Cyber World

Speculative fiction has come a long way since the long nights spent at the Chatsubo. The torrents of neon reflected rain drops, once painting the megaplex streets like technicolor oil paint, have ceased. Noir is nostalgia. Adapting to the times, the punk of tomorrow has become a dark reflection of our present. Cyber World: Tales of Humanity’s Tomorrow embraces this and emphasizes the need for the genre to be malleable, technically, socially, and environmentally in-tune with the modern world.

In the spirit of old school sci-fi, Joshua Viola and Jason Heller present us with the latest views from the edge. The anthology features 20 diverse stories from the genre’s leading writings. The anthology satisfies our desire for the hacker runs of yesterday and the singularity-centric glimpses of the near future. There are stories include VR rigs, feedback loops, AI sentience, robotics, the future of medicine, and more. Cyber World is dark, gritty, and rooted in real world concerns.

List of Fiction

Serenade - Isabel Yap
The Mighty Phin - Nisi Shawl
Reactions - Mario Acevedo
The Bees of Kiribati - Warren Hammond
The Rest Between Two Notes - Cat Rambo
The Singularity Is in Your Hair - Matthew Kressel
Panic City - Madeline Ashby
The Faithful Soldier - Saladin Ahmed
Your Bones Will Not Be Uknown - Alyssa Wong
Staunch - Paul Graham Raven
Other People's Thoughts - Chinelo Onwaulu
wysiomg - Alvaro Zinos-Amo
We Will Take Care of Our Own - Angie Hodapp
A Song Transmuted - Sarah Pinsker
It's Only Words - Keith Ferrell
Small Offerings - Paolo Bacigalupi
Darkout - E. Lily Yu
Visible Damage - Stephen Graham Jones
The Ibex on the Day of Extinction - Minister Faust
How Nothing Happens - Darin Bradley

Select Stories & Summaries

Visible Damage (Stephen Graham Jones) – In the far future, where life is seamlessly integrated with technology, a hacker-artist named Raz is commissioned to capture an ASCII-graph image of an artificial intelligence. Some simple B & E, a little art, what could possibly go wrong? A cyberpunk story set in a post-singularity world, Visible Damage is well written and frightening. It explores the nature of humanity and hubris Black Mirror-style.

The Singularity Is in Your Hair (Matthew Kressel) – A severely crippled 16-year-old freelance coder teams up with an AI in the virtual world to create premium synesthetic experiences. Kressel uses real technology such as hackable exploits and public key cryptography to craft a VR world with real brand names and is highly relatable. A powerful story that deals with technology’s deeper value and our rush to have it.

The Ibex on the Day of Extinction (Minister Faust) – A Kenyan-Canadian eco-tech developer is working to create a sustainable ecology in a war-ravaged Niger when something terrifying happens. Like many stories in the anthology, it features an interesting multicultural setting. It also explores the relationship between mankind and progress.

Darkout (E. Lily Yu) – This story explores the role of social media and an all-pervasive surveillance system sweeping across a near-futuristic world. Held hostage by hackers, the governments of the world decree that everyone can watch everything 24/7. What does it mean for privacy issues and society as a whole? Check out one man’s perspective in this creepy short.

Serenade (Isabel Yap) – A post-cyberpunk tale of two hackers hired to extract data from an encrypted USB stick. The information they find may be more than the client asked for. There’s plenty of multicultural aspects that are reminiscent of old school cyberpunk. The story is about accepting the real world in a digital age.

The Rest Between Two Notes (Cat Rambo) – In a near-apocalyptic New York, a girl exercises her inner demons in the safety of VR. But safety is overrated and, put bluntly, sometimes hitting things in the head is justifiable. Dark and powerful writing. Every kid in America should read this for a cathartic release.

Small Offerings (Paolo Bacigalupi) – In a futuristic world ridden with disease and despair, birthing becomes nearly impossible. Small Offerings tells the story of one researcher’s strong desire to overcome this obstacle while dealing with the chaotic world around her. The controversial subject matter makes this unique and original.

We Will Take Care of Our Own (Angie Hodapp) – It’s election year and the Senator Tia Isandro is ready to discuss new robot-care legislation. Unfortunately, she’s in Elevated Reasoning International’s pocket. When society creates the most important innovation since the toaster oven, the moral obligation to maintain the defective creations is called into question.

Other great stories include the innovative A Song Transmuted by Sarah Pinsker, the action packed Your Bones Will Not Be Unknown by Alyssa Wong, and Paul Graham Raven’s tale of running in the shadows, Staunch. The cutting edge and diverse nature its stories help Cyber World do for modern sci-fi what Mirrorshades by Bruce Sterling did three decades ago.

In short, I haven’t had this much fun since the last time I was cruising down the spindle with a good rasta dub playing in the background. Or maybe it was that time I ate falafel in the Budayeen? (Ugh, that was a long night.) Anyway, be sure to pick it up or check the bundles for a dedicated soundtrack, t-shirt, and poster. 5/5

(This book was received from Hex Publishers in exchange for a fair and honest review.)

Overall Review

I have interested by this anthology for a while, I don’t read a lot of cyberpunk but I like reading this genre and I was curious to encounter some new authors I would like. Also, the fact that both Alyssa Wong and Paolo Bacigalupi contributed to this anthology was a bonus for me.

Overall, it was a strong anthologies, as always with those types of books they were hits and misses, I DNF’d a couple of stories that didn’t work for me (mostly because they confused me too much) but other stories such as Reactions by Mario Acevado, The Bees of Kiribati by Warren Hammond, Panic City by Madeleine Ashby, Your Bones Will be Unknown by Alyssa Wong, Other People’s Thoughts by Chinelo Onwualu, A Song Transmuted by Sarah Pinske, It’s Only Words by Keith Ferrell and Small Offerings by Paolo Bacigalupi were extremely good.

All the stories were short and very different from one another which was great because I never felt bored. I flew through this collection in two days and I liked the broad selection of themes it tried to tackle. Some of the most recurring themes were family, pregnancy, gender and gender fluidity, information and body’s transformation.

I would absolutely recommend this anthology even if you’re not a fan of cyperpunk or short fiction because I tryuly believe thatCyber World: Tale of Humanity’s Tomorrow contains something for everyone!



Story by Story Review



Serenade – Isabel Yap ★★★1/2

This story follows Anj, a young techgirl who has to access certain files that may be very important for one of her clients. In this future, most of the files are protected by Ais which means that you have to “confront” them to access the info contained in an AI-USB. This story wasn’t particularly unique but it was pretty bittersweet which I liked and it was dealing with issues such as grief, letting go and growing up that are always interesting to read about

First sentence: “Anj was in the shop late at night on Thursday when the new client walked in.”



The Mighty Phin – Nisi Shawl ★★

This story was previously published on the Tor.com website so this was a reread for me. I didn’t like it as much after rereading it because even though, it is fairly unique, it’s hard to understand. It follows Timofeya Phin, a woman who has been uploaded into an AI. We soon learn that the AI is losing some of the files and while it tries to hides it, weird things start happening in Timofeya’s life. I guess that it was mostly about loveand gender fluidity but it was pretty confusing. It was very hard to relate to the characters, I really couldn’t care less about them. I don’t really like Shawl’s short fiction which is why I’m pretty hesitant about reading her debut-novel Everfair that came out this year…

First paragraph: “Timofeya Phin glared at her bare brown hands. They were hers, all right. They looked the same as the orginals. Unlike her feet.”



Reactions – Mario Acevado ★★★★★

One of my favorite story in this anthology, this story follows the aftermath of war on a young soldier. It deals with PTSD, grief and love. It was very powerful and I really like the voice of the main character. I will be looking out for more of Acevado’s works!

First sentence: “<Cease fire. Weapons hold.>”



The Bees of Kiribati – Warren Hammond ★★★★1/2

Another really good one, it was pretty creepy and once I started reading, I couldn’t stop. I don’t want to say too much about this one but I don’t think I ever read a story about surrogate mothers and refugees as powerful as this one. The ending was really impressive!

First sentence: “I spotted Detective Inspector Keo at the end of the corridor, his back against the wall, smoke snaking from the cigarette lodged between his fingertips.”



The Rest Between Two Notes – Cat Rambo ★★1/2

This story was very promising at the beginning and as much as it had interesting themes (dealing with an oppresive family, being different etc..) it felt a little flat toward the end. it didn’t really had a plot except the fact that the main character hates her mother and it was pretty meh overall.

First sentence: “I kill my mother.”

The Singularity is in Your Hair – Mathew Kressel ★★★

This one was a weird one, most of the story is set in a virtual reality where our main character works for an AI who promises to upload her on a server when she dies and in exchange, she has to program all kind of things. In “real life”, the main character is suffering from Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystophy which means that she can’t leave her wheelchair and that she only has a few years left to live. With an premise like that, I really expected to story to make more of an impact on me and, sadly, it didn’t…

First sentence: “When the door opens, the brown-skinned mailman stands smiling on the stoop in his rolled-up baby-blue short-sleeve shirt, top buttons opens, his chest hair exposed.”



Panic City – Madeleine Ashby ★★★★1/2

This is one is pretty unique since the main PoV of the story is… a city. And this city doesn’t want anybody to go in… or out.

First sentence: “Devoured by the blades of Fan Six, high above the Service Sector quadrant of the city and suspended over her many rings, something went still and cold.”



The Faithful Soldier, prompted – Saladin Ahmed ★★★1/2

This story is about a soldier who wants to find a cure for his wife illness, since leaving the army, he still receives prompted with instructions and some of them may be the key of his wife illness. I think that the concept could have been pushed farther but it was interesting and different from the overall tone of the anthology.

First sentence: “If I die on this piece-of-shit road, Lubna’s chances die with me.”



Your Bones Will be Unknown – Alyssa Wong ★★★★1/2

One of the main reason I was intrigued by this anthology was that it contained an Alyssa Wong story. Following a young assassin infiltrating a crime lords meeting, the story was pretty intense.. and gory. I mean we are talking Alyssa Wong here. As usual with this lady, the story is gripping and well-written.

First sentence: “I stuck close to the wall and let my corneal camera watch the action for me.”

Staunch – Paul Graham Raven – DNF

Sadly, this was a DNF for me, I was very confused while reading and I couldn’t get what was going on so I decided to drop it.

First Sentence: “The Hackney Kid’s kidneys go into shutdown on our way out Gunchester.”



Other People’s Thoughts – Chinelo Onwualu ★★★★★

This story doesn’t really has a plot but I really liked it, it follows a girl who was designed by her mother to feel other people’s thoughts and feelings and her relationship with a mysterious customer. I really liked the writings and the ideas and since I never heard of Onwualu before, I’m glad that I discovered her voice!

First sentence: “Zayin walked into my shop on the morning of my twenty-ninth birthday.”

wysiomg – Alvaro Zinos-Amaro – DNF

Another DNF, I might be dumb but this one made no sense to me whatsoever, I think that I only read three pages and then I was “Maryam’s out”! I don’t know if I should try this story again in the future but I’m in to rush to.

First sentence: “Bartolomeu used to puppeter ants and then he went to singU and now he builds furniture out of bugs but a few things happened in between”.



We Will Take care of Our Own – Angie Hodapp ★★★★

Political SF’s story are pretty rare because I’m pretty sure that they’re hard to do well (build a logic political world, adversaries and all for a short story might be a bit of a pain) but We Will Take Care of Our Own was fascinating. It reminded me a bit of Infomocracy and Minority Report and it was dealing with really complex themes like artificial intelligence and conciousness with a refreshing simplicity.

First Sentence:”Senator Tia Isandro stepped out of the Lincoln’s back seat.”



A Song Transmuted – Sarah Pinske ★★★★★

A cyperpunk story dealing with music? Oh yes. This was very well done, I am usually a big fan of stories with music eements in them and this one did it wonderfully well! It follows a young girl who loves playing music and her journey to make her body a music instrument. Really good.

First paragraph: “I was a fussy baby. The only thing that quited me was my great-grandfather’s piano. My parents placed my bassinet directly on the piano, with noise-cancelling headphones to keep from damaging my ears. His chords came up through the instrument, up through my bones.”That child is full of music, I’m telling you,” he told anyone who listened.”



It’s Only Words – Keith Ferrell ★★★★★

Another great one, it follows the idea that in a near future, everyone is going to be linked “tapped” to Internet thanks to an implant. Our main protagonist, Sem, isn’t and we follow him as he’s writing a school assignment explainign why he doesn’t want to have this implant.

First Sentence: “Eventually Sem began keyboarding.”



Small Offerings – Paolo Bacigalupi ★★★★★

I previously mentionned that one of the reason I was interested by this anthology was the Wong story, Bacigalupi is another. I only read one of his short stories before City of Ash but I loved The Water Knife and I was excited to give his short works another try. Small Offerings reached and surpassed my expectations quite a bit, i’s depresssing as hell and if reading about horrible pregnancy and dead babies is something that you can’t stand, well do not read this. I personally found it fascinating and creepy but extremely well done.

First Sentence:”Readouts glow blue on driplines where they burrow into Maya Ong’s spine.”



Darkout – E. Lily Yu ★★★1/2

Set in a society where everyone can observe other people’s life, it’s not suprising that, our “hero” Brandon isan unreliable self-centered douche bag. However, as much as I didn’t like Brandon, I like Yu’s commentary on what may be the future of our society.

First Sentence: “In all of Northchester, Pennsylvania there was hardly forty square feet that was not continuously exposed to public view, on glass walls if you had money or on tablets if you were poor.”



Visible Damage – Stephen Graham Jones ★★

I was a bit confused by this one but it has similarities with the first story of this collection, Serenade, because the main character is kind of fighting against an AI. I can’t say much more about this one.

First Sentence: “If it were 2028 or something Dark Ages like that, what Mark had just asked for after casing the place, it would-no, it still wouldn’t make sense.”



The Ibex on the Day of Extinction – Minister Faust ★★★

This story follows the aftermath of a regional evacuation. Because of his work, our main character had not way to know that his family was evacuated and he tries to find them, wandering Niger. I liked this story when I read it but I have to admit that it was pretty forgettable in the sense that I had to reread a large portion of it to write this tiny synopsis…

First Sentence: “Kam Manjiri checked his satellite phone for the fifth time that morning.”



How Nothing Happens – Darin Bradley ★

I remember finishing this story and rereading the last paragraph to see if I missed something. It follows a main character that takes notes but who may have come from the future.. Maybe ?

First Sentence: “It’s strange to listen in, knowing at once nothing and everything about the discussion.”

I remember reading cyberpunk in my youth - stories of tomorrows where technology is an integral part of life, but that life is far from utopian. Strange technologies, dystopian societies and alienated individuals were all a part of visions that stirred the imagination. Cyberpunk didn't really disappear. Instead it transformed. The future is now. Technology is omnipresent, and it is impossible to imagine life without the connectivity of cell phones, tablets, and wifi.

Cyber World provides a tantalizing glimpse of the worlds that could be through a variety of stories from the world's most talented authors. From gene and body modifications to artificial brains sold through rakuten and Amazon, worlds of data to a country of no people, this anthology hosts a tremendous array of post-cyberpunk works. The tomorrows of yesterday have led to today.

5/5

I received a copy of Cyber World Tales of Humanity's Tomorrow from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom
12/27/16

OVERALL REVIEW OF THE BOOK

As a whole, the book was quite interesting but there were some stories that weren't as interesting as the rest. Those stories would have made great novels on their own but I feel did not make a huge impact as a short story. Below are my comments on the stories I liked best.

SERENADE by Isabel Yap (4/5)

The main character Anj is a young techgirl who is approached by a client who wants to access encrypted files from an AI-USB. The story has some very interesting technology and also deals with other concepts like forgotten love and letting go.

REACTIONS by Mario Acevedo (4.5/5)

The main character is a war veteran suffering from the drugs used to connect soldiers to machines for remote warfare. It's a poignant story that reminds one the importance of family and friends and stresses upon human interactions.

THE BEES OF KIRIBATI by Warren Hammond (5/5)

The story is told from the PoV of a translator and deals with surrogacy, baby farms and consequences of war. It was a really disturbing but captivating story that shocked me. The ending wasn't something I was expecting!

PANIC CITY by Madeline Ashby (4.5/5)

It is a really unique story as the protagonist is a city. A city that wants it's inhabitants to never leave and outsiders to never enter. The city is described as being a mother to the inhabitants and hearing the story from the city was really refreshing!

YOUR BONES WILL NOT BE UNKNOWN by Alyssa Wong (5/5)

The MC is as assassin who infiltrates a meeting to kill a crime lord. The story features highly interesting technology but we warned, the story has gory and macabre elements. I found the plot to be really good and this story is one of my favorites!

OTHER PEOPLE'S THOUGHTS by Chinelo Onwualu (4/5)

The story is set in the future where not just physical features but also personality traits can be altered. The MC's mother turns her into a hyper empath who can feel emotions and read thoughts to an extent. This was a unique love story and very touching.

A SONG TRANSMUTED by Sarah Pinsker (5/5)

It's a beautiful musical story. The protagonist loves music and has a beautiful relationship with her grandfather (a very endearing man). The story deals with loss, remembrance, creativity and music. The story left me smiling and asking for more.

IT'S ONLY WORDS by Keith Ferrell (5/5)

Sem is a guy who prefers to type on papers in a world that is 'tapped'; everyone is linked to everyone via implants in the brains and this has caused communication as we know it to become obsolete. The story was emotional and proves the weapons we need are not the weapons we see in the world but rather just words.

SMALL OFFERINGS by Paolo Bacigalupi (5/5)

The story is set in a world where there is so much pollution and toxicity that birthing of healthy children is basically a miracle. The story follows a woman torn between her religion and her profession (in the words of another character). The story is frankly highly disturbing but has a unique and interesting concept all the same.

CONCLUSION

It is an interesting collection of stories that weren't perfect but had some really amazing stories. Worth a read.

Obviously, this book is full of cyberpunk stories but it also is a reimagination of what cyberpunk is and could be. Like it is said in the afternotes, tones of magic realism can also be found there. I liked that the afternotes explained what they were looking to accomplish here and it really showed the pleasure they had in reading those stories themselves and working in this anthology.

The stories are challenging, sometimes emotionnally and sometimes even to understand. There are a lot of abbrevations that are not easy to understand for a a person that is not a native english speaker, thankfully google is my friend!

I love the diversity both in characters, locations, sexuality, genre and social norms.
I also liked the illustrations (done by Aaron Lovett) at the beginning of each stories which added a nice touch and made me wondered what these would mean later.

It’s too bad it is not being released for Halloween because it is very dark and brutal at times. Maybe not what I was expecting but when I was three stories in, I better put myself in the mood to appreciate them better.

My favourites were THE SINGULARITY IS IN YOUR HAIR, PANIC CITY and A SONG TRANSMUTED.

___________________________________________________________________

SERENADE, by Isabel Yap
I was really hyped about this anthology but was a little bit disappointed with that first one, maybe because of my very hight expectations. But it was a good start nonetheless, a nice slow starting point. That one is about a mysterious USB key, professional Filipino hackers, family ties. It was very humane.

THE MIGHTY PHIN, by Nisi Shawl
A story set in some kind of prison ship in a virtual reality. Phin’s real body was destroyed and her mind was uploaded there so she doubt everything. It was a really nice story about love, with transgender representation, a disabled character (feet deformation) and a really interesting AI.

REACTIONS, by Mario Acevedo
A battle management system, linking human to drones, in a world devastated by a eleven years old war. “A minute ago I was on the other side of the planet,hunting enemy. Now I’m expected to take all that amped-up energy and divert it to house chores.”
So this story deals with the aftereffects of the drugs used to link with the machine. It is quite macabre but in the end it is a story about solidarity and how human interaction is important to survive the hard world we live in.

THE BEES OF KIRIBATI, by Warren Hammond
Kaiko, a translator, is called in to speak to a suspect in a murder case. In this story, people have systems implanted in their brain. “An error message annoyingly vibrated against the back of my skull, a once-a-day warning to upgrade, as if surgery was cheap.”
I thought it was too bad the title actually kinda gave away a big info on what’s going to happen. And the baby farm thing made me very ill at ease.

THE REST BETWEEN TWO NOTES, by Cat Rambo
I really enjoyed Cat Rambo’s collection of short stories (that I reviewed here) so I was very happy when I saw she was in this collection!
The first sentence of that one is “I kill my mother” so uh, right in the mood then!
It’s about the way therapy sessions use a virtual reality but also about the relationships people develop because or thanks to this technology.

THE SINGULARITY IS IN YOUR HAIR, by Matthew Kressel
What and interesting title!
So far it was the first of the anthology that I really enjoyed mostly because of its originality. A young girl is wheelchair bound, she describes herself as a being like a “vegetable” in the meatworld but she builds amazing virtual realities for people and has an interesting relationship with an AI.

PANIC CITY, by Madeline Ashby
That one was from the point of view of a city! Plus it’s a sassy city who judges people on wether they spit on the street or compost their garbage, behaving like a mother with her many babies. It was the most original and I enjoyed it a lot!

THE FAITHFUL SOLDIER, PROMPTED, by Saladin Ahmed
I read Saladin Ahmed’s novel last year and really enjoyed it so I was happy to get to read something else from him, and in a very different genre! I actually came accross this anthology thanks to a retweet he did and I’m very grateful!
In this height story, a veteran goes on a quest to save his dying wife. There are weird messages appearring in his implant and he thinks they are from God. It was very sad but I was captivated.

YOUR BONES WILL NOT BE UNKNOWN, by Alyssa Wong
That story was badass! A young girl assassin is sent by her boss to kill another boss. There were gory parts with eyes but despite that it was really cool.

STAUNCH, by Paul Graham Raven
I was kinda lost by this one unfortunately, there were just too many elements. I got bored but still tried to understand what was going on. It had to do with the medical field and brexit and its concequences are mentionned. But I liked the ending surprisingly. I think I should re-read it one of these days.

OTHER PEOPLE’S THOUGHTS, by Chinelo Onwualu
This story was set in Lagos and is about an hyper empathic woman. It is a love story, in a world where not only physical alterations are possible but personality traits can also be altered. I liked it, very refreshing.

WYSIOMG, by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro
I found this story really weird. I liked that the main character had a very distinctive voice, even if that’s from a stroke that left him with a speech impairment (long sentences with coordinating conjunction like “and” and “but”). This protagonist and his roomates get a very big ant problem and very weird things happen.

WE WILL TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN, by Angie Hodapp
This story was interesting and touching but I guessed what was going on super early, I could see the strings of the narrative. It was a story about a senator in a presidential campaign, holding press conferences with her aide, a robot by her side. Coruption, personal tragedy and artificial intelligence.

A SONG TRANSMUTED, by Sarah Pinsker
I really loved the beautiful relationship between a grand-father and his grand-daughter. It was a really beautiful story about music, technology, wanting more and working towards that goal. In this case it has to do with physical enhancement.

IT’S ONLY WORDS, by Keith Ferrell
Everybody is connected to some kind of virtual world or network but Sem isn’t. He is proud of doing things his way, putting time and effort in it. At times I felt like he thought about himself as better than the others, but there was also beauty in his way to liking being different, like his mother.

SMALL OFFERINGS, by Paolo Bacigalupi
People who know me know I get super incomfortable around babies and everything that is about them, mostly the delivery. So this story wasn’t a pleasure to read for me. It was even awful and horrific at times. Plus I don’t know but it also felt weird that such a story would be written by a man. Like I’m so very tired of scifi using women bodies and possibilities to write weird stories. That also goes for some of my fave shows like Star trek, BSG or DW. I mean I understand that it has interesting possibilities but that’s a no no for me, sorry.

DARKOUT, by E. Lily Yu
Everybody’s life is recorded and everybody is a “peripheral home-cam star“, basically a reality TV star. The main character there is sad not to attract much viewer and blame it on the fact he is a white male and he is obsessed with watching his ex’s home-cam. So to say he is unlikable is an understatement. That one really felt like it could be a Black Mirror episode!

VISIBLE DAMAGE, by Stephen Graham Jones
Set in the far future I guess since 2028 is seen as the dark ages and an actual paper book and a pencil are seen as antiques. I struggled to understand what was going on.

THE IBEX ON THE DAY OF EXTINCTION, by Minister Faust
Another favourite here! It was perfect for an october read because it was so stressful. It is about a kenyan-canadian eco-tech developer roaming the Nigerian desert in a sand rover, planting trees thanks to terraria and neo-tech divining rods. He leave for his usual few days expedition but his phone doesn’t work. You can sense something isn’t right and something bad is coming. It really kept me at the edge of my seat until the end!

HOW NOTHING HAPPENS, by Darin Bradley
That one was a story about a story, also kind of hard to understand for me, but keep in mind I’m not a native english speaker. I think the fact they put it at the end of the anthology is interesting.