singularity Archives - Tachyon Publications

September 23, 2021

THE SINGULARITY STORYBUNDLE, curated by Lavie Tidhar, features Kameron Hurley, Nick Mamatas, Bruce Sterling, Kimberly Unger, Peter Watts, and others

Rick Klaw blog ada hoffman, beyond the rift, bruce sterling, cloud permutations, jia xia, kameron hurley, kimberly unger, lavie tidhar, meet me in the future, Nick Mamatas, ninefox gambit, nucleation, Peter Watts, robot artists & black swans, rudy rucker, singularity, spring festival, storybundle, the outside, the planetbreaker's son plus..., the ware tetralogy, yoon ha lee

THE SINGULARITY BUNDLE from the fine folks at STORYBUNDLE offers 10 extraordinary journeys into some of the fundamental questions about our place in the universe: Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee, The Outside by Ada Hoffmann, MEET ME IN THE FUTURE by Kameron Hurley, The Planetbreaker’s Son by Nick Mamatas, The Ware Tetralogy by Rudy Rucker, ROBOT ARTISTS & BLACK SWANS by Bruce Sterling, Cloud Permutations by Lavie Tidhar, NUCLEATION by Kimberly Unger, BEYOND THE RIFT by Peter Watts, and Spring Festival by Jia Xia.

Nick Mamatas suggested a bundle looking at that nebulous concept, the “singularity”, and I thought it would be fun to take a wide-ranging approach to it, encompassing the post-human, A.I., space opera and much more. We have two Cyberpunk legends: Bruce(!) Sterling(!) and Rudy(!) Rucker(!) here, whose work needs no introduction. I mean, if that doesn’t convince you, I don’t know what will. I love the variety of novels and authors in this bundle.

And what is the Singularity anyway? A silly hypothetical concept beloved by the neo-libertarian tech rich? A utopian vision? A dystopian one? Or is it a convenient shorthand for the possible convergence of human and machine that we already have?

The fun is in the asking. And I think each of the authors here grapple with some fundamental questions about human and others and our place in the universe. And, you know – they’re also terrific fun!

So without further ado, welcome to the Singularity Bundle!
Lavie Tidhar

**For StoryBundle, you decide what price you want to pay.**

A Note About The Charity

I thought this being a hard SF-ish bundle, it would be appropriate to nominate as my charity of choice the Locus Foundation. Locus Magazine was established in 1968, and became the single most important news source for the SF/F field, offering unparalleled cover, in-depth reviews and author interviews, and so much more. They have won the Hugo Award more times than I can mention. As a non-profit organization they rely on a mixture of traditional revenue and on donations. Times are hard for everyone right now, and this seems a good cause to support!
Lavie Tidhar

June 9, 2015

Win a copy of DIGITAL RAPTURE, signed by James Patrick Kelly, John Kessel, and Hannu Ranjaniemi

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized anthology, collection, digital rapture, digital rapture: the singularity anthology, Elizabeth Bear, elizabeth story, giveaway, h. g. wells, hannu rajaniemi, hannu rajaniemi: collected fiction, isaac asimov, James Patrick Kelly, John Kessel, josh beatman, lius lasahido, ray kurzweil, science fiction, SF Signal, signed books, singularity

John Kessel and James Patrick Kelley

In celebration of the recently released HANNU RAJANIEMI: COLLECTED FICTION, we, with the help of the fine folks at SF SIGNAL, are giving away a SIGNED copy of DIGITAL RAPTURE: THE SINGULARITY ANTHOLOGY. The book is signed by editors James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel as well as contributor Hannu Ranjinemi.

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.

Visit SF SIGNAL for details about the giveaway for the *SIGNED* copy of DIGITAL RAPTURE: THE SINGULARITY ANTHOLOGY.

For more info on DIGITAL RAPTURE: THE SINGULARITY ANTHOLOGY, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Josh Beatman.

For more info on HANNU RAJANIEMI: COLLECTED FICTION, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Lius Lasahido

Design by Elizabeth Story

April 10, 2015

Help wish James Patrick Kelly a happy birthday by winning a SIGNED book!

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized Ann Monn, anthology, birthday, burn, Connie Willis, digital rapture, feeling very strange, Franz Kafka, giveaway, goodreads, James Patrick Kelly, john berry, John Kessel, John Picacio, josh beatman, kafkaesque, patty nason, post-cyberpunk, rewired, science fiction, singularity, slipstream, the secret history of science fiction

In celebration of James Patrick Kelly’s birthday, we are giving away a SIGNED copy of THE SECRET HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION. The book is not just signed by Kelley but also co-editor John Kessel and contributor Connie Willis.

As both an author and editor, James Patrick Kelly has been responsible for the acclaimed books WILDLIFE, BURN, THE WRECK OF THE GODSPEED, FEELING VERY STRANGE: THE SLIPSTREAM ANTHOLOGY, REWIRED: THE POST-CYBERPUNK ANTHOLOGY, THE SECRET HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION, KAFKAESQUE: STORIES INSPIRED BY FRANZ KAFKA, and DIGITAL RAPTURE: THE SINGULARITY ANTHOLOGY. Kelly’s work garnered him two Hugos and a Nebula.

All of us at Tachyon wish the extraordinary Jim a happy birthday.

Visit GOODREADS for more details about the giveaway for the SIGNED copy of THE SECRET HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION.

“If you’re interested in reading a bunch of stories written by some of the best contemporary writers out there, you’ll like this anthology. If you also want to read some of the best science-fiction stories since the ’70s, you’ll love this anthology.”
—Tor.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

The Secret Is Out

Exploring an alternate history of science fiction, this ingenious anthology showcases eighteen brilliant authors leading the way to a new literature of the future. These award-winning stories defy trends, cross genres, and prove that great fiction cannot be categorized.

Two strangely detached astronauts orbit Earth while a third world war rages on. A primatologist’s lover suspects her of obsession with one of her simian charges. The horrors of trench warfare dovetail with the theoretical workings of black holes. A dissolving marriage and bitter custody dispute are overshadowed by the arrival of time travelers. An astonishing invention that records the sense of touch is far too dangerous for Thomas Edison to reveal.

The future is here. Read it.

“These stories are good enough to make The New Yorker’s Eustace Tilley pop his cartoon monocle.”
—io9.com

“A compelling collection…very unique and thought provoking.”
—Sacramento Book Review

Introduction by James Patrick Kelly & John Kessel
“Angouleme” by Thomas M. Disch
“The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin
“Ladies and Gentlemen, This Is Your Crisis” by Kate Wilhelm
“Descent of Man” by T.C. Boyle
“Human Moments in World War III” by Don DeLillo
“Homelanding” by Margaret Atwood
“The Nine Billion Names of God” by Carter Scholz
“Interlocking Pieces” by Molly Gloss
“Salvador” by Lucius Shepard
“Schwarzschild Radius” by Connie Willis
“Buddha Nostril Bird” by John Kessel
“The Ziggurat” by Gene Wolfe
“The Hardened Criminals” by Jonathan Lethem
“Standing Room Only” by Karen Joy Fowler
“10^16 to 1” by James Patrick Kelly
“93990” by George Saunders
“The Martian Agent, A Planetary Romance” by Michael Chabon
“Frankenstein’s Daughter” by Maureen F. McHugh
“The Wizard of West Orange” by Steven Millhauser

For more info about THE SECRET HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Ann Monn.

For more info about BURN, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Picacio.

For more info about FEELING VERY STRANGE: THE SLIPSTREAM ANTHOLOGY, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Berry.

For more info about REWIRED: THE POST-CYBERPUNK ANTHOLOGY, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Patty Nason.

For more info about KAFKAESQUE: STORIES INSPIRED BY FRANZ KAFKA, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Josh Beatman.

For more info about DIGITAL RAPTURE: THE SINGULARITY ANTHOLOGY, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Josh Beatman.

July 9, 2014

DIGITAL RAPTURE combines the best of science fiction – the thoughts, ideas, and possibilities – with excellent storytelling

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized Anastasia Klimchynskaya, blogcritics, digital rapture, James Patrick Kelly, John Kessel, josh beatman, review, science fiction, singularity

For Blogcritics, Anastasia Klimchynskaya delivers a lengthy review of Digital Rapture: The Singularity Anthology.

Digital Rapture is an anthology that does this particularly well. It deals with one of the most mind-boggling of mind-boggling scientific questions: the question of consciousness, of our humanity, of what we used to be and what we might one day become. In short, it deals with the Singularity: the possibility that through technology, artificial intelligence, biological enhancement, or a combination of them, human beings will gain greater-than-human intelligence and exceed their capacities today. After all, there was a time when we weren’t even human, before we evolved to be what we are today. Who knows what we’ll be one day?

<snip>

And Digital Rapture does a pretty damn good job with imagining the unimaginable. It’s the kind of anthology that opens your mind so far that your brain feels like it’s going to fall out. Collecting both stories and non-fiction from a number of scientists, science fiction writers, and thinkers, including luminaries Isaac Asimov, Olaf Stapledon, and Vernor Vinge, as well as Cory Doctorow, Charles Stross, and Ray Kurzweil (among many others), it speculates on the myriad possibilities of the Singularity. It delves into more issues than could be named, among them questions of individuality, human responsibility, and human identity – and does so with depth and feeling.

<snip>

Furthermore, in addition to all the intellectual depth and the exploration of ideas that many of these stories provide, there’s also quite a bit of good fun, humor, and suspense to them. Many a story kept me reading late into the night, engrossed by the mystery, adventure, or just plain wit and verve of many of the tales. With the exception of the aforementioned dense and abstract tales, the majority of the offerings in this anthology combine the best of science fiction – the thoughts, ideas, and possibilities – with excellent storytelling.

Read the rest of Klimchynskaya’s review at Blogcritics.

For more information about Digital Rapture: The Singularity Anthology, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Josh Beatman.

singularity

THE SINGULARITY STORYBUNDLE, curated by Lavie Tidhar, features Kameron Hurley, Nick Mamatas, Bruce Sterling, Kimberly Unger, Peter Watts, and others

Win a copy of DIGITAL RAPTURE, signed by James Patrick Kelly, John Kessel, and Hannu Ranjaniemi

Help wish James Patrick Kelly a happy birthday by winning a SIGNED book!

In celebration of James Patrick Kelly’s birthday, we are giving away a *SIGNED* copy of THE SECRET HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION. The book is not just signed by Kelley but also co-editor John Kessel and contributor Connie Willis.

Table of Contents

DIGITAL RAPTURE combines the best of science fiction – the thoughts, ideas, and possibilities – with excellent storytelling

In celebration of James Patrick Kelly’s birthday, we are giving away a SIGNED copy of THE SECRET HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION. The book is not just signed by Kelley but also co-editor John Kessel and contributor Connie Willis.