Silicon Dreams

By Various

Artificial intelligence - robots, androids, and the like - are among the most intriguing denizens of the science fiction universe. The various forms of intelligence that may soon be created by humankind, and the impact that they may have on our future civilization, offer extremely fertile ground for science fiction writers. Now such trailblazers in the field as Julie Czerneda, Jane Lindskold, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Gary Braunbeck, Jody Lynn Nye, and James P. Hogan introduce us to some of those next possible leaps in the development of intelligent life, some of them in startlingly unexpected forms. Here are triumphs and tragedies, cautionary tales as well as visionary ones: Could the last android in existence be preserved from terrorists able to strike at any time and place without warning? An intelligence that began life in an old man's left foot soon learned the most important truth of a created being's existence - enhancement was everything. . .

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 075640018X
• ISBN13: 9780756400187
• Release Date: December 2001
• Publisher: Daw Books
• Length: 319 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.2" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Great stories by great authors.

The stories in this book made me laugh, they made me sad and they made me think. But of course, they happen to be by some of the greatest sci-fi authors ever. You DON'T get bad stories from James P. Hogan, William H. Keith Jr., Jody Lynn Nye and the rest within this book. 12 stories that you CAN'T be without if you love articial intelligence, robots or sci-fi in general.

50/50 shot

Of the twelve stories in this collection, about half are really outstanding for their story-telling and their ability to make the reader feel empathy with the characters. Each story is fairly original as the front cover claims, the robots aren't just servants, they represent social conflicts, have personalities, and sometimes are the only characters around. For me, that isn't enough, I have to want to keep reading because I care about the characters. The best story is a tie between Rusch's touching tell of a poor family in 'A Helping Hand' and Nye's equally touching 'Sacrifices' where a fairly wealthy but constantly moving family loses one of its "own". The worse is easily 'K-232' by Collins because its really more of a short essay on what its like to explore the universe than anything that really pushes our concepts of humanity or paints a future picture. And that is important since one of the editor, Larry Segriff, says that this is a collection about our children, humanities children in the form of robots.