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The Turing Test
Winner of the Edge Hill Short Fiction Award 2009, this a collection of 14 short stories by the author of Dark Eden and The Holy Machine.
243 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
December 11, 2014
I did something different with 'The Turing Test'. The book is an anthology of sci-fi short stories, and I forced a limit of one story a day upon myself. This turned out to be a good choice because these are stories about ideas that are difficult and philosophically challenging, and devouring them all at once is a good way to muddle the complex flavors of the book.
Let me start with some negatives. The characters are often thin and underdeveloped, mere talking heads for the central idea of the story. Scenery and description feel a bit desultory. There are copy editing mistakes - not an excessive amount, but enough for me to occasionally be jolted out of the book.
All that being said, I still enjoyed 'The Turing Test' simply because of the wonderful, wonderful ideas lying at the heart of each story. Each explores the consequences of advanced technology, and how they might impact our notions of identity and humanity and reality. The least of these stories still present an interesting viewpoint, and the best - where idea and character and plot come together - left me moved in strange and not entirely comfortable ways.
Let me start with some negatives. The characters are often thin and underdeveloped, mere talking heads for the central idea of the story. Scenery and description feel a bit desultory. There are copy editing mistakes - not an excessive amount, but enough for me to occasionally be jolted out of the book.
All that being said, I still enjoyed 'The Turing Test' simply because of the wonderful, wonderful ideas lying at the heart of each story. Each explores the consequences of advanced technology, and how they might impact our notions of identity and humanity and reality. The least of these stories still present an interesting viewpoint, and the best - where idea and character and plot come together - left me moved in strange and not entirely comfortable ways.
May 14, 2018
Bleeding edge British science fiction, the world we're entering in all it's grisly glory.
June 29, 2013
A collection of 14 science fiction stories – the majority of which are well-crafted narratives full of yearning and loss, a handful of which are absolute stunners. The inter-related stories "The Perimeter" and "Piccadilly Circus" are particularly affecting, and the interrogation thriller "Karel's Prayer" is a grim delight that trades on questions of who and what is properly human, and what rights those deemed "less than human" have.
Beckett takes some standard science fiction ideas – alternate universes, robots, virtual reality – and creates a very human poetry from them.
Beckett takes some standard science fiction ideas – alternate universes, robots, virtual reality – and creates a very human poetry from them.
May 4, 2017
Originaly posted in SF Crowsnest Oct 2008.
If I ever write enough half-decent stories I’ll be sure to submit the collection to Elastic Press. The anthologies they produce look fantastic. Not only is the full-cover art excellent, but the minimal text on the cover allows you to enjoy the illustration fully. It also feels great. The cover has an almost vinyl quality that speaks of high production values. The collection contains fourteen stories that were published over the past twenty years in ‘Asimov’s’ and ‘Interzone’. The big question of course is whether the fiction lives up to the high standard of publication.
The title story opens the collection and tells of a virtual PA that is promulgating itself around the web, being very helpful to those who make use of its service and all the while learning and developing. When art dealer Jessica receives a copy of the PA she starts to wonder whether the programme has sinister motives, whether it really is becoming alive, or just doing a jolly good job of faking it. The story cleverly compares the relationship with those we have with the real people in our life and questions what it is to be alive. A thoughtful start to the collection.
‘The Warrior Half-And-Half’ takes us into the far future where the Earth is almost recognisable but new nations and empires hold sway. The eponymous warrior is seemingly immortal and has been locked away for a century for crimes against the state. Can he be trusted to serve the new emperor if he is released? The dialogue is very well written as are the thoughts and reactions of the stoic soldier sent to fetch him from incarceration. The tale mixes fantasy and science, questioning the beliefs of that future society and providing an entertaining story along the way.
Beckett has been compared to Philip K Dick and this came across to me especially in ‘The Perimeter’ that reminded me of ‘Time Out Of Joint’ mixed with a spot of ‘The Matrix’. The virtual world that Londoners inhabit is an ingenious development on the standard VR worlds seen in many other stories. Here the people and their pets may only appear in black and white and 2D unless they can afford an upgrade to 128 or 256 colours. Wandering occasionally among them are Outsiders who appear to be real flesh and blood. This is the part of the story that makes the whole concept intriguing. This poignant tale develops the concept into a brilliant and original setting.
Holiday photos are the setting for ‘Snapshots Of Apirania’, a brief but intriguing tour of a far-off society that rivals Jack Vance for detail and originality. The matter-of-fact narration contrasts brilliantly with the touching story of the natives’ way of life and came across in a surprisingly powerful way.
I had enjoyed the entire collection up until I arrived at ‘Dark Eden’. At this point I was totally immersed in one of the best short stories I have ever read. The story involves a group of astronauts on an exploratory mission that goes wrong. The characters are all well developed for such a short story and the emotional interplay, told in the fist person from two alternating viewpoints, adds extra depth to the captivating tale. It was one of those stories that leaves you breathless with wonder by the end.
As if that weren’t enough, the collection finishes with ‘The Marriage Of Sky And Sea’, which I am also going to have to classify as one of my favourite stories ever. What more justification could there be for buying this book? An emotionally stunted author travels to a far-off lost colony to write his latest best-seller for the sheltered masses of home. Similarly to ‘Snapshots Of Apirania’, the first-person account is initially quite clinical, but the intriguing colony and it’s inhabitants, the author’s gradual involvement in their way of life, and his relationship with his dictaphone make this a hugely enjoyable and touching story.
What makes this collection particularly special in my view is the recurring themes that pop up in various stories. This doesn’t make any of them repetitive or derivative, but makes them somehow familiar and give them more depth. ‘The Turing Test’ and ‘We Could Be Sisters’ feature the same character, while the concept of ‘shifters’ who travel between realities also appears in ‘Jazamine In The Green Wood’. ‘Monsters’ shares the same premise as ‘Sky And Sea’, whose character is similar to one in ‘Dark Eden’. ‘The Perimeter’ and ‘Piccadilly Circus’ also feature the same character while ‘Valour’ and ‘La Macchina’ appear to share a common background. The overall effect is one of harmony. I can only echo my opening paragraph. Elastic Press make fantastic anthologies.
If I ever write enough half-decent stories I’ll be sure to submit the collection to Elastic Press. The anthologies they produce look fantastic. Not only is the full-cover art excellent, but the minimal text on the cover allows you to enjoy the illustration fully. It also feels great. The cover has an almost vinyl quality that speaks of high production values. The collection contains fourteen stories that were published over the past twenty years in ‘Asimov’s’ and ‘Interzone’. The big question of course is whether the fiction lives up to the high standard of publication.
The title story opens the collection and tells of a virtual PA that is promulgating itself around the web, being very helpful to those who make use of its service and all the while learning and developing. When art dealer Jessica receives a copy of the PA she starts to wonder whether the programme has sinister motives, whether it really is becoming alive, or just doing a jolly good job of faking it. The story cleverly compares the relationship with those we have with the real people in our life and questions what it is to be alive. A thoughtful start to the collection.
‘The Warrior Half-And-Half’ takes us into the far future where the Earth is almost recognisable but new nations and empires hold sway. The eponymous warrior is seemingly immortal and has been locked away for a century for crimes against the state. Can he be trusted to serve the new emperor if he is released? The dialogue is very well written as are the thoughts and reactions of the stoic soldier sent to fetch him from incarceration. The tale mixes fantasy and science, questioning the beliefs of that future society and providing an entertaining story along the way.
Beckett has been compared to Philip K Dick and this came across to me especially in ‘The Perimeter’ that reminded me of ‘Time Out Of Joint’ mixed with a spot of ‘The Matrix’. The virtual world that Londoners inhabit is an ingenious development on the standard VR worlds seen in many other stories. Here the people and their pets may only appear in black and white and 2D unless they can afford an upgrade to 128 or 256 colours. Wandering occasionally among them are Outsiders who appear to be real flesh and blood. This is the part of the story that makes the whole concept intriguing. This poignant tale develops the concept into a brilliant and original setting.
Holiday photos are the setting for ‘Snapshots Of Apirania’, a brief but intriguing tour of a far-off society that rivals Jack Vance for detail and originality. The matter-of-fact narration contrasts brilliantly with the touching story of the natives’ way of life and came across in a surprisingly powerful way.
I had enjoyed the entire collection up until I arrived at ‘Dark Eden’. At this point I was totally immersed in one of the best short stories I have ever read. The story involves a group of astronauts on an exploratory mission that goes wrong. The characters are all well developed for such a short story and the emotional interplay, told in the fist person from two alternating viewpoints, adds extra depth to the captivating tale. It was one of those stories that leaves you breathless with wonder by the end.
As if that weren’t enough, the collection finishes with ‘The Marriage Of Sky And Sea’, which I am also going to have to classify as one of my favourite stories ever. What more justification could there be for buying this book? An emotionally stunted author travels to a far-off lost colony to write his latest best-seller for the sheltered masses of home. Similarly to ‘Snapshots Of Apirania’, the first-person account is initially quite clinical, but the intriguing colony and it’s inhabitants, the author’s gradual involvement in their way of life, and his relationship with his dictaphone make this a hugely enjoyable and touching story.
What makes this collection particularly special in my view is the recurring themes that pop up in various stories. This doesn’t make any of them repetitive or derivative, but makes them somehow familiar and give them more depth. ‘The Turing Test’ and ‘We Could Be Sisters’ feature the same character, while the concept of ‘shifters’ who travel between realities also appears in ‘Jazamine In The Green Wood’. ‘Monsters’ shares the same premise as ‘Sky And Sea’, whose character is similar to one in ‘Dark Eden’. ‘The Perimeter’ and ‘Piccadilly Circus’ also feature the same character while ‘Valour’ and ‘La Macchina’ appear to share a common background. The overall effect is one of harmony. I can only echo my opening paragraph. Elastic Press make fantastic anthologies.
December 30, 2018
Odlicne price, od kojih su mi:
The Turing test,The Warrior Half-Half,Jazamine in the Green Wood,Dark Eden,La Machina,Marriage of Sky and Sea odlicne, pogotovo Dark Eden na koju knjigu se odmah bacam, dok ne dodje neki prijevod, moram na eng, i Jazamine in the Green Wood je predivna. A naravno La Machinu sam citao i u prijevodu.
The Turing test,The Warrior Half-Half,Jazamine in the Green Wood,Dark Eden,La Machina,Marriage of Sky and Sea odlicne, pogotovo Dark Eden na koju knjigu se odmah bacam, dok ne dodje neki prijevod, moram na eng, i Jazamine in the Green Wood je predivna. A naravno La Machinu sam citao i u prijevodu.
August 25, 2022
A conflicted 4.
Some fascinating ideas sketched out in these short stories, filled with succinct and captivating world-building, while also managing to touch upon a whole host of ethical and moral themes and questions.
Where's the conflict in the rating?
The majority of these stories draw you in with the pitch, have you invested in the world, the topics and budding characters, just to then end. There are few satisfactory (or even definitive) endings. This may have been the point. Sadly, it is a point I'm missing, or otherwise not enamoured by.
I can see and would accept a rating of 3, but would also give little contention to a 5.
It is one I'll be thinking about for some time, I feel.
Some fascinating ideas sketched out in these short stories, filled with succinct and captivating world-building, while also managing to touch upon a whole host of ethical and moral themes and questions.
Where's the conflict in the rating?
The majority of these stories draw you in with the pitch, have you invested in the world, the topics and budding characters, just to then end. There are few satisfactory (or even definitive) endings. This may have been the point. Sadly, it is a point I'm missing, or otherwise not enamoured by.
I can see and would accept a rating of 3, but would also give little contention to a 5.
It is one I'll be thinking about for some time, I feel.
July 16, 2009
Earlier this month, the winner was announced of the Edge Hill Prize for the Short Story. The shortlist included collections by a Booker Prize-winning author, and two former Booker nominees — and this Elastic Press book of science fiction stories by Chris Beckett. A classic case of tokenism, one might think — except that Beckett won.
‘It was…a bit of surprise to the judges, none of whom knew they were science fiction fans beforehand,’ commented one of the judging panel. Well, the obvious thing to say to that is that you don’t need to consider yourself a ’science fiction fan’ to appreciate science fiction, any more than you have to be a ‘literary fiction fan’ to enjoy literary fiction (not, of course, that the two need be mutually exclusive). Readers interested in good fiction shouldn’t be surprised to find stories of interest in any given quarter — but apparently some still are.
Anyway, I don’t know the other books, but it’s not hard to see why the judges thought The Turing Test a winning book, because Beckett’s stories are superb. He’s especially good at examining human concerns against the background of a science-fictional future. The title story sums this up nicely. The ‘Turing test’ refers to a means of assessing whether an artificial intelligence is convincing enough in conversation to be indistinguishable from a human being. Our protagonist is a gallery owner named Jessica, who finds herself the recipient of a highly sophisticated ‘virtual PA’. Jessica is feeling rather insecure with life (one of her first acts is to ask the PA to change its avatar to something less attractive, and hence less threatening to her self-esteem), and the real question Beckett asks is not whether a computer could pass the Turing test, but whether a person could — perhaps Jessica’s greatest fear is that she could not.
The theme of artificial intelligence returns in ‘La Macchina’, where a man finds his ideas about robots challenged when he vists his brother in Italy. Robots are now commonplace, but they’re not supposed to talk to humans, except in superficial, rote ways — so when one tries to strike up a friendly conversation with our man, does that alone make it a ‘Rogue’ that could cause havoc, and hence needs to be destroyed? Then there’s the ‘Safe Brothel’ staffed by sinteticas made to look indistinguishable from human women– but sinteticas are more popular, so some human women pretend to be robots. What’s the protagonist to make of that? All adds up to a very different kind of robot story; the experience of reading it is distinctive.
The same could be said of many stories here; Beckett transforms SF staples with the ‘ordinary’ grounding he gives them. ‘Dark Eden’, for example, is a space opera where a small group of people travel to an exotic world — but the ups-and-downs of their relationships are not so different from ours. And ‘The Marriage of Sky and Sea’ puts yet another spin on the form with its tale of a spacefaring writer who makes a living from books about the cultures of more ‘primitive’ human colonies than his own — but his latest trip, to a Viking-style society, makes him question his attitude…
My favourite story in the book (which forms the first half of a pair) is about virtual reality, though with Beckett’s characteristic twist. ‘The Perimeter’ is set in a London where the vast majority of people are ‘consensuals’, living in a virtual world; and the more they can afford to pay, the higher their resolution. Only a few, very rich, individuals remain flesh and blood, inhabiting the ruined ‘real’ world, and able to experience the virtual reality through an implant. This story tells of how young consensual Lemmy meets the physical Clarissa Fall, and has his very sense of self challenged. But the tables are turned in ‘Piccadilly Circus’, where we meet Clarissa again a few years later, and she has to face up to her increasing irrelevance as a ‘physical’. To my mind, these stories — and ‘The Perimeter’ especially – have the best fusion of ideas and human consequences; but many of the other tales are almost as strong.
In his introduction to The Turing Test, Alastair Reynolds makes what has turned out to be a very appropriate comment: that he hopes the book will bring more attention to Chris Beckett’s fiction. He ends by saying, ‘I’m confident that you’ll finish The Turing Test wanting to turn more people on to this singularly underrated writer.’ So I’ll end by saying: yes. Yes, I do.
‘It was…a bit of surprise to the judges, none of whom knew they were science fiction fans beforehand,’ commented one of the judging panel. Well, the obvious thing to say to that is that you don’t need to consider yourself a ’science fiction fan’ to appreciate science fiction, any more than you have to be a ‘literary fiction fan’ to enjoy literary fiction (not, of course, that the two need be mutually exclusive). Readers interested in good fiction shouldn’t be surprised to find stories of interest in any given quarter — but apparently some still are.
Anyway, I don’t know the other books, but it’s not hard to see why the judges thought The Turing Test a winning book, because Beckett’s stories are superb. He’s especially good at examining human concerns against the background of a science-fictional future. The title story sums this up nicely. The ‘Turing test’ refers to a means of assessing whether an artificial intelligence is convincing enough in conversation to be indistinguishable from a human being. Our protagonist is a gallery owner named Jessica, who finds herself the recipient of a highly sophisticated ‘virtual PA’. Jessica is feeling rather insecure with life (one of her first acts is to ask the PA to change its avatar to something less attractive, and hence less threatening to her self-esteem), and the real question Beckett asks is not whether a computer could pass the Turing test, but whether a person could — perhaps Jessica’s greatest fear is that she could not.
The theme of artificial intelligence returns in ‘La Macchina’, where a man finds his ideas about robots challenged when he vists his brother in Italy. Robots are now commonplace, but they’re not supposed to talk to humans, except in superficial, rote ways — so when one tries to strike up a friendly conversation with our man, does that alone make it a ‘Rogue’ that could cause havoc, and hence needs to be destroyed? Then there’s the ‘Safe Brothel’ staffed by sinteticas made to look indistinguishable from human women– but sinteticas are more popular, so some human women pretend to be robots. What’s the protagonist to make of that? All adds up to a very different kind of robot story; the experience of reading it is distinctive.
The same could be said of many stories here; Beckett transforms SF staples with the ‘ordinary’ grounding he gives them. ‘Dark Eden’, for example, is a space opera where a small group of people travel to an exotic world — but the ups-and-downs of their relationships are not so different from ours. And ‘The Marriage of Sky and Sea’ puts yet another spin on the form with its tale of a spacefaring writer who makes a living from books about the cultures of more ‘primitive’ human colonies than his own — but his latest trip, to a Viking-style society, makes him question his attitude…
My favourite story in the book (which forms the first half of a pair) is about virtual reality, though with Beckett’s characteristic twist. ‘The Perimeter’ is set in a London where the vast majority of people are ‘consensuals’, living in a virtual world; and the more they can afford to pay, the higher their resolution. Only a few, very rich, individuals remain flesh and blood, inhabiting the ruined ‘real’ world, and able to experience the virtual reality through an implant. This story tells of how young consensual Lemmy meets the physical Clarissa Fall, and has his very sense of self challenged. But the tables are turned in ‘Piccadilly Circus’, where we meet Clarissa again a few years later, and she has to face up to her increasing irrelevance as a ‘physical’. To my mind, these stories — and ‘The Perimeter’ especially – have the best fusion of ideas and human consequences; but many of the other tales are almost as strong.
In his introduction to The Turing Test, Alastair Reynolds makes what has turned out to be a very appropriate comment: that he hopes the book will bring more attention to Chris Beckett’s fiction. He ends by saying, ‘I’m confident that you’ll finish The Turing Test wanting to turn more people on to this singularly underrated writer.’ So I’ll end by saying: yes. Yes, I do.
April 18, 2016
Winner of the 2009 Edge Hill Short Story collection prize, ahead of Ali Smith et al. 14 stories, 243 pages. Sci-Fi/Fantasy, but then so is Borges, so are Greek Myths.
The dazzlement is deadpan, the narrators are unfazed by wonders. I guess this might impress people who don't read much SF - the "science" is mere backdrop. It's a strategy that works for SF-readers too - to them, the worlds are familiar and need little explanation.
Institutionalised religions (in this book there's no other type) don't fare well, and other meaning-of-life props ("identity", "the other") are undermined too. Deceptive appearances abound. Not only do people hide their feelings and misunderstand those of others, but the first person narrators confess their dissimilation. In the main the info-dumping's not too conspicuous - in "The Perimeter" it's done by way of an adult teaching a child. In "Piccadilly Circus" the narrator's conveniently writing a history book.
It seems to me that the author respects the readers and assumes they'll be hard to surprise, so plot-twists are often fore-shadowed. For example, in "Karel's Prayer" Mr Occam and Mr (doubting) Thomas challenge Karel's beliefs (Karel Capek first coined the term 'robot'), and standard TV interrogation strategies are assumed. "We Could be Sisters" starts with "Nature is profligate. All possible worlds exist. In one of them there was once an art gallery in Red Lion Street, London WC1, and its manager was a woman called Jessica Ferne", which given the title adumbrates the plot.
The final 4 stories plus "The Perimeter" are my favourites. The final story could easily serve as a metaphor for the whole mission. A celebrity anthropologist/author travels to other planets carrying a computer shaped like an egg. The computer's more than a dictaphone, it can write to order - "add a chapter about the Aristotle Complex. What we know of the early settlers, their motives, their desire to escape from decadence ... and so on. Themes: finality, no turning back, taking risks, a complete beak with the past [...] Neo romantic style with a small twist of hard-boiled. Oh and include three poetic sharp edge sentences. Just three. Low adjective count.". At the end the writer's boat is burnt (his space-ship destroyed), and he feels as if he's put down a burden. The egg says "A good ending for the book!" and the author replies "What book you idiot?". No longer a detached observer, he "went to the rope ladder and began to lower himself, carefully avoiding looking down."
At times there are apparent lapses that an editor could have ironed out
* On p.75 there's "It's a windy night" then 3 lines later "she was winding him up"
* p.99 has Mr Gruber going to a "grubby kitchen"
* In a story about Classia Fall, the narrator's writing a book entitled "The Decline and Fall of Reality"
* The language is pared down, but even so there are choppable words - e.g. in "We could be sisters" there's "its manager was a woman called Jessica Ferne" - why is 'a woman called' needed? Perhaps to indicate that Jessica wasn't a robot?
The dazzlement is deadpan, the narrators are unfazed by wonders. I guess this might impress people who don't read much SF - the "science" is mere backdrop. It's a strategy that works for SF-readers too - to them, the worlds are familiar and need little explanation.
Institutionalised religions (in this book there's no other type) don't fare well, and other meaning-of-life props ("identity", "the other") are undermined too. Deceptive appearances abound. Not only do people hide their feelings and misunderstand those of others, but the first person narrators confess their dissimilation. In the main the info-dumping's not too conspicuous - in "The Perimeter" it's done by way of an adult teaching a child. In "Piccadilly Circus" the narrator's conveniently writing a history book.
It seems to me that the author respects the readers and assumes they'll be hard to surprise, so plot-twists are often fore-shadowed. For example, in "Karel's Prayer" Mr Occam and Mr (doubting) Thomas challenge Karel's beliefs (Karel Capek first coined the term 'robot'), and standard TV interrogation strategies are assumed. "We Could be Sisters" starts with "Nature is profligate. All possible worlds exist. In one of them there was once an art gallery in Red Lion Street, London WC1, and its manager was a woman called Jessica Ferne", which given the title adumbrates the plot.
The final 4 stories plus "The Perimeter" are my favourites. The final story could easily serve as a metaphor for the whole mission. A celebrity anthropologist/author travels to other planets carrying a computer shaped like an egg. The computer's more than a dictaphone, it can write to order - "add a chapter about the Aristotle Complex. What we know of the early settlers, their motives, their desire to escape from decadence ... and so on. Themes: finality, no turning back, taking risks, a complete beak with the past [...] Neo romantic style with a small twist of hard-boiled. Oh and include three poetic sharp edge sentences. Just three. Low adjective count.". At the end the writer's boat is burnt (his space-ship destroyed), and he feels as if he's put down a burden. The egg says "A good ending for the book!" and the author replies "What book you idiot?". No longer a detached observer, he "went to the rope ladder and began to lower himself, carefully avoiding looking down."
At times there are apparent lapses that an editor could have ironed out
* On p.75 there's "It's a windy night" then 3 lines later "she was winding him up"
* p.99 has Mr Gruber going to a "grubby kitchen"
* In a story about Classia Fall, the narrator's writing a book entitled "The Decline and Fall of Reality"
* The language is pared down, but even so there are choppable words - e.g. in "We could be sisters" there's "its manager was a woman called Jessica Ferne" - why is 'a woman called' needed? Perhaps to indicate that Jessica wasn't a robot?
September 17, 2010
The cover is what initially drew me to this book, and the title also interested me (as a software developer, how could it be any other way!). Who cares about not judging a book by its cover, it inspired me so I bought it. I didn't realise it was actually a collection of short stories, and I wasn't familiar either with Chris Beckett (the introduction by Alistair Reynolds might kind of explain why!). What a pleasant surprise, the stories are just fantastic. They use SF as a way of exploring inherently human concepts like identity, life, art, soul, with characters that are profoundly human (except when they're not... or are they, really?) and endearing. The stories suck you right in. Many of the worlds keep vividly haunting my mind long after I moved on to the next story (and the next book!). Some of the stories overlap, either set in the same world at different times or having you meet similar characters or concepts again. It's awesome. I loved it. I had a bit of trouble understanding the first story... But do not let this stop you, keep reading!
March 29, 2021
Hmm . Half and half.
I liked the premises of the stories, but to my mind they didn’t explore aspects of humanity, artificial intelligence, etc as blurbed. They did set out some interesting scenarios and characters with which one might profitably explore those themes, but did not go so far as to make those promised explorations.
I got fed up and didn’t finish, but of the stories I did read, each one could have been the start of a brilliant novel. But as soon as they got started, they ended, and so I was disappointed several times in a row and eventually couldn’t take any more.
I liked the premises of the stories, but to my mind they didn’t explore aspects of humanity, artificial intelligence, etc as blurbed. They did set out some interesting scenarios and characters with which one might profitably explore those themes, but did not go so far as to make those promised explorations.
I got fed up and didn’t finish, but of the stories I did read, each one could have been the start of a brilliant novel. But as soon as they got started, they ended, and so I was disappointed several times in a row and eventually couldn’t take any more.
April 11, 2014
Irregular colección de relatos.
April 6, 2025
Even though I’m not a fan of the short story format, I figured a few short stories here and there would serve as a good “palate cleanser” between weightier novels. Some of the stories hit around the three-star mark, pleasant but imminently forgettable, a few like Karel’s Prayer are five-star gems that demonstrate that a short story can have a complete and satisfying arc without a lot of page count. Overall I’d say the collection warrants four stars. I’ll discuss a few of my favorites here (reasonably spoiler free).
The first bit of serendipity was discovering that the short story Dark Eden is actually a prelude to the Dark Eden trilogy that I recently read. I wish this prelude had been included at the start of the first book of the trilogy because it explains so much. But I understand that was probably not possible because this collection is with a different publisher.
The next engaging story should serve as a prelude for a fleshed out novel: The Gates of Troy. The son of a trillionaire is gifted a time travel device for his birthday and he and his buddy venture off to visit Troy as the Trojan Horse is passed through the gates. This premise could make for a whole series of adventures and misadventures! What if one of the trillionaire’s competitors tries to use the technology to thwart his present day power but the son comes to the rescue? What if true love is found in the past? Lots of permutations possible. As a one-off shorty this is a just a tasty appetizer.
Lastly, the two companion stories, The Perimeter, and Piccadilly Circus, make up some the most captivating cyber-realism I’ve ever read. There’s nothing quite like it that I know of, where there are very few actual physical people left in the developed world (an interesting backstory behind that) and everybody seems to be part of a vast communal virtual reality superimposed over the remnants of the decaying physical world. In this cyberscape, Beckett has Dickens-like street urchins who don’t go to school and spend their days idly exploring the ghostly remains of London. There is a caste-like economic structure wherein the wealthiest citizens are rendered in ultra-high resolution, middling level citizens are in medium resolution, poor folk are not only in low resolution but also in black and white, and the lowliest destitute are either blind or deformed smudges who howl out in anguish from the sidelines. The Perimeter is told mainly from the perspective of a cyber person, while Piccadilly Circus is told mainly from the perspective of an old physical human being on her last legs. What a concept! Very interesting how they interact.
Plenty to recommend here beyond just the few I’ve profiled, and for fans of the Dark Eden trilogy this is a must-have book.
The first bit of serendipity was discovering that the short story Dark Eden is actually a prelude to the Dark Eden trilogy that I recently read. I wish this prelude had been included at the start of the first book of the trilogy because it explains so much. But I understand that was probably not possible because this collection is with a different publisher.
The next engaging story should serve as a prelude for a fleshed out novel: The Gates of Troy. The son of a trillionaire is gifted a time travel device for his birthday and he and his buddy venture off to visit Troy as the Trojan Horse is passed through the gates. This premise could make for a whole series of adventures and misadventures! What if one of the trillionaire’s competitors tries to use the technology to thwart his present day power but the son comes to the rescue? What if true love is found in the past? Lots of permutations possible. As a one-off shorty this is a just a tasty appetizer.
Lastly, the two companion stories, The Perimeter, and Piccadilly Circus, make up some the most captivating cyber-realism I’ve ever read. There’s nothing quite like it that I know of, where there are very few actual physical people left in the developed world (an interesting backstory behind that) and everybody seems to be part of a vast communal virtual reality superimposed over the remnants of the decaying physical world. In this cyberscape, Beckett has Dickens-like street urchins who don’t go to school and spend their days idly exploring the ghostly remains of London. There is a caste-like economic structure wherein the wealthiest citizens are rendered in ultra-high resolution, middling level citizens are in medium resolution, poor folk are not only in low resolution but also in black and white, and the lowliest destitute are either blind or deformed smudges who howl out in anguish from the sidelines. The Perimeter is told mainly from the perspective of a cyber person, while Piccadilly Circus is told mainly from the perspective of an old physical human being on her last legs. What a concept! Very interesting how they interact.
Plenty to recommend here beyond just the few I’ve profiled, and for fans of the Dark Eden trilogy this is a must-have book.
January 12, 2021
3 overall but a few stories deserved 5 stars.
One of the stories developed into/originated from the trilogy ('Dark Eden') which I enjoyed.
For me the most powerful stories in this collection were: linked stories 'The Perimeter' and 'Piccadilly Circus' and 'Karel's Prayer'. The 'consensual' reality the world turned into was the more shocking the less real the physical reality became. The reality as we know it was shed by humanity (but for a few remaining in their physical form who called themselves 'The Last Real People") in favour of a bright virtual world.
'I had never known how to speak to these people, so manifestly unreal and yet so obviously alive. I both despised and envied them'
Thought-provoking and quite a terrifying vision of the future.
One of the stories developed into/originated from the trilogy ('Dark Eden') which I enjoyed.
For me the most powerful stories in this collection were: linked stories 'The Perimeter' and 'Piccadilly Circus' and 'Karel's Prayer'. The 'consensual' reality the world turned into was the more shocking the less real the physical reality became. The reality as we know it was shed by humanity (but for a few remaining in their physical form who called themselves 'The Last Real People") in favour of a bright virtual world.
'I had never known how to speak to these people, so manifestly unreal and yet so obviously alive. I both despised and envied them'
Thought-provoking and quite a terrifying vision of the future.
March 1, 2018
This selection of short stories is thought provoking and clever. There are occasional ones set in the same world which really adds to the effect, and the issues explored are interesting to see through the lens of sci-fi.
If I have a complaint it is that I was expecting too much. When stories are in the same universe, I felt like they added to one another to create a deeper picture. But this was fleetingly used and I was left wanting more. Like the Dark Eden story here, which is explored in a full book, I wanted that for the other worlds. If the stories were all in one universe this would have happened. But it instead feels like drafts of the full thing.
If I have a complaint it is that I was expecting too much. When stories are in the same universe, I felt like they added to one another to create a deeper picture. But this was fleetingly used and I was left wanting more. Like the Dark Eden story here, which is explored in a full book, I wanted that for the other worlds. If the stories were all in one universe this would have happened. But it instead feels like drafts of the full thing.
October 12, 2021
A very enjoyable book full of interesting ideas. Like all the best science fiction, despite the incredible settings - futuristic or extraterrestrial - these stories are about people and what it is to be human.
I really liked dipping a toe into each of the worlds created by the author but did get frustrated as each time I became immersed in a story it would all too quickly come to an end - although that's more a failing of the genre rather than these examples.
I really liked dipping a toe into each of the worlds created by the author but did get frustrated as each time I became immersed in a story it would all too quickly come to an end - although that's more a failing of the genre rather than these examples.
February 25, 2018
Some interesting points are made and, while being aware of the nature of small story collections, there is not much beyond the surface. Most points made have been made before and, maybe it is the style of writing, but I could not get into many of them beyond the surface level they explored.
A perceptive start, though, but it did not tempt me to read the author's other work.
A perceptive start, though, but it did not tempt me to read the author's other work.
July 17, 2020
Chris Beckett's name has been on my periphery for years. I've constantly eyed up work like 'Dark Eden' when scouring bookshops and based on the serial-based short stories in this collection I reckon it's time to rectify all of this...
August 5, 2020
Excellent
When Chris Beckett opens his mouth, new worlds come tumbling out. He puts paper to pen and new realities spring in to being.
This is a highly entertaining and thought provoking collection of short stories that left me wanting more!!
When Chris Beckett opens his mouth, new worlds come tumbling out. He puts paper to pen and new realities spring in to being.
This is a highly entertaining and thought provoking collection of short stories that left me wanting more!!
December 22, 2024
sul book depository questo libro - fantascienza, circa - era presentato come un fenomeno letterario, assimilabile ai libri di dick. non ho contato quanti racconti sono riuscita a tollerare, dei quattordici: ma credo meno della metà.
June 4, 2017
Good collection of short stories, full of great ideas. Includes a precursor to the Eden series. Slightly frustrating as you want to know more on quite a lot them and feel a bit cut short.
December 29, 2018
I really liked the last three stories: la machina, karel's prayer, and marriage of sky and sea. The perimeter and piccadilly circus were good as well. The others were just ok for me.
November 18, 2019
Thought provoking.
Entertaining, thought provoking, ethics and morals nicely wrapped in skilful plots and narratives. I always have time for Chris Beckett's work.
Entertaining, thought provoking, ethics and morals nicely wrapped in skilful plots and narratives. I always have time for Chris Beckett's work.
December 11, 2019
Not for me. Some interesting ideas were explored, but only briefly. Rather than leaving me wanting more it left me wondering why I'd bothered.
May 17, 2020
Very good - short stories
July 5, 2020
Short stories - some linked. Not all of them best to be reading at the beginning of lockdown during a pandemic. Some mildly amusing bits in some but not something to recommend the author.
March 2, 2020
This collection contains 14 stories of a talented british author. A trademark are the characters. Most of them realize that their own life is shallow and that something is missing but whenever they think they are on the right track they actually end up in another dead end. For a short time they can escape their feeling of being lost and these are the moments that Chris Beckett has captured, knowing that around the corner the next disappointment is waiting.
My highlights are
- The Marriage of Sky and Sea: a space traveller who writes books about his journeys has to face a decision that turns his life upside down
- The Turing Test and We Could be Sisters, a mix of virtual reality, dark lookout into the future and a woman trying to fill a void in her life
- The Perimeter and Piccadilly Circus, describing a world in which most people live a virtual life. Only few have remained in the physical world and face a conflict of what it means to be alive and what is real. After Matrix the idea might look old but the author looks at it from a new angle.
Good are:
- Jazamine in the Green Wood: men have been hit by an epidemic and the women, now in a leading role, try everything to keep their number small. This story could have needed more pages but it's interesting and features torn characters.
- La Macchina deals with artificial intelligence in a society that condemns it. This one hit a spot and I liked it a lot although the end came too early.
- Valour, a story about how an alien philosophy could change our thinking, however, at the end it goes nowhere and forgets to make a point.
Going nowhere, this would be my biggest criticism about almost all stories. The ideas are there and the characters are interesting, however, only in the highlights mentioned above something stuck with me and became more than just a forgettable snapshot.
The other stories I didn't enjoy much.
Overall 5 very good stories, 3 good ones and 6 rather boring although other readers might like them. It's not the new big hit that I wished for but I can recommend it to all who enjoy character driven stories that might end without a happy-end.
My highlights are
- The Marriage of Sky and Sea: a space traveller who writes books about his journeys has to face a decision that turns his life upside down
- The Turing Test and We Could be Sisters, a mix of virtual reality, dark lookout into the future and a woman trying to fill a void in her life
- The Perimeter and Piccadilly Circus, describing a world in which most people live a virtual life. Only few have remained in the physical world and face a conflict of what it means to be alive and what is real. After Matrix the idea might look old but the author looks at it from a new angle.
Good are:
- Jazamine in the Green Wood: men have been hit by an epidemic and the women, now in a leading role, try everything to keep their number small. This story could have needed more pages but it's interesting and features torn characters.
- La Macchina deals with artificial intelligence in a society that condemns it. This one hit a spot and I liked it a lot although the end came too early.
- Valour, a story about how an alien philosophy could change our thinking, however, at the end it goes nowhere and forgets to make a point.
Going nowhere, this would be my biggest criticism about almost all stories. The ideas are there and the characters are interesting, however, only in the highlights mentioned above something stuck with me and became more than just a forgettable snapshot.
The other stories I didn't enjoy much.
Overall 5 very good stories, 3 good ones and 6 rather boring although other readers might like them. It's not the new big hit that I wished for but I can recommend it to all who enjoy character driven stories that might end without a happy-end.
September 19, 2009
The content of the best of the stories in this collection has stayed with me since I read them a couple of weeks ago. In "Dark Eden", an incompatible couple find themselves stranded on a sun-less planet and are forced to consider their own insignificance - and that of humanity - in the context of a vast universe. In "Karel's Prayer", Beckett plays with the idea of "field induced copies" (created from "the precise imprint of [the:] body on the suface of space time"), and whether the copy, who has no rights, has any responsibilities to the original. And in "The Marriage of Sea and Sky" an arrogant author, part anthropologist and part travel writer, sets down on a new planet which he intends to exploit for further fame. In his quest for new material and his desire to make all he encounters fit his theories, he grossly misreads a social situation and finds himself forced to go native...
I saw a positive review of Chris Beckett's collection in one of the broadsheet weekend sections and ordered myself a copy with high expectations, which have on the whole been met. The collection includes a few loosely linked stories set in future Londons with recurring characters, interspersed with standalone works, and fuse the sociological/psychological though-experiment elements of what is sometimes referred to as "speculative fiction" with the harder, cyber elements of specific techologies of the future. Most are generally well-executed, but I had the feeling that a more literary-minded editor might have polished them into truely five star works of fiction. The collection is also slightly let down by some poor proof-reading. But I have no doubt that I will be re-reading it, and will seek out more of Beckett's work.
I saw a positive review of Chris Beckett's collection in one of the broadsheet weekend sections and ordered myself a copy with high expectations, which have on the whole been met. The collection includes a few loosely linked stories set in future Londons with recurring characters, interspersed with standalone works, and fuse the sociological/psychological though-experiment elements of what is sometimes referred to as "speculative fiction" with the harder, cyber elements of specific techologies of the future. Most are generally well-executed, but I had the feeling that a more literary-minded editor might have polished them into truely five star works of fiction. The collection is also slightly let down by some poor proof-reading. But I have no doubt that I will be re-reading it, and will seek out more of Beckett's work.
August 5, 2015
An accomplished and highly readable collection of short fiction, all of which can easily be enjoyed as stand-alone stories, although four of them make two inter-linked pairs, and one forms a prelude to Beckett's excellent 2012 novel Dark Eden. Written in straightforward, no-frills prose, most rely less on narrative trickery than on thought-provoking extrapolations of technological and social developments that are not a million miles away from our own world and time (except when they are!) and which clearly reveal the author's background in psychology and social work. As well as "Dark Eden", I particularly enjoyed "Karel's Prayer" and "Monsters". The Kindle edition was very good value, and I'll not hesitate to read more of Beckett's fiction in future.
January 29, 2010
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1385963.html
it is very good; I like Beckett's writing for the same reason I like Brian Aldiss, that very English way of looking askance at the world as it is and as it could be. Particular gems here include the fading provincial horrors of 'Monsters', 'Karel's Prayer' which is a Philip K. Dick piece for our times, and 'The Marriage of Sky and Sea' whose unpleasant protagonist gets exactly what he asks for. There's also a flattering introduction by Alastair Reynolds. Well worth hunting down.
it is very good; I like Beckett's writing for the same reason I like Brian Aldiss, that very English way of looking askance at the world as it is and as it could be. Particular gems here include the fading provincial horrors of 'Monsters', 'Karel's Prayer' which is a Philip K. Dick piece for our times, and 'The Marriage of Sky and Sea' whose unpleasant protagonist gets exactly what he asks for. There's also a flattering introduction by Alastair Reynolds. Well worth hunting down.
December 28, 2015
Despite some editing errors (which can actually ruin a book for me if there are too many) this is one of the best short story collections I've read in a while. It took a story or two to get used to the abrupt endings (which is how I write, but I'm not used to seeing other writers use that method very often) but I loved the interconnectedness between some of them. Almost all of them made me put the book down and think for a while before going on to the next, and one of them—Valour—made me feel disappointed that it ended. I could have read a whole novel set in that world, with those characters.
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