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Pulp Modern: Tech Noir
The future's so bleak, we got to throw it some shade! Pulp Modern teams up with the premiere crime fiction journal, Switchblade, to bring you Tech Noir, a special edition loaded with nine science fiction stories chosen by guest editor Scotch Rutherford. Featuring contributions by the hottest independent writers today, including Tom Barlow, C.W. Blackwell, Deborah L. Davitt, Angelique Fawns, Nils Gilbertson, J.D. Graves, Zakariah Johnson, Jo Perry, and Don Stoll. Alec Cizak provides chief editing duties. Richard Krauss continues his outstanding work as art director. And Ran Scott delivers cover-to-cover illustrations to help make this a must-have for fans of science fiction everywhere.
Kindle Edition
First published October 20, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 3, 2019
Great selection of futuristic noir.
November 18, 2019
Pulp Modern’s Tech Noir special edition provides a dark and fascinating take on technology.
My favorite stories are as follows:
In “A Deviant Skein” by C.W. Blackwell, a mission to put an end to corporate sabotage leads a man to a futuristic femme fatale.
“Love in the Time of Silicon” by Tom Barlow involves retribution for a heinous crime against a robot prostitute.
In the world of “15 Minutes” by Don Stoll, everyone is entitled to a bit of fame, and Natalia uses hers for revenge.
“Walking out” by Zakariah Johnson paints a grim future. “A hundred years of wasting antibiotics on chickens and cows had cost the world its greatest medical advance in history—antibiotics worked no more. These days a child could design a working artificial heart on a home 3-D printer, but most people would die of infection if they ever tried to install it.”
Ran Scott created the gorgeous cover and an awesome internal illustration for each story.
Having two of my favorite storytellers, Blackwell and Barlow, in the same anthology was a treat. Readers who want more of this great blend of noir and science fiction should check out Switchblade Magazine’s companion issue.
My favorite stories are as follows:
In “A Deviant Skein” by C.W. Blackwell, a mission to put an end to corporate sabotage leads a man to a futuristic femme fatale.
“Love in the Time of Silicon” by Tom Barlow involves retribution for a heinous crime against a robot prostitute.
In the world of “15 Minutes” by Don Stoll, everyone is entitled to a bit of fame, and Natalia uses hers for revenge.
“Walking out” by Zakariah Johnson paints a grim future. “A hundred years of wasting antibiotics on chickens and cows had cost the world its greatest medical advance in history—antibiotics worked no more. These days a child could design a working artificial heart on a home 3-D printer, but most people would die of infection if they ever tried to install it.”
Ran Scott created the gorgeous cover and an awesome internal illustration for each story.
Having two of my favorite storytellers, Blackwell and Barlow, in the same anthology was a treat. Readers who want more of this great blend of noir and science fiction should check out Switchblade Magazine’s companion issue.
December 16, 2019
Pulp Modern holds up its end of its Tech Noir collaboration with Switchblade, delivering bleak, cunningly wrought futures by the handful.
PM continues to occupy a niche of its own atop the New Pulp standings when it comes to layout. Clean, readable copy features, as do excellent use of color and design elements, and Ran Scott’s illustrations are integrated into the stories in varied and clever ways.
The stories themselves are somewhat more varied conceptually than those in Switchblade’s partner issue; if I were to generalize, I’d say there’s a bit less of a focus on action and more on imagining subtler ways in which the future will kill us. Overall story quality is high; my favorites were:
A DEVIANT SKEIN by C.W. Blackwell. That thing I just wrote about the future killing us in subtler ways? Yeah, that doesn’t so much apply here. A PI investigates a series of suicides ties to a machine intelligence corporation. Raygun duels and dinosaur cockfights ensue. Fun, flashy, slam-bang action, set in a variety of environments which explore the interaction of extreme wealth and extreme technology.
LOVE IN THE TIME OF SILICONE by Tom Barlow. A character-focused piece revolving around the “murder” of a robotic escort. Barlow’s “Jigsaw” was one of my favorite stories of 2018. The technology involved in Barlow’s manhunt is cutting edge, but the core of the story revolves around the timeless elements of human sadism and frailty; the author’s psychological insights are impressive.
WALKING OUT by Zakariah Johnson: A cunningly plotted con set in a prison. The author is not optimistic about humanity growing more compassionate towards criminals in the near future, and gains extra points for working one of my favorite near-future apocalypses (antibiotic obsolescence) into the story.
PM continues to occupy a niche of its own atop the New Pulp standings when it comes to layout. Clean, readable copy features, as do excellent use of color and design elements, and Ran Scott’s illustrations are integrated into the stories in varied and clever ways.
The stories themselves are somewhat more varied conceptually than those in Switchblade’s partner issue; if I were to generalize, I’d say there’s a bit less of a focus on action and more on imagining subtler ways in which the future will kill us. Overall story quality is high; my favorites were:
A DEVIANT SKEIN by C.W. Blackwell. That thing I just wrote about the future killing us in subtler ways? Yeah, that doesn’t so much apply here. A PI investigates a series of suicides ties to a machine intelligence corporation. Raygun duels and dinosaur cockfights ensue. Fun, flashy, slam-bang action, set in a variety of environments which explore the interaction of extreme wealth and extreme technology.
LOVE IN THE TIME OF SILICONE by Tom Barlow. A character-focused piece revolving around the “murder” of a robotic escort. Barlow’s “Jigsaw” was one of my favorite stories of 2018. The technology involved in Barlow’s manhunt is cutting edge, but the core of the story revolves around the timeless elements of human sadism and frailty; the author’s psychological insights are impressive.
WALKING OUT by Zakariah Johnson: A cunningly plotted con set in a prison. The author is not optimistic about humanity growing more compassionate towards criminals in the near future, and gains extra points for working one of my favorite near-future apocalypses (antibiotic obsolescence) into the story.
November 10, 2020
As we hurtle further into dystopia, Pulp Modern brings us their Tech Noir special allowing that as bad as things are they could always be worse. C.W. Blackwell opens the issue with what can only be an ode to Philip K. Dick in his PI searching for AI tale. Nils Gilbertson shows off the next iteration in streaming technology as we can feed video and experiences straight to our brains, but we need people to make sure it isn’t too much. Tom Barlow has a slightly different take on the PI/AI story with a PI tracking down a sex robot killer.
Deborah L. Davitt takes us further to the outskirts of the galaxy with her fugitive looking to hide out on a forsaken planet. Angelique Fawns brings one of the highlights of the issue with a multi-perspective linked story as a lost scientist tries to find her way. J.D. Graves bring a “quality cheap thrill” to PM as a convict is offered a chance to start over on a colonised planet. Don Stoll brings us a new take on the 15 minutes of fame and how it might ruin your life. Jo Perry inhabits a human turned machine and the need for passion. Zakariah Johnson closes out with another highlight of a prison guard offering a death sentence convict a way to look out for his family’s future and not having to feel the pain of death.
Another great issue of Pulp Modern, which shows the possibilities inherent within Tech Noir and how dystopia still has a ways to get worse yet.
Deborah L. Davitt takes us further to the outskirts of the galaxy with her fugitive looking to hide out on a forsaken planet. Angelique Fawns brings one of the highlights of the issue with a multi-perspective linked story as a lost scientist tries to find her way. J.D. Graves bring a “quality cheap thrill” to PM as a convict is offered a chance to start over on a colonised planet. Don Stoll brings us a new take on the 15 minutes of fame and how it might ruin your life. Jo Perry inhabits a human turned machine and the need for passion. Zakariah Johnson closes out with another highlight of a prison guard offering a death sentence convict a way to look out for his family’s future and not having to feel the pain of death.
Another great issue of Pulp Modern, which shows the possibilities inherent within Tech Noir and how dystopia still has a ways to get worse yet.
January 24, 2020
Cyberpunk
This is a great example of cyberpunk/future noir stories. If your looking for a Blade Runner or Altered Carbon-style read you've come to the right place. While I may not have enjoyed every story the same every author here has some serious writing chops. This is the kind of sci-fi I like to read. Hover cars, greedy corporations, bleak dystopian futures this book has it all.
This is a great example of cyberpunk/future noir stories. If your looking for a Blade Runner or Altered Carbon-style read you've come to the right place. While I may not have enjoyed every story the same every author here has some serious writing chops. This is the kind of sci-fi I like to read. Hover cars, greedy corporations, bleak dystopian futures this book has it all.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews