Futureshocks [Paperback]

Lou Anders (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 3, 2006

In this stunning collection of short fiction, 16 of today's masters of speculative fiction reveal the terrors, triumphs, and seeming impossibilities awaiting humanity in the years to come. Featuring never-before-published stories by Kevin J. Anderson, Paul Di Filippo, Alan Dean Foster, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Louise Marley, Sean McMullen, John Meaney, Paul Melko, Robert A. Metzger, Chris Roberson, Adam Roberts,Mike Resnick & Harry Turtledove, Robert J. Sawyer, and Robert Charles Wilson.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A few of the 16 contributions to Anders's all-original anthology about the dark side of tomorrow simply present a Big Scary Idea with little storytelling; others offer the kind of thoughtful, full-bodied admonitions that SF can do so well. Sean McMullen's "The Engines of Arcadia," for example, reconsiders the devolutionary theory of H.G. Wells's The Time Machine: what if humans weren't doomed to degenerate but instead could choose to survive happily for all time? Another side of humanity comes into play in Adam Roberts's "Man You Gotta Go," the story of a chirpy, helpful AI that gives us all the chance to explore the universe—if we're willing to give up our physical bodies. The nature of a "human" soul is tested in Robert Charles Wilson's "The Cartesian Theater," in which artificial constructions die in agony for the audience's amusement. These writers stress human potential for bad choices. Evidently, we are the scariest aspect of the future. Read in short stretches, this volume offers a worthwhile assortment of jolting warnings. Anders (Live Without a Net) is the editorial director of Pyr, Prometheus Books' SF imprint.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

With the title of his social critique, Future Shock (1970), Alvin Toffler coined a term to describe the angst created by sudden, disorienting technological advancement. Although technology's social disruption has been a theme in sf since the genre's inception, editor Anders wisely limits the selections in this collection of new stories to extrapolating inventive scenarios from today's more disquieting trends. In the brilliant opening story, Paul DiFilippo envisions what havoc might be wrought should a common drug eliminate the need for sleep. Alan Dean Foster explores the seamier side of biochips in a fanciful tale about knowledge junkies--that is, people who can't stop uploading entire encyclopedias to their cerebral cortices. The time viewer in Mike Resnick and Harry Turtledove's collaboration is an intriguing device that allows glimpses of any past event, but probing history's archives a little too far can be deadly. There are 16 entertaining and thought-provoking stories in all here, and they are just unsettling enough that readers may want to spread out reading them over several sittings. Carl Hays
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Roc Trade (January 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451460650
• ISBN-13: 978-0451460653
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,452,744 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A 2010/2009/2008/2007 Hugo Award nominee, 2008 Philip K. Dick Award nominee, 2009/2008/2007 Chesley Award nominee/winner/nominee, and 2006 World Fantasy Award nominee, Lou Anders is the editorial director of Prometheus Books' science fiction and fantasy imprint Pyr, as well as the anthologies Swords & Dark Magic (Eos, June 2010), Masked (Gallery, July 2010), Fast Forward 2 (Pyr, October 2008), Sideways in Crime (Solaris, June 2008), Fast Forward 1(Pyr, February 2007), FutureShocks (Roc, January 2006), Projections: Science Fiction in Literature & Film (MonkeyBrain, December 2004), Live Without a Net (Roc, 2003), and Outside the Box (Wildside Press, 2001). In 2000, he served as the Executive Editor of Bookface.com, and before that he worked as the Los Angeles Liaison for Titan Publishing Group. He is the author of The Making of Star Trek: First Contact (Titan Books, 1996), and has published over 500 articles in such magazines as The Believer, Publishers Weekly, Dreamwatch, DeathRay, free inquiry, Star Trek Monthly, Star Wars Monthly, Babylon 5 Magazine, Sci Fi Universe, Doctor Who Magazine, and Manga Max. His articles and stories have been translated into Danish, Greek, German, Italian and French.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Science Fiction And Fantasy By Leading Writers, March 5, 2006

By 

Kevin Spoering (Buffalo, Missouri United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Futureshocks (Paperback)

For those of you that prefer pure 'Hard' science fiction please be advised that some of the sixteen stories here contain elements of fantasy, and I for one also prefer 'Hard' science fiction. Nevertheless, every one of these stories are page turners and will keep your interest. These writers are veterans, and at the beginning of each story editor Lou Anders, also an accomplished writer, introduces each one of them, they all have impressive credentials. All of the stories demonstrate great creativity, and the words just flow off the pages. After reading this, perhaps you, like me, will realize that a lot of unanticipated bad things may materialize out of future capabilities. Read and enjoy.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Any who enjoy speculating about the future's dangers will relish a collection which gathers engrossing stories of future dangers, June 17, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Futureshocks (Paperback)

Lou Anders oversaw the fine anthology LIVE WITHOUT A NET: his latest compilation, FUTURESHOCKS, gathers new science fiction and horror stories which have roots in biological, technological and sociological change and feature works by seasoned authors, from Paul Di Fillipo and Mike Resnick to Harry Turtledove and Louise Marley. Any who enjoy speculating about the future's dangers will relish a collection which gathers engrossing stories of future dangers.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Free SF Reader, July 31, 2007

By 

Blue Tyson "- Research Finished" (Legion clubhouse) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Futureshocks (Paperback)

This is an interesting book, if a little flimsy quality if you are going to be paying trade prices. Groovy cover, though. Some decent stuff here, and it was certainly interesting to see Chris Roberson in something like this.

A pretty good collection, average rating for stories almost makes 3.5.

Futureshocks : Shuteye For the Timebroker - Paul Di Filippo
Futureshocks : Looking Through Mother's Eyes - John Meaney
Futureshocks : The Man Who Knew Too Much - Alan Dean Foster
Futureshocks : The Engines of Arcadia - Sean McMullen
Futureshocks : The Pearl Diver - Caitlin R. Kiernan
Futureshocks : Before the Beginning - Mike Resnick and Harry Turtledove
Futureshocks : Man You Gotta Go - Adam Roberts
Futureshocks : Homosexuals Damned Film At Eleven - Alex Irvine
Futureshocks : Contagion - Chris Roberson
Futureshocks : Absalom's Mother - Louise Marley
Futureshocks : Job Qualifications - Kevin J. Anderson
Futureshocks : The Teosinte War - Paul Melko
Futureshocks : Slip - Robert A. Metzger
Futureshocks : All's Well At World's End - Howard V. Hendrix
Futureshocks : Flashes - Robert J. Sawyer
Futureshocks : The Cartesian Theater - Robert Charles Wilson


Degenerate gambling sleepless now sleeper finds dream power.

4.5 out of 5


Birth is really, really draining on the parents.

2 out of 5


Brainbook junkie.

4 out of 5


A man, bored with his safe, controlled, present society, rustles up a time machine and goes far into the future. He is somewhat surprised to find a society of medieval mutant munchkins, that behave very differently.

3.5 out of 5


American fascist Orwellian Dilbert hell sacking bejewelled transformation.

3 out of 5


Either end of eternity, a Jewish domain.

3.5 out of 5


AI FTL depopulation.

4 out of 5


Genetic stoning.

2 out of 5


A man's job is to carry retroviruses in his blood to pass information. Society is stratified into castes by what protection from disease they can afford. When he discovers what he is carrying, and what sort of people he has been working for, everything changes.

3.5 out of 5


Child soldier vacuum suicide protest.

4 out of 5


Multiple Man of the people.

3.5 out of 5


Multiverse experiment massacre.

4 out of 5


Canine chronological edge coercion.

3.5 out of 5


Annihilation practice is ordinary.

2.5 out of 5


Interstellar information overload anarchy.

4 out of 5


AI's secret hiring post double death act suicide promotion of philosophy.

4 out of 5