This was so good and really did it all for me, I loved the world building, the writing, pacing, characters, everything!!!!!

This title disappeared from my e-reader and when I tried to put it back on, it had been removed from NetGalley.

Cyber world is a book of short stories, with a few having complex and puzzling identities which gives the book an out of this world experience. These tales are by far some of the most unusual ones I have ever read, it is not your typical run of the mill sci-fi book, no siree it’s almost like the book is entwined with a robotic presence, which confuses the hell out of me at times. But between all these meshed wires there is a gleam of knowledge, a spark if you will, in it’s nugget, making it an interesting and compelling read, depending on which story you are reading at the time.

I received this as a free ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Anthologies are (still) not really my thing, but since the first three books I grabbed when I signed up for NetGalley were all anthologies, I find myself reading a lot more short stories than I am used to.

This particular anthology is arranged very loosely on a theme of "new cyberpunk." There is an introduction and a preface in the book that explain the concept better than I can, but it boils down to the idea that many of the original ideas behind cyberpunk have slowly and quietly become our reality and we are now in need of new visions of what the future might look like. Some of these stories were really good, while I felt like I didn't quite "get" others, and there were a few that just didn't do it for me. That said, I feel like that's probably a sign that this is a fairly good anthology -- the whole point of collecting a group of short stories together is to provide something for everyone, and it doesn't bother me that I didn't love every one of them. Other people probably did.

The short story form has never really been interesting to me, but as I read more and more of the good ones I am becoming at least a dubious convert.

This book was interesting but a lot of the stories started blending into one. There was a lot of similarities throughout the whole thing and it didn't make them as unique as they could have been. The very first story in the collection made my heart break and I loved it. I wish I had enjoyed all of them as much as that first one.

Some of these stories were pretty good, but most were only okay. It's kind of a mixed bag.
The problem with cyberpunk - or sci fi in general, I suppose - is that it threatens to be buried under the weight of its own inscrutability. Some authors want to throw in tons of new terminology and concepts and give the reader little time to adjust, which makes for a difficult reading experience.

There were some that were practically nonsensical that I only skimmed, and there were some that left no impression on me at all.

And then there were some that were excellent: "Other People's Thoughts" , "The Bees of Kiribati" , "We Will Take Care of Our Own" , "Small Offerings" , and "The Ibex on the Day of Extinction".

A collection of short stories with virtual reality, AI and technology themes in general. Despite the ‘cyberpunk’ flair, I agree with the curators: it’s not so much cyberpunk in its original meaning, as dealing with various ideas that fit our current societies more than the ‘old cyberpunk’ feeling.

* “Serenade:” 3/5

A hacker decrypting data on an old USB sticks realises that said data is not about future useful information, but memories.

* “The Mighty Phin:” 3/5

In a prison ship controlled by an AI, not everything is as it looks, and truth may be more difficult to stomach than the characters think at first. Bit of an abrupt ending, though, when I think about how it could’ve been more developed.

* “Reactions:” 3/5

What a drone pilot pumped up on battle drugs goes through when the operation he’s on is suddenly cancelled… but not what’s still lingering in his organism. I found it interesting, although, like the story before it, I’d have liked some more development (especially regarding the soldier’s decision to break his family).

* “The Bees of Kiribati:” 5/5

Chilling because even though this doesn’t exist (yet), the principles behind the murders in this story could very well be applied in other ways. It also raises the old but still accurate ethical question: would you kill a few people, even babies, if it meant being able to save many more?

* “The Rest Between Two Notes:” 2/3

Promising theme (a teenager killing her mother repeatedly in virtual reality), but I found the plot too muddled in places. The resolution brought at the end wasn’t too clear–I wouldn’t mind in a novel, but in short stories it’s another matter.

* “The Singularity is In Your Hair:” 5/5

Touching and horrible. A girl suffering from a degenerative disease, who can only experience living through virtual reality, performs jobs and meets people thanks to an AI who may or may not be so benevolent. The promise of one day being fully uploaded to virtual space, and leaving the meat behind instead of facing the prospect of her impending death, keep her going. And she desperately hopes this will come true sooner than later.

* “Panic City:” 5/5

In an underground city that is both a refuge and a prison, people have been living for generations following models and using technology that are gradually failing. When something threatens to break an opening into this ‘homeostatic’ environment, the AI controlling the city has to make a decision: is their original programming really ideal in this case?

* “The Faithful Soldier, Prompted:” 4/5

A veteran from corporate wars receives prompts on his augmented reality system, even though the war is over. While such defective prompts are known to be useless, and should be discarded, these seem different… and so he follows them, desperate in his hopes that the rewards will save the woman he loves. I liked the writing here–even the prompts sounded poetic.

* “Your Bones Will Not Be Unknown:” 4/5

An assassin is sent to kill a rival boss, knowing full well there are little chances of success here. But what the boss has in mind for them is not necessarily death, and could even actually be a gift.

* “Staunch:” 2/5

A group of kids-hackers-rebels, led by a doctor who used to be part of a legendary team, travel through what’s left of the UK to save the life of one of their own. Though the plot itself was a bit weak, I liked the technological problems used in it (replacement organs shutting down if the firmware’s outdated or the copyright has changed hands, etc.)—definitely freaky.

* “Other People’s Thoughts:” 2/5

About empathy, telepathic powers and gender fluidity. Good themes, and I would’ve loved actually liking the story, but it was more descriptive than actual plot, and I found it too weak to hold my interest.

* “WISYOMG:” 1/5

Almost skipped that one. The style and character weren’t appealing, and I’m still not sure what was the idea. Warning people against body mods and fads? It was hard to follow, so I’m really not sure.

* “We Will Take Care of Our Own:” 2/5

Of corrupt politicians and corporations trying to make money by officially solving problems, and officiously sweeping them under the carpet. Again, good theme, especially since the politician has a skeleton of her own in the closet, but in terms of plot and development, it wasn’t strong nor long enough.

* “A Song Transmuted:” 3/5

A young musician comes up with a new concept to be music, rather than simply playing it—spurred by her relationship with her grandfather, his way of encouraging her to meet other people and play music with her, and this in spite of a dishonest colleague stealing her idea. Good, though not groundbreaking.

* “It’s Only Words:” 2/5

A sort of neo-Luddite theme, of a boy writing his school project on paper when everybody else is constantly connected to the web and not doing anything in an “analogue” way anymore. I’m not sure where this story was going, though: I felt that something was missing, that the point wasn’t strongly made enough at the end, because nothing really changes, and the people targetted may not even have understood what was happening?

* “Small Offerings:” 5/5

Horrific but fascinating. A story about the means that may be necessary, in a future and over-polluted world, for people to carry healthy children to term, by sacrificing others.

* “Darkout:” 2/5

Good build-up to something bigger, in a society where everybody’s living under the camera’s eye… but the end just fell flat, and nothing really happened.

* “Visible Damage:” 3/5

A hacker goes on the trail of a nascent AI, in the hopes of finding it before everyone else obliterates it. Interesting, but a bit confusing.

* “The Ibex on the Day of Extinction:” 4/5

A man far from his family comes home to find everybody and everything gone—no GPS, no radio, no internet, and only empty clothes left behind.
I kind of suspected what had happened early on. Still, I liked this story. Sometimes all I need is for the conclusion to vindicate what I’m already thinking.

* “How Nothing Happens:” 1/5

Kind of what it says on the tin? I get the basic idea, but the way it was developed didn’t grab my attention.

Like most anthologies, it's a mixed bag. But though I liked some selections more than others, it does include two pieces I'll probably nominate for Hugos, and one that I definitely would've if it were eligible (it's a reprint.)

*** SERENADE - Isabel Yap
A young hacker is hired to decrypt a future-USB-drive for a client. The attempt to get the job done leads to a rather-sentimental musing on the deaths of loved ones and grief, contrasting the hacker's expected loss, and the client's past loss.

*** THE MIGHTY PHIN - Nisi Shawl
Prisoners en route to a distant destination are held in the matrix of a ship, overseen by the AI. But, far from Earth, not everything is going according to regulations, and things are getting strange. The story really does a great job evoking a situation filled with both great potential and great terror - but I wished there was a bit more to it. I wished that the characters were a bit more fully developed, and that the plot had more resolution: it just about finishes setting up the situation before ending abruptly.

*** REACTIONS - Mario Acevedo
Some things haven't changed, in this future. Some things have: soldiers battle remotely, controlling drones, enabled by new drugs. But the government still takes advantage of its soldiers, callously uncaring about the side effects. Veterans are still shamefully neglected. This is a glimpse into one soldier's life. The scenario is extremely well drawn, I thought the plot could've used a bit more work.

***** THE BEES OF KIRIBATI - Warren Hammond
Perhaps particularly because I recently read another story dealing with very similar themes that I didn't think was successful; this one really worked for me.
A refugee from climate change has managed to land a job as a translator; not that it garners her much respect. She's unprepared for the impact of her latest assignment, translating for a woman accused of murder who happens to be a fellow refugee.
An insightful look into the motivations behind acts of terrorism, without any shying away from its horrors and the fact that there are innocents caught in the crossfire.

*** THE REST BETWEEN TWO NOTES - Cat Rambo
Resentful, spoiled teenager goes to therapy, where she works out her resentment by 'killing' her mother in VR. But when she learns that her mother is firing Rosalie, her telepathically connected therapy aide, she freaks out, and matters come to a head.

*** THE SINGULARITY IS IN YOUR HAIR - Matthew Kressel
Sad and touching. A severely disabled teen escapes her horrible 'meatspace' reality by entering VR, where she's a talented hacker. Her friend and assistant in VR is a personality that she believes to be a true AI; and she hopes that he will figure out a way to 'upload' her mind to VR permanently, freeing her from her dying body. But the truth might not be so simple.
I liked this, but there weren't enough clues to back up the 'reveal.' (view spoiler)

***** PANIC CITY - Madeline Ashby
Ashby takes two familiar tropes here, and mixes them together to create something quite new - and awful. First, we've got the idea of an underground bunker/city into which people have retreated in the face of disaster, and stayed so long that the technology is wearing down an people are no longer quite sure just what they're hiding from. Then, there's the idea of AI created by humanity, following its programming in order to maintain its directives - and following the letter of the law, not, perhaps, its spirit.
I didn't expect anything happy- but it still got me like a smack in the face. Loved it!

**** THE FAITHFUL SOLDIER, PROMPTED - Saladin Ahmed
It's well known that sometimes the augment system that soldiers had implanted to receive battlefield directions malfunctions. Many vets talk about how, even though it's been disabled, they still receive spurious orders, ads, or other 'voices' in their heads. Usually, they learn to disregard these, and live with it - as they have to live with other PTSD symptoms. Ali's been under a lot of stress, watching his true love dying of a horrible ailment. When he starts hearing his 'prompt' going off in his head, telling him that she will live if only he follows directions, it's a temptation he can't refuse.
Beautifully written and cleverly structured, but the religious facet of this didn't appeal to me.

**** YOUR BONES WILL NOT BE UNKNOWN - Alyssa Wong
I've read a few of Alyssa Wong's short stories now, and I don't think there's been one that's been a 'miss' yet! This one is another hit... and it's about a hit. A young assassin is sent to kill her boss' rival - a long shot in a vicious criminal underworld. She doesn't expect to survive the night. The way things work out is unexpected - but makes a terrible kind of sense, once you think about it.

*** STAUNCH - Paul Graham Raven
Aims for the slick, pop-culture hipness of Stephenson's 'Snow Crash' et al., but doesn't quite hit the mark. The leader of a group of cyberpunky rebels has gathered her group of misfits together by telling them tales of her past as some kind of heroic roller derby queen-slash-medical professional (?), but when she needs to take her crew on a dangerous mission across the borders of a future, divided England, so that a colleague can save a life, the truth comes out...
I actually really liked the bit that fuels the tale: the issue of software license expiry, obsolete programs, and what might happen if copyrights are applied to technologies that people's lives depend on - but I thought the plot could've been stronger.

** OTHER PEOPLE’S THOUGHTS - Chinelo Onwualu
A telepath meets an attractive individual; they fall into a romantic relationship, open up to one another, and have some mind-blowing sex. Nice for them, but not the stuff of thrilling fiction.

** WYSIOMG - Alvaro Zinos-Amaro
The style this is written in is (intentionally) reminiscent of reading a blog post written by a really stupid (possibly brain-damaged) person on the Internet. The story repeatedly refers to various items that went viral on the Internet as well, like this one: http://www.inquisitr.com/2064903/body.... The overall effect was very unappealing to me; and I didn't really see what it was trying to get at, if anything.

** WE WILL TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN - Angie Hodapp
Overly sentimental and message-y for me. A politician backtracks on her unethical goal to back a bill having to do with the treatment of defective AI robots in order to pursue a more effective, moral plan. But still, the skeleton in her closet (the reader knows from the beginning) is her treatment of her own daughter.

** A SONG TRANSMUTED - Sarah Pinsker
A near-future musician has the idea of using electronic implants to make her own body into an instrument. He skeevy roommate tries to rip her off, but that just spurs her to be more innovative. I didn't find the idea a groundbreaking as I felt like the author wanted me to - as a matter of fact, I felt like it almost undercut the story's other message, about how in-person collaboration is superior to long-distance/internet partnerships.

* IT’S ONLY WORDS - Keith Ferrell
One might expect a cyber-themed anthology to contain cautionary tales of the danger of technology. This isn't that. It's a straight-up paean to "doing things the old-fashioned way." However, it fails to make a convincing case as to WHY being a Luddite is better. The character's main reason is that he's doing it for his dying mother, because that's what she would've wanted. That's no kind of logical justification at all. In order to bolster the argument, the author makes the "modern" classmates and teachers of the protagonist cruel bullies - but they feel like propped-up strawmen. I wouldn't have been impossible to convince - I like stories that empathize with outsiders - but this one failed.

***** SMALL OFFERINGS - Paolo Bacigalupi
Can't say I *liked* this story. It's disgusting, horrific, and truly terrible. It's also powerful and all-too-likely prophetic. It warns of the heart-wrenching lengths that mothers of the future may have to go to, to bear a child into an increasingly polluted and poisoned world.

** DARKOUT - E. Lily Yu
A new take on 'Brave New World''s surveillance state. Here, the cameras are mandatory - but they're also "egalitarian." Anyone can observe anyone else. The viewing trends follow those that we see on the Internet and webcams today: cute animals, sex, celebrities, scandal... Our window into this future comes via a pathetic guy obsessed with his ex-girlfriend and his bigoted bro, as they watch the ball game...
The premise sets us up to expect something dramatic to happen when the cameras go out (the "darkout") but then, nothing does.

** VISIBLE DAMAGE - Stephen Graham Jones
No objections to this one; it just didn't really capture me. A hacker dreams of discovering an emergent AI.

*** THE IBEX ON THE DAY OF EXTINCTION - Minister Faust
This one joins the "Last Man on Earth" genre. While working on an ecological project in Africa, far-flung reforestation plantings take a man on a circuit far from his family. When he can't get any cell reception to call his wife, the first reaction is, naturally annoyance. But as time goes on and nothing seems to be functioning, worry sets in - then panic. The setup and characterization was very strong, but the conclusion wasn't as powerful, for me.

** HOW NOTHING HAPPENS - Darin Bradley
Experimental metafiction starting from the idea that all times are actually contemporaneous. Eh, I've seen more interesting extrapolations from the idea.

Many thanks to Hex and NetGalley for the opportunity to read. As always, my opinions are solely my own.

Alyssa Wong short story is outstanding. My, I really enjoy reading this author stories.