When the Singularity arrives and computers possess superhuman intelligence, will there be an ecstatic merging of machine and mind—or an instantaneous techno-apocalypse? This far-reaching anthology traces the path of the Singularity, an era when advances in technology will transform human reality. Who dares to peek at the event horizon?
When the Singularity arrives and computers possess superhuman intelligence, will there be an ecstatic merging of machine and mind—or an instantaneous techno-apocalypse? Will there be the enslavement of humanity or “the Rapture of the Nerds”? The post-human future is here in its wildest science-fictional imaginings and intriguing scientific speculations.
This far-reaching anthology traces the path of the Singularity, an era when advances in technology will totally transform human reality. It travels to the alien far-future of H. G. Wells (Mind at the End of Its Tether), to the almost human near-future of Ray Kurzweil (The Singularity Is Near), from Elizabeth Bear’s fusion of woman, machine, God, and shark (“The Inevitable Heat Death of the Universe”), to Isaac Asimov’s evolution of ineffable logic (“The Last Question”). As intelligence both figuratively (and possibly literally) explodes, science-fiction authors and futurists have dared to peek over the edge of the event horizon. Join them there.
“Full of compelling and controversial stories.” —Publishers Weekly “It’s the kind of anthology that opens your mind so far that your brain feels like it’s going to fall out.” —Blogcritics “There are a few things I always look for in a high-quality anthology: First, it should have a wide range of selections that yet epitomize the theme of the anthology. Second, it should be a diverse collection of author and genre. Third, it should have a well-written introduction that acts as a thesis of sorts and adds to the literature on the subject. Digital Rapture has all these things….” —Nerds in Babeland “Even those in the know will be enthralled by the visions of post-biological futures in this collection of short stories and essays. Sci-fi stalwarts James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel have assembled a definitive primer on the singularity, with contributions from top-tier scientists, futurists, and science-fiction writers.” —Cosmos “…with its mix of fact and fiction, this book rocks for those who are looking for a primer on the subject. The facts explain the thinking, the fiction tries to figure out what all that thinking could mean. The strength of the book lies in this mashing together of the theorists’ theories and content creators’ creations.” —Book View Cafe
James Patrick Kelly is the Hugo, Nebula, and Italia award–winning author of Burn, Think Like a Dinosaur, and Wildlife. He is a member of the faculty of the Stonecoast Creative Writing MFA Program at the University of Southern Maine. He has co-edited a series of anthologies with John Kessel, described by the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction as “each surveying with balance and care a potentially disputed territory within the field.” Kelly is the technology columnist for Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine and the publisher of the e-book ’zine Strangeways. John Kessel is a Nebula, Sturgeon, and Locus award winner and the author of Corrupting Dr. Nice, Good News From Outer Space, and The Pure Product. He teaches courses in science-fiction, fantasy, and fiction writing at North Carolina State University. His criticism has appeared in Foundation, the Los Angeles Times Book Review, the New York Review of Science Fiction, and Science Fiction Age.
Praise for The Secret History of Science Fiction
“These stories are good enough to make The New Yorker’s Eustace Tilley pop his cartoon monocle.”
—io9.com
“All I really want to do, at the moment, is embrace the unsuspecting editors in a massive, spine-crunching bear hug.”
—Los Angeles Times
Praise for Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology
“Oh, these stories!…. Don’t stop until all have been read.”
—Booklist, starred review
“Sixteen inspiring, mind-altering stories…and every story in the bunch is a knockout.”
—Boing Boing
Praise for Kafkaesque
“All of the works collected in Kafkaesque prove both edifying and entertaining…. A fine, intelligent, and exquisitely bizarre collection of fiction.”
—New York Journal of Books
“A delight to read…. the extremely varied and entertaining stories [Kafkaesque] contains help clarify Kafka’s literary legacy.”
—Czechposition
“…a surpassingly excellent anthology in its own right. An ideal introduction as the stories capture the strangeness, wonder, despair, and humour which Kafka’s work exemplifies.”
—SF Site
“Introduction: Digital Rapture” by James Patrick Kelly & John Kessel
“The Last Question” by Isaac Asimov
“The Flesh” by J. D. Bernal
“Day Million” by Frederik Pohl
“Thought and Action”: Chapter Six from Odd John by Olaf Stapledon
“The Coming Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-Human Era” by Vernor Vinge
“Hive Mind Man” by Rudy Rucker & Eileen Gunn
“Sunken Gardens” by Bruce Sterling
“‘The Six Epochs’: Chapter One from The Singularity Is Near”by Ray Kurzweil
“Crystal Nights” by Greg Egan
“Firewall” by David D. Levine
“The Cookie Monster” by Vernor Vinge
“Cracklegrackle” by Justina Robson
“Nightfall” by Charles Stross
“Coelacanths” by Robert Reed
“The Great Awakening” by Rudy Rucker
“True Names” by Cory Doctorow and Benjamin Rosenbaum
“The Server and the Dragon” by Hannu Rajaniemi
“The Inevitable Heat Death of the Universe” by Elizabeth Bear
Digital Rapture: The Singularity Anthology
James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel, eds.
When the Singularity arrives and computers possess superhuman intelligence, will there be an ecstatic merging of machine and mind—or an instantaneous techno-apocalypse? This far-reaching anthology traces the path of the Singularity, an era when advances in technology will transform human reality. Who dares to peek at the event horizon?
$15.95
Digital Rapture: The Singularity Anthology
by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel, eds.
ISBN: 9781616960704
Published: 2012
Available Format(s): Trade Paperback
When the Singularity arrives and computers possess superhuman intelligence, will there be an ecstatic merging of machine and mind—or an instantaneous techno-apocalypse? Will there be the enslavement of humanity or “the Rapture of the Nerds”? The post-human future is here in its wildest science-fictional imaginings and intriguing scientific speculations.
This far-reaching anthology traces the path of the Singularity, an era when advances in technology will totally transform human reality. It travels to the alien far-future of H. G. Wells (Mind at the End of Its Tether), to the almost human near-future of Ray Kurzweil (The Singularity Is Near), from Elizabeth Bear’s fusion of woman, machine, God, and shark (“The Inevitable Heat Death of the Universe”), to Isaac Asimov’s evolution of ineffable logic (“The Last Question”). As intelligence both figuratively (and possibly literally) explodes, science-fiction authors and futurists have dared to peek over the edge of the event horizon. Join them there.
“Full of compelling and controversial stories.” —Publishers Weekly “It’s the kind of anthology that opens your mind so far that your brain feels like it’s going to fall out.” —Blogcritics “There are a few things I always look for in a high-quality anthology: First, it should have a wide range of selections that yet epitomize the theme of the anthology. Second, it should be a diverse collection of author and genre. Third, it should have a well-written introduction that acts as a thesis of sorts and adds to the literature on the subject. Digital Rapture has all these things….” —Nerds in Babeland “Even those in the know will be enthralled by the visions of post-biological futures in this collection of short stories and essays. Sci-fi stalwarts James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel have assembled a definitive primer on the singularity, with contributions from top-tier scientists, futurists, and science-fiction writers.” —Cosmos “…with its mix of fact and fiction, this book rocks for those who are looking for a primer on the subject. The facts explain the thinking, the fiction tries to figure out what all that thinking could mean. The strength of the book lies in this mashing together of the theorists’ theories and content creators’ creations.” —Book View Cafe
James Patrick Kelly is the Hugo, Nebula, and Italia award–winning author of Burn, Think Like a Dinosaur, and Wildlife. He is a member of the faculty of the Stonecoast Creative Writing MFA Program at the University of Southern Maine. He has co-edited a series of anthologies with John Kessel, described by the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction as “each surveying with balance and care a potentially disputed territory within the field.” Kelly is the technology columnist for Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine and the publisher of the e-book ’zine Strangeways. John Kessel is a Nebula, Sturgeon, and Locus award winner and the author of Corrupting Dr. Nice, Good News From Outer Space, and The Pure Product. He teaches courses in science-fiction, fantasy, and fiction writing at North Carolina State University. His criticism has appeared in Foundation, the Los Angeles Times Book Review, the New York Review of Science Fiction, and Science Fiction Age.
Praise for The Secret History of Science Fiction
“These stories are good enough to make The New Yorker’s Eustace Tilley pop his cartoon monocle.”
—io9.com
“All I really want to do, at the moment, is embrace the unsuspecting editors in a massive, spine-crunching bear hug.”
—Los Angeles Times
Praise for Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology
“Oh, these stories!…. Don’t stop until all have been read.”
—Booklist, starred review
“Highlight: Lethem’s crack-smoking aliens.”
—Entertainment Weekly
Praise for Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology
“Sixteen inspiring, mind-altering stories…and every story in the bunch is a knockout.”
—Boing Boing
Praise for Kafkaesque
“All of the works collected in Kafkaesque prove both edifying and entertaining…. A fine, intelligent, and exquisitely bizarre collection of fiction.”
—New York Journal of Books
“Eclectic, mind-blowing collection.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A delight to read…. the extremely varied and entertaining stories [Kafkaesque] contains help clarify Kafka’s literary legacy.”
—Czechposition
“…a surpassingly excellent anthology in its own right. An ideal introduction as the stories capture the strangeness, wonder, despair, and humour which Kafka’s work exemplifies.”
—SF Site
“Grade: A.”
—Sci Fi Magazine
Visit the James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel websites.
“Introduction: Digital Rapture” by James Patrick Kelly & John Kessel
“The Last Question” by Isaac Asimov
“The Flesh” by J. D. Bernal
“Day Million” by Frederik Pohl
“Thought and Action”: Chapter Six from Odd John by Olaf Stapledon
“The Coming Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-Human Era” by Vernor Vinge
“Hive Mind Man” by Rudy Rucker & Eileen Gunn
“Sunken Gardens” by Bruce Sterling
“‘The Six Epochs’: Chapter One from The Singularity Is Near”by Ray Kurzweil
“Crystal Nights” by Greg Egan
“Firewall” by David D. Levine
“The Cookie Monster” by Vernor Vinge
“Cracklegrackle” by Justina Robson
“Nightfall” by Charles Stross
“Coelacanths” by Robert Reed
“The Great Awakening” by Rudy Rucker
“True Names” by Cory Doctorow and Benjamin Rosenbaum
“The Server and the Dragon” by Hannu Rajaniemi
“The Inevitable Heat Death of the Universe” by Elizabeth Bear
Other books by this author…
Kafkaesque: Stories Inspired by Franz Kafka
James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel, eds.
$15.95 Add to cartThe Secret History of Science Fiction
James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel, eds.
$16.95 Add to cartFeeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology
James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel, eds.
$14.95 Read moreRewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology
James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel, eds.
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