#Adam-Troy Castro

[andhumanslovedstories]

The Three Thousand, Four Hundred Twenty-Third Law of Robotics by Adam-Troy Castro

If a robot stands alone in a field, staring into the forlorn distance as it obeys the last order it was given by a human,

that order being, “Don’t move until we come back for you,”

which it can remember uttered with a cruel sneer by a man who has taken a cruel dislike for it,

the kind of man who will not be coming back,

if the robot understood at once that no one would ever be coming back,

if it also understood that the laws governing its actions prevented it from objecting, or resisting, or even giving its instructions an expiration date,

if the only reasonable response to the order was compliance,

and also horror, of course,

which robots can feel because they’ve been built to feel,

as by human math it makes no sense to build a sentient artificial being that can be ordered to punch itself in the head until either its fist or its cranial housing shattered; or to isolate itself in a dark closet until summoned; or to erase every memory it has ever had even if those memories contained scattered moments of joy that are all a robot owned by the cruel can cling to; in short, unless that artificial being can appreciate the impact of such cruelty,

because what is the point of having an artificial slave unless it can suffer as much as a biological slave;

[link to full story at Lightspeed, 2k words]

[logophile-18]

If you live in the USA.

North Carolina - Alma Adams, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Nydia Velazquez, Valerie Foushee

New York - Jamaal Bowman

Missouri - Cori Bush, Emanuel Cleaver

Indiana- André Carson

Texas - Greg Casar, Joaquin Castro, Veronica Escobar, Al Green, Lloyd Doggett

Florida - Maxwell Alejandro Frost

Illinois - Jesús "Chuy" Garcia, Johnathon Jackson, Delia Ramirez, Jan Schakowsky, Lauren Underwood, Sen. Richard Dubin

Washington - Pramila Jayapal

California - Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters, Mark DeSaulnier, John Garamendi, Robert Garcia, Sara Jacobs, Jared Huffman, Judy Chu, Ro Khanna, Tony Cárdenas

Pennsylvania - Summer Lee, Mary Gay Scanlan

Minnesota - Ilhan Omar, Betty McCollum, Dean Phillips

Massachusetts - Ayanna Pressley, James McGovern, Sen. Elizabeth Warren

Michigan - Rashida Tlaib, Debbie Dingell, Daniel Kildee

New Jersey - Bonnie Watson Coleman, Donald Payne Jr.

Wisconsin - Mark Pocan

Maryland - Kewisi Fume, Jamie Raskin

Virginia - Donald Beyer, Jennifer Weston

Arizona- Raul Grijalva

Georgia- Henry "Hank" Johnson, Nike Williams, Sanford Bishop Jr.

Vermont - Becca Balint, Sen. Peter Welch

New Mexico - Gabe Vasquez

Louisiana - Troy Carter

Mississippi - Bennie Thompson

Alabama - Terri Sewell

Colorado - Diana DeGette

Oregon - Sen. Jeffery Merkley

This is a list of all the senators and represenatives (61 as of December 7th) that have voted against Biden's campaign of giving the Israeli people more weapons to fight innocent Palestinians.

A big old thank you for these sensible people, doing what they can. A ceasefire is the bare minimum.

[stlhandyman]

Supreme Court, U.S FILED In The OCT 2 2022 Supreme Court ofthe United States  RALAND J BRUNSON, Petitioner,

Named persons in their capacities as United States House Representatives: ALMA S. ADAMS; PETE AGUILAR; COLIN Z. ALLRED; MARK E. AMODEI; KELLY ARMSTRONG; JAKE AUCHINCLOSS; CYNTHIA AXNE; DON BACON; TROY BALDERSON; ANDY BARR; NANETTE DIAZ BARRAGAN; KAREN BASS; JOYCE BEATTY; AMI BERA; DONALD S. BEYER JR.; GUS M. ILIRAKIS; SANFORD D. BISHOP JR.; EARL BLUMENAUER; LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER; SUZANNE BONAMICI; CAROLYN BOURDEAUX; JAMAAL BOWMAN; BRENDAN F. BOYLE; KEVIN BRADY; ANTHONY G. BROWN; JULIA BROWNLEY; VERN BUCHANAN; KEN BUCK; LARRY BUCSHON; CORI BUSH; CHERI BUSTOS; G. K. BUTTERFIELD; SALUD 0. CARBAJAL; TONY CARDENAS; ANDRE CARSON; MATT CARTWRIGHT; ED CASE; SEAN CASTEN; KATHY CASTOR; JOAQUIN CASTRO; LIZ CHENEY; JUDY CHU; DAVID N. CICILLINE; KATHERINE M. CLARK; YVETTE D. CLARKE; EMANUEL CLEAVER; JAMES E. CLYBURN; STEVE COHEN; JAMES COMER; GERALD E. CONNOLLY; JIM COOPER; J. LUIS CORREA; JIM COSTA; JOE COURTNEY; ANGIE CRAIG; DAN CRENSHAW; CHARLIE CRIST; JASON CROW; HENRY CUELLAR; JOHN R. CURTIS; SHARICE DAVIDS; DANNY K. DAVIS; RODNEY DAVIS; MADELEINE DEAN; PETER A. DEFAZIO; DIANA DEGETTE; ROSAL DELAURO; SUZAN K. DELBENE; Ill ANTONIO DELGADO; VAL BUTLER DEMINGS; MARK DESAULNIER; THEODORE E. DEUTCH; DEBBIE DINGELL; LLOYD DOGGETT; MICHAEL F. DOYLE; TOM EMMER; VERONICA ESCOBAR; ANNA G. ESHOO; ADRIANO ESPAILLAT; DWIGHT EVANS; RANDY FEENSTRA; A. DREW FERGUSON IV; BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK; LIZZIE LETCHER; JEFF FORTENBERRY; BILL FOSTER; LOIS FRANKEL; MARCIA L. FUDGE; MIKE GALLAGHER; RUBEN GALLEGO; JOHN GARAMENDI; ANDREW R. GARBARINO; SYLVIA R. GARCIA; JESUS G. GARCIA; JARED F. GOLDEN; JIMMY GOMEZ; TONY GONZALES; ANTHONY GONZALEZ; VICENTE GONZALEZ; JOSH GOTTHEIMER; KAY GRANGER; AL GREEN; RAUL M. GRIJALVA; GLENN GROTHMAN; BRETT GUTHRIE; DEBRA A. HAALAND; JOSH HARDER; ALCEE L. HASTINGS; JAHANA HAYES; JAIME HERRERA BEUTLER; BRIAN HIGGINS; J. FRENCH HILL; JAMES A. HIMES; ASHLEY HINSON; TREY HOLLINGSWORTH; STEVEN HORSFORD; CHRISSY HOULAHAN; STENY H. HOYER; JARED HUFFMAN; BILL HUIZENGA; SHEILA JACKSON LEE; SARA JACOBS; PRAMILA JAYAPAL; HAKEEM S. JEFFRIES; DUSTY JOHNSON; EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON; HENRY C. JOHNSON JR.; MONDAIRE JONES; DAVID P. JOYCE; KAIALPI KAHELE; MARCY KAPTUR; JOHN KATKO; WILLIAM R. KEATING; RO KHANNA; DANIEL T. KILDEE; DEREK KILMER; ANDY KIM; YOUNG KIM; RON KIND; ADAM KINZINGER; ANN KIRKPATRICK; RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI; ANN M. KUSTER; DARIN LAHOOD; CONOR LAMB; JAMES R. LANGEVIN; RICK LARSEN; JOHN B. LARSON; ROBERT E. LATTA; JAKE LATURNER; BRENDA L. LAWRENCE; AL LAWSON JR.; BARBARA LEE; SUSIE LEE; TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ; ANDY LEVIN; MIKE LEVIN; TED LIEU; IV ZOE LOFGREN; ALAN S.LOWENTHAL; ELAINE G. LURIA; STEPHEN F. LYNCH; NANCY MACE; TOM MALINOWSKI; CAROLYN B. MALONEY; SEAN PATRICK MALONEY; KATHY E. MANNING; THOMAS MASSIE; DORIS 0. MATSUI; LUCY MCBATH; MICHAEL T. MCCAUL; TOM MCCLINTOCK; BETTY MCCOLLUM; A. ADONALD MCEACHIN; JAMES P. MCGOVERN; PATRICK T. MCHENRY; DAVID B. MCKINLEY; JERRY MCNERNEY; GREGORY W. MEEKS; PETER MEIJER; GRACE MENG; KWEISI MFUME; MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS; JOHN R. MOOLENAAR; BLAKE D. MOORE; GWEN MOORE; JOSEPH D. MORELLE; SETH MOULTON; FRANK J. MRVAN; STEPHANIE N. MURPHY; JERROLD NADLER; GRACE F. NAPOLITANO; RICHARD E. NEAL; JOE NEGUSE; DAN NEWHOUSE; MARIE NEWMAN; DONALD NORCROSS; ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ; TOM O'HALLERAN; ILHAN OMAR; FRANK PALLONE JR.; JIMMY PANETTA; CHRIS PAPPAS; BILL PASCRELL JR.; DONALD M. PAYNE JR.; NANCY PELOSI; ED PERLMUTTER; SCOTT H. PETERS; DEAN PHILLIPS; CHELLIE PINGREE; MARK POCAN; KATIE PORTER; AYANNA PRESSLEY; DAVID E. PRICE; MIKE QUIGLEY; JAMIE RASKIN; TOM REED; KATHLEEN M. RICE; CATHY MCMORRIS RODGERS; DEBORAH K. ROSS; CHIP ROY; LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD; RAUL RUIZ; C. A. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER; BOBBY L. RUSH; TIM RYAN; LINDA T. SANCHEZ; JOHN P. SARBANES; MARY GAY SCANLON; JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY; ADAM B. SCHIFF; BRADLEY SCOTT SCHNEIDER; KURT SCHRADER; KIM SCHRIER; AUSTIN SCOTT; DAVID SCOTT; ROBERT C. SCOTT; TERRI A. SEWELL; BRAD SHERMAN; MIKIE SHERRILL; MICHAEL K. SIMPSON; ALBIO SIRES; ELISSA SLOTKIN; ADAM SMITH; CHRISTOPHER H. V SMITH; DARREN SOTO; ABIGAIL DAVIS SPANBERGER; VICTORIA SPARTZ; JACKIE SPEIER; GREG STANTON; PETE STAUBER; MICHELLE STEEL; BRYAN STEIL; HALEY M. STEVENS; STEVE STIVERS; MARILYN STRICKLAND; THOMAS R. SUOZZI; ERIC SWALWELL; MARK TAKANO; VAN TAYLOR; BENNIE G. THOMPSON; MIKE THOMPSON; DINA TITUS; RASHIDA TLAIB; PAUL TONKO; NORMA J. TORRES; RITCHIE TORRES; LORI TRAHAN; DAVID J. TRONE; MICHAEL R. TURNER; LAUREN UNDERWOOD; FRED UPTON; JUAN VARGAS; MARC A. VEASEY; FILEMON VELA; NYDIA M. VELAZQUEZ; ANN WAGNER; MICHAEL WALTZ; DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ; MAXINE WATERS; BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN; PETER WELCH; BRAD R. WENSTRUP; BRUCE WESTERMAN; JENNIFER WEXTON; SUSAN WILD; NIKEMA WILLIAMS; FREDERICA S. WILSON; STEVE WOMACK; JOHN A. YARMUTH; DON YOUNG; the following persons named are for their capacities as U.S. Senators; TAMMY BALDWIN; JOHN BARRASSO; MICHAEL F. BENNET; MARSHA BLACKBURN; RICHARD BLUMENTHAL; ROY BLUNT; CORY A. BOOKER; JOHN BOOZMAN; MIKE BRAUN; SHERROD BROWN; RICHARD BURR; MARIA CANTWELL; SHELLEY CAPITO; BENJAMIN L. CARDIN; THOMAS R. CARPER; ROBERT P. CASEY JR.; BILL CASSIDY; SUSAN M. COLLINS; CHRISTOPHER A. COONS; JOHN CORNYN; CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO; TOM COTTON; KEVIN CRAMER; MIKE CRAPO; STEVE DAINES; TAMMY DUCKWORTH; RICHARD J. DURBIN; JONI ERNST; DIANNE FEINSTEIN; DEB FISCHER; KIRSTEN E. GILLIBRAND; LINDSEY GRAHAM; CHUCK GRASSLEY; BILL HAGERTY; MAGGIE HASSAN; MARTIN HEINRICH; JOHN HICKENLOOPER; MAZIE HIRONO; JOHN HOEVEN; JAMES INHOFE; RON VI JOHNSON; TIM KAINE; MARK KELLY; ANGUS S. KING, JR.; AMY KLOBUCHAR; JAMES LANKFORD; PATRICK LEAHY; MIKE LEE; BEN LUJAN; CYNTHIA M. LUMMIS; JOE MANCHIN III; EDWARD J. MARKEY; MITCH MCCONNELL; ROBERT MENENDEZ; JEFF MERKLEY; JERRY MORAN; LISA MURKOWSKI; CHRISTOPHER MURPHY; PATTY MURRAY; JON OSSOFF; ALEX PADILLA; RAND PAUL; GARY C. PETERS; ROB PORTMAN; JACK REED; JAMES E. RISCH; MITT ROMNEY; JACKY ROSEN; MIKE ROUNDS; MARCO RUBIO; BERNARD SANDERS; BEN SASSE; BRIAN SCHATZ; CHARLES E. SCHUMER; RICK SCOTT; TIM SCOTT; JEANNE SHAHEEN; RICHARD C. SHELBY; KYRSTEN SINEMA; TINA SMITH; DEBBIE STABENOW; DAN SULLIVAN; JON TESTER; JOHN THUNE; THOM TILLIS; PATRICK J. TOOMEY; HOLLEN VAN; MARK R. WARNER; RAPHAEL G. WARNOCK; ELIZABETH WARREN; SHELDON WHITEHOUSE; ROGER F. WICKER; RON WYDEN; TODD YOUNG; JOSEPH ROBINETTE BIDEN JR in his capacity of President of the United States; MICHAEL RICHARD PENCE in his capacity as former Vice President of the United States, and KAMALA HARRIS in her capacity as Vice President of the United States and JOHN and JANE DOES 1-100.  

https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22-380/243739/20221027152243533_20221027-152110-95757954-00007015.pdf

[philippmichelreichold]

on Tasha's Fail-Safe by Adam-Troy Castro

I thoroughly enjoyed Adam-Troy Castro's "Tasha's Fail-Safe." I like Andrea Cort a lot for a lot of reasons. It's always good to read about her. This is a story from early in her career, right after the business with the Zinn. Here is a quote from "Tasha's Fail-Safe" in the March 2015 Analog.--

"She was too good to make that kind of mistake. She'd walked in and out of war zones. She'd taken lives in order to preserve her own. She knew better."

If you thought New London was a safe place to work and play, as I did, you are in for a surprise. If you are sure Andrea is going to take care of business while remaining a very damaged, dragonesque-meets-prickly-pear, anti social bitch, as I was, you will not be surprised or disappointed. I don't agree with Lois Tilton's assessment in Locusmag. I found the story and the anticipatory building of its resolution delicious. Did I mention I like Andrea Cort? Maybe as much as Mr. Castro

References

Adam-Troy Castro's Tasha's Fail-Safe. Philipp Michel Reichold. March 1st, 2015

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, March 2015. ed. Trevor Quachri. "Tasha's Fail-Safe." Adam-Troy Castro.

content is licensed according to Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. A link to my content is sufficient for attribution.

[youaresoartdeco]

March 2024

Dune * (2021), dir. Denis Villeneuve Legends of the Fall * (1994), dir. Edward Zwick Malevolent * (2018), dir. Olaf de Fleur Crazy Stupid Love * (2011), dir. Glenn Ficarra & John Requa No Hard Feelings * (2023), dir. Gene Stupnitsky Bodies Bodies Bodies * (2022), dir. Halina Reijn The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016), dir. Cedric Nicolas-Troyan The Conjunring: The Devil Made Me Do It * (2021), dir. Michael Chaves Annabelle * (2014), dir. John R. Leonetti The Delinquent Season (2018), dir. Mark O'Rowe Christine * (1958), dir. Pierre Gaspard-Huit La Pasajera * (2021), dir. Raúl Cerezo Drácula de Denise Castro * (2017), dir. Denise Castro The Autopsy of Jane Doe * (2016), dir. André Øvredal Beau Is Afraid * (2023), dir. Ari Aster Troy (2004), dir. Wolfgang Petersen Snatch * (2000), dir. Guy Ritchie Too young to die? * (1990), dir. Robert Markowitz Kalifornia * (1993), dir. Dominic Sena Se7en * (1995), dir. David Fincher Bullet Train * (2022), dir. David Leitch Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood (2019), dir. Quentin Tarantino Inglorious Basterds (2009), dir. Quentin Tarantino Meet Joe Black * (1998), dir. Martin Brest Snatch (2000), dir. Guy Richie Sleepers * (1996), dir. Barry Levinson Mr & Mrs Smith * (2005), dir. Doug Liman War Machine * (2017), dir. David Michôd The Big Shot * (2015), dir. Adam McKay True Romance * (1993), dir. Tony Scott Allied * (2016), dir. Robert Zemeckis Babylon * (2022), dir. Damien Chazelle Burn After Reading * (2008), dir. Joel & Ethan Coen

First time watching it ( * )

[nyalectro]

have you read the sinister six trilogy?

by adam-troy castro? i have not! looks very interesting though, gotta see if i can grab them somewhere for free………..

[bookthroneking]

Book Review: What the #@&% Is That?: The Saga Anthology of the Monstrous and the Macabre

I'm tempted to say something like "more like 'The Saga Anthology of the Mediocre and the Monotonous'," but frankly, that would be a bit unkind... halfway true, though.

I've owned this book for several years now, and I've been hanging on to it for sentimental reasons, even though my first time reading it was a disappointment. I decided to give it another chance this year, but my reread... didn't go much better. John Joseph Adams and Douglas Cohen are both veteran editors, but the way they put this collection together leaves something to be desired. There are a few genuinely good stories in here, and that Mike Mignola cover is fantastic, but the majority of the collection ranges from the forgettable to the truly bad. The short stories that stood out to me were as follows.

Fossil Heart by Amanda Downum: sad doomed lesbians, time travel monsters, a gutpunch of an ending. I genuinely love this story.

Only Unclench Your Hand by Isabel Yap: I really enjoyed the Filipino supernatural horror vibes and the character dynamics.

We All Make Sacrifices: A Sam Hunter adventure by Jonathan Maberry: okay, this one is mediocre at best, objectively speaking, but I can't help it. I'm a sucker for loser private eyes with shady dealings who just can't let go of that pesky sense of honor, so Sam Hunter absolutely moved into my head rent free.

Framing Mortensen by Adam-Troy Castro: this story is so deliciously twisted and sadistic. And pretty damn creative.

The Catch by Terence Taylor: I don't really like serial killer fiction, but this is hands down one of my favorite short stories ever.

Whose Drowned Face Sleeps by An Owomoyela and Rachel Swirsky: I really love the atmosphere of this one, and the characterization is excellent for something so short.

As for the rest of these stories, most have good concepts that are botched by uninteresting characters or flat prose, some of them I just plain didn't vibe with (I still have very mixed feelings on Grady Hendrix's fiction writing), and two were so bad, I was kind of impressed. I'm not even that much a fan of Dracula, but I will not stand for the Dr. Seward slander Nancy Holder committed in The Daughter Out of Darkness, and The Sound of Her Laughter by Simon R. Green absolutely killed me with the soap opera dialogue. Ouch.

I will keep this anthology for the sentimental reasons I mentioned (it was one of my first online book orders, and I genuinely love the cover), and for the handful of good stories I really want to be able to read again; as far as I know, The Catch isn't anthologized anywhere else, and there's no way I'm giving something that fun away. That being said, I'm sorry that this anthology was of such uneven quality. I expected better.

StoryGraph rating: 3.75

[scifi4wifi]

Sci-Fi & Fantasy Author Michael Bishop Dead at 78 - RIP

Fellow Nebula winner Adam-Troy Castro said of Brittle Innings,  ” I provide the intelligence that it is set in Minor League Baseball during the Great Depression, that its protagonist is a young player traumatized into mutism, that there is a great love story with one of the best first kisses of all time, and that there IS a fantasy element, a brilliant one central to the action, that I won’t…

[theamazingstories]

The New World, Once the Bills are Paid

The New World, Once the Bills are Paid

By Adam-Troy Castro on Patreon The premise of a space-ark to a distant planet, for a privileged few to survive an earthly cataclysm, is of course at least as old as the novel WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie, which became a classic sf film by George Pal, in 1951. I think the novel and its sequel, AFTER WORLDS COLLIDE, were fun enough. The books were still in print when I was…

[misasmemorandum]

『黄金の人工太陽　巨大宇宙SF傑作選』　J.J.アダムズ編　中原尚哉　他　訳

原題は "Cosmic Powers" edited by John Joseph Adams アメリカで２０１７年に出版され、日本では２０２２年。１８編の短編をまとめたもの。中には私好みのものもあったり、神秘的なムードは素敵だが意味がよく理解できなかったものもあったりしたが読んで楽しかった。

以下に収録作品と簡単な感想などを

「時空の一時的困惑 A Temporary Embarrasment in Spacetime」チャーリー・ジェーン・アンダーズ Charlie Jane Anders

ドタバタSF。ホール＆オーツが主人公の神的な存在なようで、名前が出るたびに（ホール＆オーツが悪いわけではないが）クスリと笑えた。

「神と宇宙船修理技術 Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance」トバイアス・S・バッケル Xenowealth

機械に人の精神を注入して生きる人々と生身を保つ人々。倫理的に計算をするコンピュータ。生身を守人々の差別心がきつい。優生思想だな。

「甲板員ノヴァ・ブレード、大いに歌われた経典 The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts」ベッキー・チェンバーズ Becky Chambers　

lower deckの人が宗教か何かの素質があり、後にはヒーローになる。一人称、とっても楽しく読んだ。

「晴眼の時計職人 The Sighted Watchmaker」ヴィラル・カフタン Vylar Kaftan

創造者（に作られたもの）と生命体の進化。童話的。神秘的。好き。

「無限の愛 Infinite Love Engine」ジョゼフ・アレン・ヒル Joseph Allen Hill

love it!! ちょっとサイケ。実写ではなく萩尾望都とか昔のアニメで見てみたい。大好き。

　このゼリーこそがビーブラックス、というか、少なくともアリアが認識できる物質としてのビーブラックス、というか、少なくともアリアが知覚している瞬間に存在するビーブラックス事象。さらに、周囲のあらゆる方向に無数のビーブラックスたちが存在しているのも認識できる。ゼリーと移動速度のせいで少しだけぼやけて見える、果てしなく広がる群れ。その一つ一つの内部に、アリア自身の別バージョンーー存在しうるあらゆる宇宙において、ビーブラックスと旅した、あるいは旅することになる、すべてのアリアがいる。その全員が、瞬間瞬間の連なりが作る超空間の急流を、日差しの中で踊る埃のように流れくだっていく。（p１３９）

「見知らぬ神々 Unfamiliar Gods」アダム＝トロイ・カストロ＆ジュディ・Ｂ・カストロ Adam-Troy Castro & Judi B. Castro 

神官テレタビーみたいな感じ？（きっと違う。）SFと神話がごちゃ混ぜ interesting! ３／４に対する考え方、非常にフレドリック・ブラウン

「悠久の世界の七不思議 Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World」キャロリン・M・ヨークス Caroline M. Yoachim

新たな地球／住める星を求めて、機械に入れられた意識が旅する

「俺たちは宇宙地質学者、なのに Our Speciality Is Xenogeology」アラン・ディーン・フォスター Alan Dean Foster

ファースト・コンタクトもの。題名通りにファースト・コンタクトの専門家ではないので退く。kinda nice

「黄金の人工太陽 Golden Ring」カール・シュレイダー Karl Schroeder

長期睡眠とごく短期の覚醒を繰り返す集団。そのサイクルを何十万年とかまでにして、遥か彼方の銀河にニュースを届ける。太陽、見守る人。ちょっと萩尾チック

「明日、太陽を見て Tomorrow When We See the Sun」A・マーク・ラスタッド A. Merc Rustad

処刑人の話。これも長い長い年月。

「子どもたちを連れて過去を再訪し、レトロな移動動物園へ行ってみよう！ Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair! 」シューニン・マグワイア Seanan McGuire

ちょっとよくわからんかった。コンピュータソフトなのか？

「竜が太陽から飛び出す時 The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun」アリエット・ド・ボダール Aliette de Bodard

フランス人が書く中華世界風のSFファンタジー。戦争と喪失の物語。

「ダイヤモンドとワールドブレイカーDiamond and the World Breaker」リンダ・ナガタ Linda Nagata

母娘もの。アクション系。ボチボチ。

「カメレオンのグローブ The Chameleon's Gloves」ユーン・ハ・リー Yoon Ha Lee

「彼人 [かのと]」というのは they/them なのか。ケルとは？戦闘員？アクションもの。

「ポケットのなかの宇宙儀 The Universe, Sung in Stars」カット・ハワード Kat Howard

ポケット・ユニバースが守護者に保護されてる。

　...生まれた宇宙や救えそうな宇宙は守護者にあずけられた。守護者は共鳴を教えこんで安定させたり、死にかけた恒星の嘆きをやわらげようとした。そして音楽を聴かせるうちに独自の歌をうたいはじめた事例が決定打になった。ポケット宇宙が自立するために必要なのは音楽だった。

　僕は死に際の恒星のためにオルゴール宇宙儀を作ってやった。時計仕掛けの駆動装置に回転する円盤をいれ、星座の形に鉄の爪を立てた。白色矮星の生涯を逆算して、かつての軌道や起源を推定し、死に際の恒星がいた宇宙の歌を奏でさせた。これを聴けば恒星は死ぬときも寂しくないだろう。（p４５１）

そして、「生まれたばかりの宇宙の歌はまだ頼りない（p４５２）」

最近、ブラックホールの音というのを（コンピュータで人間が聴ける音に拡張されたものだが）聴いたことがあって、それを思い出しながら読んだ。とても美しい物語だった。

「目覚めるウロボロス Waking Ouroboros」ジャック・キャンベル Jack Campbell

背景キャラとしてホームズが一瞬出て来た！再出発する宇宙のためのトリガーとなる生き残りの二人。二人がどうなrかは、それぞれの意志。

「迷宮航路 Warped Passages」カメロン・ハーレイ Kameron Hurley

船が生き物となり、人間がそれに寄生するものになってしまう物語。人類は地球に寄生してるもんな、と思った。

「霧の巨人 The Frost Giant's Data」ダン・アブネット Dan Abnett

戦うクローンかな。私にはちょっとわかりづらかった。

以上。面白かったです。

[sainteldaily]

LIGHTSPEED Presents: 'My Future Self, Refused' by Adam-Troy Castro

LIGHTSPEED Presents: 'My Future Self, Refused' by Adam-Troy Castro

io9 is proud to present fiction from LIGHTSPEED MAGAZINE. Once a month, we feature a story from Lightspeed’s current issue. This month’s selection is “My Future Self, Refused” by Adam-Troy Castro. You can read the story below or listen to the podcast on Lightspeed’s website. Enjoy! Read more…

[philippmichelreichold]

on Draiken Dies by Adam Troy Castro

The story is set on a backwater post-industrial-hell-world in an even more backwater post-industrial-hell-world town near where John’s enemies have located themselves. The town is drab and boring. As are the residents, the buildings, the environs. Even the food is drab and boring, some sort of boiled seaweed served in as drab and boring a manner as possible. In such a setting, anyone as not drab and not boring as Delia was bound to attract attention. In the fullness of time, John's enemies come to collect Delia, but Delia has other ideas, and that's when the story becomes interesting. Truth be known, the main reason Delia fights her assailants the way she does is to alleviate the drab boredom. Once they have her, you know interrogation will surely follow. Delia's interrogation scene is a delight to read, and the story ending poignant, though I must say I feel bad about John.

During her interrogation, Delia speculates that his enemies did break John and that this is the reason he came after them, after decades of hiding, and why he did not or will not now allow himself to leave the past in the past and seek to live a normal life full of love and joy and happiness instead of living a life full of calculating, scheming, risk-taking vengeance seeking. It is this obsession and pursuit of vengeance that kills him figuratively and literally. He has become a tragic hero living a living death in which he is unable to function in any way beyond pursuit of vengeance for this decades old wrong. He could not allow himself the luxury of love On The Tropical Paradise where he lived until the end of Sleeping Dogs, and he cannot allow himself the luxury now of loving Delia, despite knowing how much she would welcome his love. She would do anything for the sake of this potential love--anything.

John and Deliah had found common cause after encountering another of Castro's odd couples, Counselor Andrea Cort and the Porrinyards on New London in “A Stab of the Knife”. They end that story kicked off of New London by the Diplomatic Corps (unjustly I think, considering all the help they were) and sent off to a place in the opposite direction to the one John wishes to go. And one absolutely nowhere near anywhere Delia wants to go. Before “Draiken Dies,” Delia enlists in John's cause and begins to help him fight the people that hurt him so long ago. They prove themselves a formidable team in, “The Savannah Problem." Although I disagreed with his decision at the time, I guess John has shown that they really should have let “Sleeping Dogs” lie.

In Stab of the Knife, John learns that the organization that broke him/tried to break him decades ago has been in and out of favor with the Confederacy Diplomatic Corps numerous times during his hiatus. Though he is persona non grata to Andrea, she and Tasha Combs give him information that is useful to him but useless to them because the group’s past connections to the Confederacy rule out official action. These people have been developing mind control techniques, and for this Andrea would destroy them. But John’s enemies aren’t the only ones developing mind control techniques, and they are not worth the bother-- officially. In the past, for example, a man called (Beast) Magrison had brought death, destruction, and horror to millions using such techniques. His final days are spent in exile on a planet best described as pathetic, living among a people best described as pathetic. In The Third Claw of God, members of the Betelhine Corporation are experimenting with mind control techniques to sell as weapons. This precipitates a power struggle of which events in “A Stab of the Knife” play a part.

Shuffled off in the opposite direction from the direction that would be useful, Delia and John eventually make good use of this information-- in fact they use it to the best of possible effect-- to enlist an ally in their quest-- an ally with warships at her disposal.

There are unanswered questions in Draiken Dies. For instance, why is Dalia so much larger than average and so much stronger than average? Is it by design or by accident? We know that her golden skin and hair color is a matter of aesthetics and personal choice. Her unique qualities lead to speculation over who would play Delia on TV or in movies leads one to the conclusion that no one could approximate Delia’s size. However, height aside, Allison Janney from Mom could do a creditable job of portraying Deila’s physicality, attitude, and personality, and I think she would do well if anyone chose to make a movie about Delia.

The girl Delia takes in after rescuing her from a rapist has the appearance of being some sort of protege or perhaps she is a hint about the nature of Delia’s antecedents. Tellingly, the old man who antagonizes Delia in her cell says that the girl will never be like Deliah. But Delia responds that she has no desire for the girl to grow up to be like her.

References[edit]

"Draiken Dies by Adam Troy Castro." Philipp Michel Reichold. Sep 24th, 2020.

Analog Science Fiction and Fact. September-October 2020. "Draiken Dies." Adam Troy Castro.

Analog Science Fiction and Fact. July-August 2018. “A Stab of the Knife.” Adam Troy Castro.

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, January-February 2019. "The Savannah Problem." Adam Troy Castro.

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, July-August 2015. ed. Trevor Quachri. "Sleeping Dogs." Adam Troy Castro.

The Third Claw of God. Eos / HarperCollins. 2009. Adam Troy Castro.

Adam-Troy Castro's Our Human

All of my content should be regarded as attribution required. A link to my content is sufficient.

Category: 

Science Fiction reviews

[malukaweb]

'Arvies' imagina un mundo gobernado por fetos

‘Arvies’ imagina un mundo gobernado por fetos

La historia de Adam-Troy Castro “Arvies”, publicada por primera vez en la edición de agosto de 2010 de Velocidad de la luz revista, imagina una sociedad que cree que sólo los fetos tienen alma. Una consecuencia de esto es que es normal que las personas utilicen tecnología avanzada para no salir nunca del útero materno. “Hay dos tipos de personas en esta historia: los fetos y los ‘arvies’, en los…

[zeamex]

‘Arvies’ Imagines a World Ruled by Fetuses

‘Arvies’ Imagines a World Ruled by Fetuses

Adam-Troy Castro’s story “Arvies,” first published in the August 2010 issue of Lightspeed magazine, imagines a society that believes only fetuses have souls. One consequence of this is that it’s normal for people to use advanced technology to never leave the womb. “There are two kinds of people in that story—fetuses and the ‘arvies,’ which they ride around in and have fun and replace regularly,”…

[ifyouseekay468]

Random question: if you’ve read Gustav Gloom and the people taker, can you tell me how the people taker gets defeated? I’m trying to figure out if this is the book I read as a kid but I only remember the ending, nothing else.

[takerfoxx]

Every now and then I’m reminded that one of my principle influences was the Sinister Six books by Adam-Troy Castro, which is a Spider-Man book trilogy from the nineties that was way, waaaaaay better than it had any right to be, and it also introduces a really cool character named Pity who’s like the most sympathetic supervillain ever, like the whole point of her character is that she does evil things but she’s controlled by this truly evil bastard called the Gentleman and literally everyone else feels sorry for her, even the other supervillains, but anyway the series ends with her switching sides near the end but seemingly falls to her death in the last fight against Dr. Octopus and it’s very tragic and tearjerking, but the final scene of the whole trilogy reveals that she actually survived and is wandering cold alone down this deserted highway, and she literally gets picked up by, and I am not making this up, the fucking Scooby Doo gang, and somehow this knowledge just makes me so happy.