Live Without a Net

Rating:
Summary: A few gems, but very inconsistent.
Review: Edited by Lou Anders, the sci-fi anthology Live Without a Net (all never-before-published stories, save one) imagines a variety of sci-fi-tinged worlds, future, past, and, present, in which IT, the Internet, and AI as we conceive of it do not exist. Introducing this limitation is an intriguing concept, and the end result is five or six very good stories, a bit of remarkable crap, and some filler.

The best stories are Adam Roberts' "New Model Computer," which puts an O. Henry twist on post-Singularity fiction; Michael Swanwick's "Smoke and Mirrors," an amusing set of short-shorts featuring the author's retro-Victorian rogues, Darger and Surplus; Charlie Stross' "Rogue Farm," David Brin's "Reality Check;" S. M. Stirling's PKD-style head-scrambler "The Crystal Method;" John Meaney's "The Swastika Bomb," a WWII spy epic in an alternate history of advanced biowarfare; and my pick for the best story of the book, Del Stone Jr's frightening doomsday cult scenario, "I Feed The Machine."

Unfortunately, most of the rest is unengaging filler or just plain awful. John Grant's "No Solace For The Soul In Digitopia" consists largely of painfully detailed descriptions of the narrator depositing his seed into his various parallel-Earth wives, and Grant is no better than most sci-fi writers when it comes to sexual matter. The most inexplicable inclusion of the anthology is Alex Irvine's "Reformation," which infuses some Islamic mysticism into a straightforward cyberpunk yarn about a hacker/Internet-revolutionary. Irvine's story completely breaks the "no Net" theme of the book and is terribly out of place. Best left undescribed are "Frek and the Grulloo Woods," Paul di Filippo's "Clouds and Cold Fires," and Dave Hutchinson's "All The News, All Time, From Everywhere."

I'd check this book out at a library for the good stories, but hold off on buying it.

Rating:
Summary: A good collection, with some gems
Review: For me the best picks from this volume are those where the authors really get to grips with the idea of a future that has not followed the usual technological route, particularly Di Filippo and Rucker. On the more traditional SFnal front Melko and Del Stone Jr provide more than the bigger names of Brin and Baxter, and Resnick/Kenyon, Hutchinson, Meaney and Stross provide top quality stuff.

All in all, an interesting varied collection, and well worth the shelf-space....

Rating:
Summary: 18 short stories diverge from the popular futuristic visions
Review: Lou Anders edits Live Without A Net, a fine anthology of stories from masters of speculative fiction. 18 short stories diverge from the popular futuristic visions of a cyber-controlled future to consider alternative futures where cyberspace does NOT rule. Here you'll find winners by Brin, DiFilippo, and others who present startlingly different worlds.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent thought out anthology
Review: The underlying premise to this eighteen story collection is based on no Internet communicating between the many to the many. This reviewer not only read the book, but also asked her college IT major son do so too (that in of itself is a miracle that he left the hyper realm for the printing realm). Based on this unscientific sample of two (still 67% of the household population), the reaction to the tales will differ depending on the age (and experiences) of the reader. Those ancient baby boomers and fountain of youth older generations know first hand an unwired world of dial phones in which the consumer could choose any color as long as it was black. To that group, the stories will seem like alternate history as it is not much of a stretch to believe that the alternatives might have been viable at one time. To those whose braces are wireless cell phones from the birthing room, the book will still find reading it fun, but it will feel more like a fantasy or science fiction anthology.

The tales are cleverly written so that the much of the audience, regardless of age or experiences, will find LIVE WITHOUT A NET as an entertaining short story medley that is worth the time away from hyperspace HTML to enter the world of printing text.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Excellent thought out anthology
Review: The underlying premise to this eighteen story collection is based on no Internet communicating between the many to the many. This reviewer not only read the book, but also asked her college IT major son do so too (that in of itself is a miracle that he left the hyper realm for the printing realm). Based on this unscientific sample of two (still 67% of the household population), the reaction to the tales will differ depending on the age (and experiences) of the reader. Those ancient baby boomers and fountain of youth older generations know first hand an unwired world of dial phones in which the consumer could choose any color as long as it was black. To that group, the stories will seem like alternate history as it is not much of a stretch to believe that the alternatives might have been viable at one time. To those whose braces are wireless cell phones from the birthing room, the book will still find reading it fun, but it will feel more like a fantasy or science fiction anthology.

The tales are cleverly written so that the much of the audience, regardless of age or experiences, will find LIVE WITHOUT A NET as an entertaining short story medley that is worth the time away from hyperspace HTML to enter the world of printing text.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: No Net Needed
Review: This anthology was my first exposure to Lou Anders' work as an editor, and I found myself very, very impressed.

I'm a choosy SF reader, and anthologies in particular drive me nuts. I've been rereading DANGEROUS VISIONS for years, and the one bright spot annually is Windling and Datlow's BEST FANTASY AND HORROR - basically, I have to be force-fed anything new.

I was offered an advance copy of LIVE WITHOUT A NET, started reading with no small trepidation, and found myself devouring it. Anders' choices are stunningly good, and his taste in material impeccable. Swanwick, Roberson, and Meaney's contributions may be some of the finest short fiction I've ever read, and the rest of the material held a similar line of quality.

Quit reading this and just go buy the book. Trust me - it's worth the price and then some.

Rating:
Summary: A snapshot of the future of Science Fiction
Review: This is an excellent compilation of stories. If you are interested in understanding how science fiction and fantasy are morphing into a new and facinating genre, then I highly recomend this book. It is a snapshot of the medium as it reaches a tipping point and shoots into the future. I have bought 4 books from authors whose short stories I read in this anthology. I highly recommend this book not only for the content, but also for the reading lists it will help you build.

Rating:
Summary: A snapshot of the future of Science Fiction
Review: This is an excellent compilation of stories. If you are interested in understanding how science fiction and fantasy are morphing into a new and facinating genre, then I highly recomend this book. It is a snapshot of the medium as it reaches a tipping point and shoots into the future. I have bought 4 books from authors whose short stories I read in this anthology. I highly recommend this book not only for the content, but also for the reading lists it will help you build.

Rating:
Summary: Sharp, imaginative SF. Highly recommended!
Review: _Live Without a Net_ contains 18 extremely imaginative, well written short stories. Science fiction needs more writing like this!

The concept behind the book is cool, but the stories really need to speak for themselves. Here are some short descriptions...

In Paul Di Filippo's story "Clouds and Cold Fires," humanity has left Earth, leaving behind uplifted animals as wardens of a control system integrated into the planet's atmosphere.

Alex Irvine imagines that the Net has been effectively destroyed by religious censors, and a young hacker attempts to break through the censorship using a viral font. The story reminded me a bit of the movie "Pi."

Dave Hutchinson contributes a world in which elves haven taken over Earth, forbidding most technologies and forcing journalists to practice divination in order to get a story.

Chris Roberson writes about a world controlled by a Chinese empire that runs all computational problems through a vast department of men with abaci known as the Imperial House of Calculation.

John Meaney's piece "The Swastika Bomb" reminds me of a bit of Neal Stephenson's WWII sequences in _Cryptonomican_, except here engineered organisms replace technology (e.g. fighter planes are replaced by dragons).

David Brin has a cool story about humanity's impending intellectual entropy (an interesting contrast to the opening paragraphs of H. P. Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu"). Charles Stross has an engrossing story about multiple human beings who graft into single organisms.

While all of these selections were extremely good, my favorite story was Adam Roberts' "New Model Computer", about a machine-intelligence who invents a cellular organism in order to solve the problem of what happened before the beginning of time. For some reason, I loved this one.

This anthology succeeds for a variety of reasons. I think that one of the problems non-SF fans have with science fiction (particularly the space opera, Star Trek variety they're most familiar with) is that technology takes on a magic-like power that advances the storyline through some kind of unlikely dramatic implementation. Perhaps for this reason, fantasy writers seem to be particularly strong in this anthology: they're good at writing with something besides technology as the backbone of their stories. I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear that a few science fiction authors were too scared to even attempt a submission. A huge congratulations to Lou Anders (the editor) for bringing the concept behind _Live Without a Net_ into fruition.

Bottom line: if you appreciate good science fiction, read this book. You'll sneer at everything else you read for months.

Rating:
Summary: Sharp, imaginative SF. Highly recommended!
Review: _Live Without a Net_ contains 18 extremely imaginative, well written short stories. Science fiction needs more writing like this!

The concept behind the book is cool, but the stories really need to speak for themselves. Here are some short descriptions...

In Paul Di Filippo's story "Clouds and Cold Fires," humanity has left Earth, leaving behind uplifted animals as wardens of a control system integrated into the planet's atmosphere.

Alex Irvine imagines that the Net has been effectively destroyed by religious censors, and a young hacker attempts to break through the censorship using a viral font. The story reminded me a bit of the movie "Pi."

Dave Hutchinson contributes a world in which elves haven taken over Earth, forbidding most technologies and forcing journalists to practice divination in order to get a story.

Chris Roberson writes about a world controlled by a Chinese empire that runs all computational problems through a vast department of men with abaci known as the Imperial House of Calculation.

John Meaney's piece "The Swastika Bomb" reminds me of a bit of Neal Stephenson's WWII sequences in _Cryptonomican_, except here engineered organisms replace technology (e.g. fighter planes are replaced by dragons).

David Brin has a cool story about humanity's impending intellectual entropy (an interesting contrast to the opening paragraphs of H. P. Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu"). Charles Stross has an engrossing story about multiple human beings who graft into single organisms.

While all of these selections were extremely good, my favorite story was Adam Roberts' "New Model Computer", about a machine-intelligence who invents a cellular organism in order to solve the problem of what happened before the beginning of time. For some reason, I loved this one.

This anthology succeeds for a variety of reasons. I think that one of the problems non-SF fans have with science fiction (particularly the space opera, Star Trek variety they're most familiar with) is that technology takes on a magic-like power that advances the storyline through some kind of unlikely dramatic implementation. Perhaps for this reason, fantasy writers seem to be particularly strong in this anthology: they're good at writing with something besides technology as the backbone of their stories. I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear that a few science fiction authors were too scared to even attempt a submission. A huge congratulations to Lou Anders (the editor) for bringing the concept behind _Live Without a Net_ into fruition.

Bottom line: if you appreciate good science fiction, read this book. You'll sneer at everything else you read for months.