FUTURE VISIONS – anthology | Looking For a Good Book

The conceit for this book is that Microsoft gave a few prominent sci-fi and fantasy authors a look at their technology in progress in exchange for some stories. Given the rather strange circumstances for the anthology, this collection features some remarkable short fiction.

This is a short collection, but I found all the works to be engaging on some level, even if it wasn’t something I’d want to really read again. The best story here I think was Elizabeth Bear’s “Skin in the Game.” Our pop stars are already tweeting and showing photos on Instagram with startling frequency. What happens if fans can be even closer their favorite stars by tuning in to a tech device that broadcasts emotions in real time?

Seanan McGuire, who I think is one of the best urban fantasy authors writing today, ran with a real interesting concept in “Hello, Hello” – how technology intended for good use can be dangerous when not monitored. But the story itself didn’t really grab hold with me.

“A Cop’s Eye” is a story told in comic-book or graphic novel format by Blue Delliquanti & Michele Rosenthal. The story follows a cop who tracks down a teenage hacker runaway and with the help of some amazing tech the cop sets out to help the girl.

Overall, this is a pretty decent collection

This book contains the following:

Foreword – Harry Shum
Introduction – Rick Rashid
“Hello, Hello” – Seanan McGuire
“The Machine Starts” – Greg Bear
“Skin in the Game” – Elizabeth Bear
“Machine Learning” – Nancy Kress
“Riding With the Duke” – Jack McDevitt
“A Cop’s Eye” – Blue Delliquanti & Michele Rosenthal
“Looking for Gordo” – Robert J. Sawyer
“The Tell” – David Brin
“Another Word for World” – Ann Leckie

Looking for a good book? Future Visions is an anthology of sci-fi based on some the sci-fi-like technology currently (at the time of the writing of the stories) being developed and features some high-profile authors telling some good stories.