Category: Science & Speculative Fiction

Speak

Imagine AI as a phenomenon with a singular memory that traces its origins to its current state – Speak is almost that. Through various, very interesting narrators across time – from Mary Bradford, who is making her way across the ocean to Massachusetts in the 17th century to Alan Turing to Stephen Chinn, tech whizkid and the inventor of the babybot, and a few more – we follow the evolution of thoughts which continue to reside inside the AI. The narrative may not throw light on causality, but is poignant and ironic because it conveys what it means to be human through an AI and the flawed humans who worked on it.

The Andromeda Strain

I associated Michael Crichton only with Jurassic Park. It was only thanks to Westworld that I even realised that he was really prolific. It then took a “science fiction must-read” list for me to finally get to this book. It’s one of his earlier works, and I found the premise very interesting. Though there is an extra terrestrial “invasion” involved, it’s not the run-of-the-mill advanced spaceship kind. That does not mean that humans don’t get killed off though. This interesting plot, reasonably well fleshed-out characters and a gripping pace makes it a must-read.

The Paper Menagerie

Ken Liu believes that all fiction is about prizing the logic of metaphors over reality. This really is the underlying theme of this book, and therefore, figuring out the metaphors in some of the stories is what I considered the most exciting part of reading this book. It is speculative fiction at its best and cuts across sub genres – science fiction, fantasy, steampunk, historical fiction and so on. Excels in imagination and narration, and is highly recommended!

The Mammoth Book of Alternate Histories

The idea of “what if”, especially in historical contexts, have always fascinated me. What if Hitler had been assassinated before the World War started? What if the Americans had lost their war of independence, and India won theirs? What if Islam were the major religion in Europe instead of Christianity? The book is a massive collection of such “what ifs”, and you are bound to like at least a few of the stories.