The Next Scene by Robert Reed 3*What if AIs wanted to be entertained by humans melodrama ? That's the idea explored by Reed in this very interesting and unique short story. I usually like Reed shorts but it's true that I always have the same complain, I always think that the ideas behind his stories are good but I wish he explored them a bit more. The ending of this stry was really good but it could have expanded a bit. I want to try his novels to see if he has the same issue writing longer work...

Terrifying and brilliant. Existential angst packed into a space horror story. Read it here: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/swanw...

Terrifying and brilliant. Existential angst packed into a space horror story. Read it here: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/swanw...

Review solely for these two stories:"One Sister, Two Sisters, Three" by James Patrick Kelly. Two sisters growing up in an odd, restrictive religion. The prettier one gets a boyfriend from the Thousand Worlds. Complications ensue. A slice of life; a minor work from a master writer. 3.4 stars.Reprint: "The Very Pulse of the Machine" (1998) by Michael Swanwick. An explorer discovers an unusual life form on Io. Classic Swanwick, 4+ stars. If you haven't read it, you should. Formerly had its own titl...

Review solely for these two stories:"One Sister, Two Sisters, Three" by James Patrick Kelly. Two sisters growing up in an odd, restrictive religion. The prettier one gets a boyfriend from the Thousand Worlds. Complications ensue. A slice of life; a minor work from a master writer. 3.4 stars.Reprint: "The Very Pulse of the Machine" (1998) by Michael Swanwick. An explorer discovers an unusual life form on Io. Classic Swanwick, 4+ stars. If you haven't read it, you should. Formerly had its own titl...

Review solely for these two stories:"One Sister, Two Sisters, Three" by James Patrick Kelly. Two sisters growing up in an odd, restrictive religion. The prettier one gets a boyfriend from the Thousand Worlds. Complications ensue. A slice of life; a minor work from a master writer. 3.4 stars.Reprint: "The Very Pulse of the Machine" (1998) by Michael Swanwick. An explorer discovers an unusual life form on Io. Classic Swanwick, 4+ stars. If you haven't read it, you should. Formerly had its own titl...

*** The Next Scene - Robert ReedOur alien overlords have taken over - and demanded to be entertained by humanity. Those who are deemed interesting are rewarded with regular deposits into their bank accounts. The new system is, of course, wholly run by the unseen extraterrestrials. It makes sense that in the new order, trained actors have a natural leg up over the rest of us... but that's just the beginning of the implications here.**** Everyone from Themis Sends Letters Home - Genevieve Valentin...

oh no i criedhere

"Everyone from Themis Sends Letters Home" by Genevieve Valentine - Really enjoyed this story. Nice twist in that it starts out appearing to be one trope and turns out to be a completely different one. The extra layer of puzzling out the points-of-view created by the epistolary format kept things interesting. **** (3/16/17)

An excellent issue. My favorites were Valentine's surprising "Everyone from Themis Sends Letters Home" and the creative Swanwick reprint "The Very Pulse of the Machine," but all were good reads. I also enjoyed Cole's essay on the early history of SF movies - highlights a couple of little-known gems and gives a sense of how astonishing 2001 would have been in context.

Review of Rusties by Nnedi Okorafor & Wanuri Kahiu.Haven't read the rest of the issue.

AI is the main protagonist in most of the stories. The podcasts are top quality with one surprise. My three picks of this month are the "The Calculations of Artificials" by Chi HuiWhich actually have many similarities with the newly produced series WestWorld. A world full of robots that don't know that they are real people they keep company to humans. Only the main protagonist can see the difference untill he find something strange..."Rusties" by Nnedi Okorafor and Wanuri KahiuThis podcast is be...

AI is the main protagonist in most of the stories. The podcasts are top quality with one surprise. My three picks of this month are the "The Calculations of Artificials" by Chi HuiWhich actually have many similarities with the newly produced series WestWorld. A world full of robots that don't know that they are real people they keep company to humans. Only the main protagonist can see the difference untill he find something strange..."Rusties" by Nnedi Okorafor and Wanuri KahiuThis podcast is be...

AI is the main protagonist in most of the stories. The podcasts are top quality with one surprise. My three picks of this month are the "The Calculations of Artificials" by Chi HuiWhich actually have many similarities with the newly produced series WestWorld. A world full of robots that don't know that they are real people they keep company to humans. Only the main protagonist can see the difference untill he find something strange..."Rusties" by Nnedi Okorafor and Wanuri KahiuThis podcast is be...

Review for “Everyone from Themis Sends Letters Home” by Genevieve ValentineIt starts as a colonization story of Themis, a planet of Proxima Centauri (very funny this first part, I snorted a few times), but develops in something completely different (view spoiler)[ – all is in fact a beta testing of a VR game, with unknowing convicts as the subjects (hide spoiler)] – I simply loved the twist! "The sun’s different than back home—they told us about particles and turbulence on the way over and I

I do like Neil Clarke's choice of content.

I do like Neil Clarke's choice of content.

Rated for the haunting Everyone from Themis Sends Letters Home by Genevieve Valentine.

What a great, fantastic issue, filled with great stories about AI and many imaginative, entirely different visions of the future!

What a great, fantastic issue, filled with great stories about AI and many imaginative, entirely different visions of the future!