Futures from Nature (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: death switches, Jeremy Owens, New York, Solar System (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Hard SF fans should revel in Gee's unusual anthology of 100 speculative miniatures created by scientists, journalists and top SF authors worldwide and originally published as recent one-page features in the science journal Nature. Each vignette centers on a wondrous or devastating or simply mind-boggling what if, carried to an unsettlingly original logical conclusion—or left spinning in an extraterrestrial mental orbit. A sampling of the treasures illustrates their remarkable range: Gregory Benford's poignant A Life with a Semisent explores the human need for love; Paul McCauley's Meat tackles the nasty human trick of twisting technology to immoral purposes; Robert Sawyer faces religion with the gobsmacking Abdication of Pope Mary III; and Ian Watson lets fly with his hilarious Nadia's Nectar, one of the best bathroom tales around. All in all, this is a perfect volume to awaken startling new thoughts on old SF themes, giant leaps into the future in delectably palatable tiny packages. (Nov.)
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Review

“The stories are just the right length for those brief interludes with which life abounds. They come from a highly respectable science journal (Hey, Nature published the Watson & Crick paper that spelled out the structure of DNA and won a Nobel Prize).Therefore, QED, this SF is highly respectable too! It won’t a hurt a bit that the stories are good as well.”
—Analog

“Worthwhile for anyone. A satisfying selection…occasionally quite profound. This book does just what we hope for.”
—Locus (Rich Horton)

“Giant leaps into the future in delectably palatable tiny packages.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (November 13, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765318059
• ISBN-13: 978-0765318053
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #898,632 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The future in 950 words or less, January 24, 2008

By	Robert C. Ross (New Jersey) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The 100 "speculative fictions", each 950 words or less, come from the back page of "Nature". As a general reader with an interest but no expertize in science, I've often puzzled over why such light weight fare would be included with the heavy science that populates the journal's pages.

Seeing them collected in one place, though, answered a number of my questions. For one thing, the stories were written by a wide variety of authors: SF pros, working scientists, science writers, even a 12 year old daughter of a scientist. Many of the authors are famous -- I've read more serious tomes and articles written by many of them. All of them represent an attempt to predict the future in one way or another.

The quality is variable -- some are absolute gems, some are just the germs of what might be really good stories in a more practiced hand. There are positives: all hold at least some interest; all of them are so short that you won't waste more than a couple of minutes; many provide insight into the imagination of working scientists,and all provide models of how to write good (and not so good) Amazon Reviews.

Henry Gee the editor explains what you can expect: "We have proper stories as well as spoof newspaper reports, correspondence and book reviews. The style varies from space opera to cyberpunk. Quite a lot of the pieces are humorous: a Futures piece, at between 850 and 950 words, is the right length for a good joke. ... It gives those who have not been following the column a chance to catch up. Regular readers ... can enjoy a little nostalgia. To the first group we say, live long and prosper. To the rest of you, it is klaatu barada nikto."

The collection is great fun on the lighter side of science.

Robert C. Ross 2008

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful, January 10, 2008

By	M. Noonan (chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

These are mostly 1-2 page stories, quick reads, but thought-provoking, and it introduces (me to) a lot of authors.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for airport security lines, February 17, 2008

By	Declan Murphy (MD, US) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a great book to dip into for a few minutes at a time. The pieces are short enough to finish in a few minutes each and they (mostly) provide decent enough food for thought. It's perfect for those times when you just need to stay somewhat engaged with your surroundings (waiting around for something to happen) but risk dying of boredom or frustration if you don't do something.

Don't think I could face reading the whole thing in one shot though....