the collection. It was a Charles Bukowski-ish story in which the main character, Joe, was very much like Bukowski’s Henry Chinaski. And Joe even works for the post office…training a mail delivery robot. Basically, the story entails Joe and the robot, whom Joe nicknames Shine, walking around Portland so the robot can map all the streets. Joe, an alcoholic, also hangs out at a bar with Shine a lot. Not much of a plot BUT the concept was so amazing and the writing was SO Bukowski-ish that I just got a humongous kick out of it. I was smiling nearly the entire time I was reading it. It was one of those stories where I went, “Fuck, why didn’t I think of that?” Just brilliant. “One for Sorrow: A Clockwork Dynasty Story” was a story set in the Clockwork Dynasty universe. Clockwork Dynasty came out a year ago, and I haven’t read it yet. Just didn’t sound that interesting to me. BUT I’m sure as hell gonna read it now. While this story wasn’t the greatest thing ever, it did introduce a Victorian-era setting wherein robots exist. And for some reason, that world and the robot intrigued me enough to buy the book. Just sounded interesting. The story was about two thieves who try to break into a mansion where the robot once lived and the robot scares them away. Made me wonder what the robot’s life was all about. “Special Automatic” was a story about a kid in the inner city who makes his own robot. The kid is called a retard by his brother and other kids in the neighborhood but he’s anything but. I mean, obviously he isn’t mentally challenged because he built a robot. But the kid, James, is picked on constantly. But the robot, Special Automatic, beats up anybody who fucks with James. The robot even puts James’s brother, Mike, in the hospital. Mike is an enforcer and money pick-up guy for a guy named Connor. Connor steals Special Automatic but the robot won’t work for him. James goes to Connor’s bar and reactivates Special Automatic and fucks up everyone in the bar. James tells Connor that he’s going to be Connor’s new partner and Connor has no choice but to accept. This was kind of a cliched story - a bullied kid getting revenge - BUT it was so well-written and lyrical, not to mention it was set in the ‘hood, that I really enjoyed it. Just a fun read. In fact, that’s pretty much the whole book - these were all fun reads. The characters were all interesting and well-drawn, and the stories all made sense and were all well-written and thoughtful. I know this book was good because it made me want to write; it was inspiring. I’ve spent so much time the past few years reading collections of “literary” short stories, and it’s so interesting to me how many of those left me feeling confused, irritated, and unfulfilled while this one was such a joy to read. It’s a good lesson - above all else, stories can make sense and still be thoughtful and compelling. You don’t have to regurgitate some Denis Johnson bullshit to write a solid short story. And it’s clear that Wilson dug deep to write these - so many of them had to do with parents wanting to protect their kids or worrying about their kids, which is clearly something that Wilson worries about. Also, it’s clear a man of science wrote these stories because all the robotics stuff and physics stuff made sense and rang true. Like I said, I loved this book but I hated it because I’m so jealous of Wilson’s talent. The guy has a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon AND he’s a great writer? What the fuck is that? Why does he get all the brains? But again, that’s my jealousy talking. I love this guy and will always read his stuff. I REALLY hope he does another book of short stories because these were fucking amazing.

[Maurice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This sounded like the perfect book for me, but unfortunately I didn’t love most of these stories as much as I had hoped. I’m super interested in artificial intelligence, but didn’t always care too much about the other themes in those stories. I still liked most of them, but they always had some things that brought them down a little, or didn’t feel like they would stick with me as much as I wanted them to.

Instead of reviewing this story by story, the way I usually do for short story collections, I decided to group together the stories I had similar feelings on, starting with the ones I liked the least and moving on to the couple of stories that I did love.

There were three stories in here I cared so little about that I already couldn’t even tell you what happened in them. Two of them are no surprise, they are Parasite and One For Sorrow, the two stories set in the world of other books by the author. I barely ever enjoy stories that are connected to other books if I haven’t read those books yet, and those two were no different. Which I am sad about, because I had hoped at least one of them would make me want to pick up the book it’s connected to. Although me not liking them doesn’t mean I won’t pick up those books, I am still interested in reading more from the author and see how I feel about his full-length novels.
The third story I can’t remember is Foul Weather, I don’t know why, it just simply didn’t do anything for me.

Next we have two stories I can remember, but just didn’t like. One of them is The Nostalgist, which was one of those weird stories where I feel like it could be great if it changed a few things just a little bit, but the way it was written I just found it kind of weird, and not in a good way. And then there was God Mode, which I also didn’t love, mainly because a lot of what was happening revolved about a romantic relationship I kind of hated.

Then there was one story I liked, but would have wanted to see expanded on a little more, since it was also one of the shortest ones in the collection, which was Jack, the Determined.

The Executor and Helmet were two stories I don’t have any specific complaints about, they just weren’t quite favorites. I liked reading them, but don’t think they will stick with me. I felt like there was something missing to make them stand out to me more, but don’t know what exactly that something could have been.

There are three stories that I thought had super interesting concepts, but also a few elements to them I didn’t love or that made me uncomfortable. However, for one out of those three, Special Automatic, you could argue that all the things that did make me uncomfortable were supposed to, and for Blood Memory most things were as well, although this one also had a few smaller aspects I didn’t love that weren’t supposed to be the weird and uncomfortable ones. The last story that belongs into this category is All Kinds of Proof, which I really enjoyed for the most part, but it also had a few themes I couldn’t care less about, so out of these three stories I think I liked the other two a little more than this one.

Lastly, I also had three stories I really liked that I don’t have any complaints about, and didn’t think they could have been more than they were. One of them is Garden of Life, which is the shortest story in this collection, but I found what it was doing super fascinating. The other two are the two stories this collection starts out with, which made me even more disappointed in some of the later stories, because after loving these two I though this would be one of my favorite books. My favorite story of this collection was definitely The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever, I loved the main character and the tone in which it was written, as well as the father-daughter relationship.

[Elna · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with all short story collections, some are better than others, but I've always had and always will have a weakness for stories about the evolution of AI and it's evolving place in our lives.

Miss Gloria **
Maybe not the best story to start with - it's a little slow despite the danger inherent in the kidnapping story line, and the robot never really developed any personality traits other than "devoted to Miss Gloria." But it could have been a good exploration of how the rich will use AI and robots to replace traditional roles.

The Blue Afternoon that Lasted Forever ****
A beautiful exploration of fatherhood, devotion, and love.

Jack, the Determined *
Honestly a little confusing. It's clear that Jack in an artificial human, but it's not clear if he knows, or if he's the first of his kind, or if he was programmed to be so deterministic, or really anything else.

The Executor ***
Action-packed and tense - a classic pulpy sci-fi story.

Helmet ****
Almost, but not quite, five stars. Really reminded me (stylistically and thematically) of Paolo Bacigalupi, in that this is a terrifyingly realistic future where, truthfully, there's not much an average citizen can do about it. People live in segregated ghettos in fear of the Helmets who come and kills them wantonly and randomly, with a beautiful last line: "At last, I am ready to sin."

Blood Memory ***
An interesting view of teleportation and how there's always the issues of the intangible (and/or souls).

Foul Weather ***
A really interesting musing about bad weather and bad actions - not sure exactly how it fit into the theme of the collection (hence the removal of a star) but a good read nonetheless.

The Nostalgist *****
Another one reminiscent of Paolo Bacigalupi, but this time in that, amidst all the horror and terror of the future, there is still love, devotion, and family, no matter the form. An old man recreates a younger, much-loved relative, and even though it appears monstrous, their mutual love is beautiful.

Parasite ***
If you haven't read Robopocolpyse, I don't think you'd enjoy this story very much, since it needs a fair amount of background knowledge. But since I have, I found it poignant and sad.

God Mode *
Could have been really interesting - a couple falls in love, but things start disappearing around them according to least importance. Unfortunately, it was a little confusing, and the end really didn't add anything. (One star because I honestly didn't remember anything about it.)

Garden of Life ***
A good little story about how everyone will have to change their opinion of what's "natural" or even alive when technology is so far advanced.

All Kinds of Proof ****
Humans will connect with anything, even little robots who can't even speak and who's sole job to to walk around. And that connection is exactly what this quasi-homeless, hopeless drunk needs.

One for Sorrow ***
Another story that I think needs background to really understand. But it did make me want to read Clockwork Dynasty, and I did like that she pretended to be fey, so...

Special Automatic ***
A possibly mentally disabled boy in a bad neighborhood builds himself a robot to protect him and becomes the one to be feared. Not bad, but probably wouldn't have suffered if it was a little longer.

An average of about 3 stars, but that line in Helmet will stick with me, and The Nostalgist was absolutely beautiful.

[Bernadette · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know how it is with any short-story collection – there are ups, downs, the “what the heck even??” stories. The over all tone of this futuristic sci-fi collection was fairly AI-themed and dark. Not surprising, given the title, but it started off with the lighter stories, and I got fooled before it shifted tone. Overall, I’m afraid I’d give the collection one star. Many of the stories were too crude for my taste. Some of the stories seemed needlessly obtuse; I’m all for mystery and mystique, but I’ve been trying lately to distinguish between well-written mystery and simply leaving story out. Helmet, for one, had some moving moments and some creepazoid moments, but overall would have been more powerful with a bit more explanation.

Stories I particularly liked: The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever, and Miss Gloria. They’re both family-focused and early in the anthology, which led me to think Wilson would be putting this new spin on the sci-fi scene throughout, but that turned out to be a red herring.

Miss Gloria is about a tycoon’s kidnapped child and her robotic guardian. It managed to convey both the ‘good side’ point of view, with Gloria’s terror and her trust in her guardian, and the ‘bad side’ ‘s point of view, creeping horror as the robotic mind leaps from device to device, ready to follow them across the earth. The concept was really neat (that seems a bit more important in science-fiction short stories that focus on a single new invention), and as said before I also really loved the juxtaposition of the futuristic AI and the simple fear of a stolen child. The ending was… quite odd, though.

The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever was simply touching. It’s sort of a pre-apocalypse story, about an astrophysicist who realizes the end of the world is coming (in the form of a moving black hole) too late to do anything about it, and rushes home to spend one last afternoon with his little girl.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daniel H. Wilson delves into fractured science fiction with this assemblage of short stories. Each entry finds a unique way of looking at the powerful impact of technology on humanity, creating hauntingly individual worlds. The opening tale, “Miss Gloria,” sees a robot bodyguard download itself across the city to save its young charge from kidnappers. A black hole event swallows everything during “The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever,” and the first mechanical man is unveiled in “Jack, the Determined.” “The Executor” watches over a family fortune bloodbath, gleaming armor encases its unwilling hosts to create “Helmet,” and the first teleportation birth shatters a family throughout “Blood Memory.” A violent storm rages during “Foul Weather” as “The Nostalgist” tries to replicate his dead son in automaton form. Soldiers become the walking dead during the Robopocalypse tie-in tale “Parasite;” the lines between reality and virtual reality become blurred as “God Mode” develops. Robotic insects break loose from the “Garden of Life,” a drunk befriends a mail delivery robot in “All Kinds of Proof,” a clockwork girl learns about hope in “One for Sorrow,” and a mentally-impaired kid creates his own enforcer known as “Special Automatic.” Wilson’s snapshots of the way technology can impact everyday life is both poignant and haunting. Each vignette eschews technobabble in favor of simple human reaction - and how easily that line is blurring in modern times. Guardian Angels & Other Monsters hints at a future interface of man and machine that may be more dangerous than ever imagined.

[Dawn Stowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A review specifically for, "The Blue Afternoon."

The chorus of Brian Greene’s narrative voice found in his plainly made explanations of physics, Cormac McCarthy in his realism/slight horror style voice of depicting how desperate people interact with the elements, and Neil Gaiman with his natural storytelling voice found in The Ocean at the End of the Lane along with Janet Fitch’s use of powerful shots of colour in White Oleander that highlight the human drama of dysfunction -- all of these authors and so many more combine in the fresh new outré voice found in Daniel H. Wilson’s The Blue Afternoon.

This tale deftly and with mercurial speed, which mirrors the approaching astronomical event, explores imposed micro constructs of human personality and heart onto the macro construct of ‘space-time, event/horizon events.’ The latter appears inhumanely callous and objective at first. How do we reconcile a cold and impassive universe with the human passion for life?

It is an evocative short story that begins with a bright and a supposedly somewhat Asperger spectrum man and his 3-year-old girl and ends with an existential question. How do we shoot for the stars and stay connected with our hearts? The author implicitly suggests that it’s found in the meaning that we assign to our lives that matters the most. “We will always have the stars.”

Incredibly beautiful.

I hope that the movie adaptation version of this amazing story outshines the film Melancholia as it deserves.

[charlotte, · Rating 4 out of 5]

Galley provided by publisher

I have to say, Daniel H. Wilson is probably one of my favourite science fiction writers ever. And definitely my favourite author of those kind of futuristic robot apocalypse kind of stories. Ever since I read Robopocalypse and Amped, I've struggled to find someone who matches up to him.

All the stories in this anthology are based around that kind of futuristic view. A few don't contain robots as such, but instead a vision of possible technology. And all bar one (All Kinds of Proof) gave me some seriously sinister vibes. None are apocalyptic as such, but they felt like they foreshadowed some form of apocalypse. And given that scientists have just unveiled that artificial intelligence Sophia, everything is lent an even creepier aspect (have they not read about what happens when you create artificial intelligence????).

I enjoyed all the stories in this anthology. They all worked as proper standalone short stories as well, which I find sometimes can be a problem in anthologies. Often the scope of the story can be too large for the length of it, but that was not the case here.

The only problem now is that I really desperately want to reread Robopocalypse.

[Dawn-Lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of 14 stories is a mix of alternate realities, apocalyptic environments and near future possibilities. All of the stories involve technology in some way, with many focusing on robotics or artificial intelligence (the first story, “Miss Gloria” is an impressively creative account of AI following its protocol). And, in the fashion of Black Mirror, most of the stories have dark endings – and some are dark pretty much the entire time (“Helmet” is a good example).

Overall, this is a well-written and thought provoking collection. I enjoyed some of the stories more than others, but that’s to be expected in any collection. The prevailing overarching theme of family, especially parent/child and sibling dynamics, was a bit repetitive. But because each story is so different, that wasn’t something that ruined the individual tales. The author’s creativity with the technology and his ability to change the atmosphere of each story is commendable. It felt like each was its own world, yet was recognizable enough for readers to identify with the characters and situations.

[Harry Jahnke · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I love about short story anthologies is that they offer a wide variety. If you read one story and you don't much care for it, there's always another one on the way. However, I wish I had done a little bit more research before going into this one because I was surprised to find that almost every single story in this book is about robots or variation thereof. Wilson fucking looooooves robots. Like a 5th grader would find it hard to like robots more than Wilson. And there's something admirable about that. There were a few stories here that I thought were pretty weak and a few towards the end that I enjoyed very much. I would recommend this to people if they reaaaaaally like robots but if you're looking for an anthology of science fiction stories that make you question your own reality, pick up some Ray Bradbury or some Charles Beaumont.