Raise Your Hand If You Are Alive

I work as a software engineer, so maybe this story has more meaning for me than it will for you. However, if you have ever created something, and poured your heart and soul into it, then you will certainly be able to identify with "The Lifecycle of Software Objects". The same goes for people who spend a lot of time living and playing in online virtual worlds. (In fact, reading this story so intrigued me that I signed up for a free Second Life account just to enrich my reading experience!) Hmm… perhaps this story will appeal to more people than I thought. Let’s just say that it will probably be enjoyed by the following types of people: engineers, geeks, MMORPG players, parents, kids, people with hobbies – oh all right, just about everybody!

Non-spoiler Summary in a Nutshell

Ana has been offered a new job – one which she will probably enjoy given her zookeeper background. But this job has nothing to do with animals, instead it is helping a software company create lovable artificial intelligences called Digients. She and her co-worker Derek invest a lot of time creating and teaching the Digients, so they are both heart-broken when the company eventually folds. The two of them, along with a handful of customers, spend the next several years raising, teaching, training and learning about their Digients. Oh sure, there are plenty of rewards – like seeing the Digients get involved with online dance coreography, but there are a lot of rough patches too. It finally comes down to the question of whether the Digient owners will be able to move their creations along with the blistering pace of technology, and what happens if they can’t.

My Two Cents…

• The characters in "The Lifecycle of Software Objects" are great! Ana, Derek, the Digients, all the people that work at the various companies – very believable. Excellent work!
• The Digients were very cool. Although this is not a completely unique idea in science fiction, I did like seeing how things changed over time for the artificial intelligences and how they dealt with it.
• This is not an “action packed” or “exciting” story – it is a long term look at how AI evolves and the effects it has on other areas of life. If you enjoy that kind of stuff then you’ll love this story, but if you are more of a “shoot-em-up” kind of person then you may not like this story so much.
• I enjoyed how the story also followed the lives of the human owners of the Digients – it really showed how humans can be affected by artificial intelligences.
• This story is really freakin’ long! In fact, it reads more like a short novel than a story. No problem, it is divided into chapters so take your time and savor it – I read it over the course of a week and really enjoyed not being rushed.

Interesting Tidbits:

• Page Count: 65
• Word Count: 30,838
• Be sure to check out Boing Boing’s interview with Ted Chiang, in which he talks a little bit about writing "The Lifecycle of Software Objects".
• Special thanks to SF Signal for pointing out where to get this great story for free!

Where You Can Find The Lifecycle of Software Objects:

• This story was first published as a limited edition book in July 2010 by Subterranean Press.
• You can read "The Lifecycle of Software Objects" online for free in Subterranean’s Fall 2010 online issue.

Craving More Science Fiction Short Stories?

If you liked "The Lifecycle of Software Objects" then you might also enjoy these 4 stories – which are all about intelligent robots who want more from life:

• Helen O’Loy by Lester del Rey
• Article of Faith by Mike Resnick
• Galatea’s Stepchildren by Sam S. Kepfield
• Eros, Philia, Agape by Rachel Swirsky

Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell:

Air is the source of life – at least that’s what has long been believed by the air-driven mechanical beings in this story. Yet when reports of several fast clocks are spread, one being decides to use the opportunity to construct some devices that will allow him to dissect his own brain. Yikes! As he begins to learn what it is that really makes him tick (Ha! Pun intended!) he makes a startling and sad discovery not only about his own anatomy but also the universe in which he lives.

Assembling all of this equipment took months, but I could not afford to be anything less than meticulous. Once the preparations were complete, I was able to place each of my hands on a nest of knobs and levers and control a pair of manipulators situated behind my head, and use the periscope to see what they worked on. I would then be able to dissect my own brain.

My Two Cents:

• The good:

• Like all Ted Chiang stories I have read this one is extremely well written. It doesn’t feel like it was rushed, or slapped together hap hazardously. Every word feels like it belongs and was carefully labored over. Very well done indeed.
• It was really fun discovering how the beings functioned and how their society worked. That kept my interest high.

• The bad:

• While I certainly enjoyed “Exhalation”, I do realize that it may not be for everyone. It is not an action oriented story, and it has long sections explaining the details of scientific instruments. If this sounds like something you won’t like then maybe you should skip it.

Fact Sheet:
• Page Count: 15
• Word Count: 6,510
• “Exhalation” garnered the following awards:

• It was nominated for the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Short Story.
• It was also nominated for the 2009 British Science Fiction Association Awards, Short Fiction category.

Where you can find “Exhalation”:

• This story first appeared in the 2008 short story collection entitled Eclipse 2: New Science Fiction and Fantasy.
• You can download a free copy of “Exhalation” from the Night Shade Books web site.

Some Interesting Links:

• Did you know that Ted Chiang almost gave up on writing SF – that is until he attended the Clarion workshop. Lucky for us! Learn more about this science fiction author by reading Fantastic Metropolis’s 2003 interview with Ted Chiang.
• If you enjoyed this story be sure to check out Ted Chiang’s excellent short story collection Stories of Your Life and Others.

Craving More Stories?
If you enjoyed this story then you might also like Tower of Babylon, about the journey of a young miner who ascends the great tower of Babylon to help break through the vault of heaven, also by Ted Chiang.

Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell:

Hillalum has worked his whole life as a copper miner in the town of Elam, so he is filled with wonder and awe as his caravan approaches and begins ascending the fabled tower of Babylon. The thin line leading up to heaven is quite a sight to behold from the ground, but even more amazing is what he witnesses as he spends the next four months climbing to the top: entire villages of people who have never been to the ground, thousands of workers who are more concerned about dropping a tool than falling, vegetables that grow above the sun and structural damage from an ancient shooting star! But when he reaches the top and feels the last barrier to heaven little does he know that what lies beyond is even more amazing that what he has already seen!

Hillalum and Nanni looked down. At the base of the immense pillar, tiny Babylon was in shadow. Then the darkness climbed the tower, like a canopy unfurling upward. It moved slowly enough that Hillalum felt he could count the moments passing, but then it grew faster as it approached, until it raced past them faster than he could blink, and they were in twilight.

Hillalum rolled over and looked up, in time to see darkness rapidly ascend the rest of the tower. Gradually, the sky grew dimmer as the sun sank beneath the edge of the world, far away.

“Quite a sight, is it not?” said Kudda.

My Two Cents:

• The good:

• The journey that Hillalum makes up the tower is totally amazing and fun to read about. I enjoyed each stage of travel, and the interesting people on the ramp. This is one of those stories that makes you wish something like this really existed – how cool would that be!
• I got a kick out of the old world view of the heavens with the moon, sun and stars occupying different spheres in the sky. It kind of surprised me, but I once I got used to it I really liked it.
• The fantastic engineering feats that brought about the tower are reminiscent of other great “world-building” science fiction stories – Larry Niven’s Ringworld comes to mind.

• The bad:

• The ending, while good, was not as cool as the rest of the story. With such an amazing tale of the journey up the tower, I was really expecting a mind blowing ending – but, alas, it was not so. Make sure to stop and smell the roses along the way!
• “Tower of Babylon” really isn’t a science fiction story, but I decided to include it here because it won the prestigious Nebula Award so I figured it was ok!

Fact Sheet:
• Page Count: 31
• “Tower of Babylon” garnered the following awards:

• It was awarded the 1991 Nebula Award for Best Novelette.
• It was nominated for the 1991 Hugo Award for Best Novelette.
• It placed 2nd in the 1991 Science Fiction Chronicle Reader Awards and 4th in the 1991 Locus Awards.

Where you can find “Tower of Babylon”:

• This novelette first appeared in the November 1990 issue of Omni.
• “Tower of Babylon” is included in Ted Chiang’s excellent collection Stories of Your Life and Others.
• I was able to read the entire story online for free at the Google Book Preview for Stories of Your Life and Others.

Some Interesting Links:

• Did you know that this was the first story Ted Chiang ever published? And it won the freakin’ Nebula award! How amazing is that? You can learn more about Ted Chiang at Wikipedia.

Craving More Stories?
If you enjoyed this story then you might also like The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate, about a fabric merchant in ancient Baghdad who discovers a time portal, also by Ted Chiang.

Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell:

What if there was device that could predict the future? Even if it was just a little toy that could only predict one second in the future, what kind of consequences would that device have on humankind? How might people react to it? Would it affect their mental health? Hmm… maybe it would bring legions of people to their knees – both mentally and physically. This story delves into those fascinating “what-if’s” as we are treated to a letter from someone who has been there and done that.

By now you’ve probably seen a Predictor; millions of them have been sold by the time you’re reading this. For those who haven’t seen one, it’s a small device, like a remote for opening your car door. Its only features are a button and a big green LED. The light flashes if you press the button. Specifically, the light flashes one second before you press the button.

My Two Cents:

• The good:

• Like all Ted Chiang stories, this one makes you think – you know, really stretch your mind. That is one of my favorite things about reading SF!
• The idea of a Predictor was cool. It reminded me of when I was little and would always try to figure out those metal ring and wooden block puzzles. Ah… the good old days when I actually stuck with puzzles until I finished them!
• Half the fun of reading “What’s Expected of Us” was looking up all scientific and literature references in it. (Yes, several of the concepts in this story are real.)

• The bad:

• Actually, I enjoyed this entire story. I just wonder if something like the Predictors would actually cause akinetic mutism… hmmm, maybe. I guess that’s why its called “speculative fiction” huh?

Fact Sheet:
• Page Count: 2
• Word Count: 876

Where you can find “What’s Expected of Us”:

• This short story first appeared in the July 5, 2005 issue of the scientific journal Nature.
• “What’s Expected of Us” is included in Year’s Best SF 11.
• You can read this story online for free at the concatenation.org web site.

Some Interesting Links:

• This story makes reference to another famous story by Herman Melville, Bartleby the Scrivener.
• Special thanks to Lynda’s Book Blog for pointing out this great little story!

Craving More Stories?
If you enjoyed this story then you might also like Radiant Doors, about a woman who receives a mysterious gadget from the tyrannical leaders of the future, by Michael Swanwick.

Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell:

Leon Greco is recovering from a traumatic near-drowning experience and the coma in which it left him. In fact he would have been dead if it hadn’t been for the new experimental drug, hormone K, which regenerated his damaged neurons and brought him back into the realm of the conscious. Isn’t medical science great! There is something peculiar going on though – Leon’s memory and ability to multi-task have greatly improved. As his drug therapy continues Leon’s intellect and motor skills keep getting better and better until he eventually attracts the attention of research scientists, the government and intelligence organizations. The good times continue until one day he is sent a disturbingly subtle message from a person he never imagined could have existed.

Suddenly it occurs to me what’s just happened. I’ve never been able to do any editing while talking on the phone. But this time I had no trouble keeping my mind on both things at once.

Will the surprises never end? Once the nightmares were gone and I could relax, the first thing I noticed was the increase in my reading speed and comprehension. I was actually able to read the books on my shelves that I’d always meant to get around to, but never had the time; even the more difficult, technical material. Back in college, I’d accepted the fact that I couldn’t study everything that interested me. It’s exhilarating to discover that maybe I can; I was positively gleeful when I bought an armload of books the other day.

My Two Cents:

• The good:

• Wow – this is an amazing story! The story line is very intriguing, and Ted Chiang’s ability to put highly abstract concepts into easily understandable language is nothing short of genius. Genius I tell you!
• Although I have seen this concept of “person-gets-super-smart” before (Flowers for Algernon, or the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Nth Degree” about Lt. Barclay) I was still engaged by this story and amazed as Leon described the things that he was able to understand and do.
• A sure sign of a good story is how much I think about it after reading it. “Understand”, which is part cerebral-thriller and part intellectual philosophy, certainly lives up to those criteria as I spent days pondering what I read, and actually felt a bit inspired by the story.

• The bad:

• Although I enjoyed every aspect of “Understand”, it is possible that some people may not enjoy the deep thinking required when reading it. Here’s a simple test: if you’re not too bright then you may want to skip this story.

Fact Sheet:
• Page Count: 30
• Word Count: 13,371
• “Understand” garnered the following awards:

• It won the 1992 Asimov’s Reader Poll for best novelette.
• It was nominated for the 1992 Hugo Award for Best Novelette.
• It placed 13th in the 1992 Locus poll.

Where you can find “Understand”:

• This novelette first appeared in the August 1991 issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction.
• “Understand” is included in the excellent Ted Chiang collection Stories of Your Life and Others.
• You can read a free online version of “Understand” at Infinity Plus.

Some Interesting Links:

• Did you know that Ted Chiang, the author of “Understand”, has a degree in computer science and very little actual training in linguistics? Yep. Check out this very cool interview with Ted Chiang conducted by Infinity Plus.

Craving More Stories?
If you enjoyed this story then you might also like Story of Your Life, about a linguist who struggles to learn an alien language, and the unique side effect it produces, by Ted Chiang.

Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell:
Fuwaad ibn Abbas, long time resident of the City of Peace, is searching for a gift to give a business associate when he discovers a new shop that contains a wide variety of interesting items for sale. After discussing the origin of the items, the shop owner takes Fuwaad into the back workshop to show him his latest discovery in the field of alchemy – a gateway through which one can travel into the future. Fuwaad, obviously intrigued, is regaled with stories of others who have passed through the gate to converse with their future selves. Wiser and more desperate than the people in the stories, Fuwaad comes up with a proposition that he hopes will redeem his soul.

Bashaarat looked at me and considered. “I have recently built something that may change your opinion. You would be the first person I have shown it to. Would you care to see it?”

“It would be a great pleasure.”

“Please follow me.” He led me through the doorway in the rear of his shop. The next room was a workshop, arrayed with devices whose functions I could not guess—bars of metal wrapped with enough copper thread to reach the horizon, mirrors mounted on a circular slab of granite floating in quicksilver—but Bashaarat walked past these without a glance.

Instead he led me to a sturdy pedestal, chest high, on which a stout metal hoop was mounted upright. The hoop’s opening was as wide as two outstretched hands, and its rim so thick that it would tax the strongest man to carry. The metal was black as night, but polished to such smoothness that, had it been a different color, it could have served as a mirror. Bashaarat bade me stand so that I looked upon the hoop edgewise, while he stood next to its opening.

“Please observe,” he said.

Bashaarat thrust his arm through the hoop from the right side, but it did not extend out from the left. Instead, it was as if his arm were severed at the elbow, and he waved the stump up and down, and then pulled his arm out intact.

My Two Cents:
I have only read two stories by Ted Chiang, but Wow! I am quite impressed with the utter thoughtfulness and detail portrayed by this man’s writings. If you are a connoisseur of fine stories then you owe it to yourself to read this one. Go… Now! Read this amazingly written tale!

• The good:

• A very interesting story that is just so darn fun to read!
• It is broken up into four separate stories, so it really feels like you’re reading a handful of tiny tales.
• I loved the setting and tone of this story. The author expertly captures the feeling of a bustling marketplace in ancient Baghdad.
• I am a sucker for stories that involve people trying to change the time line to suit their interests – and this one ranks right up there with the best of them!

• The bad:

• Honestly, there wasn’t much I didn’t like in this story. But if my arm was twisted I would say that it has some mild adult situations – such as the time when a woman must seduce her husband’s former self in order to teach him the finer points of love!

Fact Sheet:
• Page Count: 18
• Word Count: 10,583

• “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” garnered the following awards:

• It has been nominated for the 2008 Hugo Award for Best Novelette.
• It has also been nominated for the 2007 Nebula Award for Best Novelette.

Where you can find “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate”:

• This story first appeared in September 2007 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
• You can read a very nice free version of “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” online at the F&SF website.  Sorry, this link is no longer valid, but …
• …you can find an archived copy of this story at the Internet Archive’s Way Back Machine.  (Thanks to QuasarDragon for the link!)

Related Yet Still Interesting Links:

• It looks like the author made this story into a limited edition book. Check out the Subterranean Press website for more information and some cool images from the story.
• Did you know that Ted Chiang began submitting stories for publication shortly after sixth grade? Yep, you can learn more about this amazing science fiction author by reading an interview at SF Site.

Craving More Stories?
If you enjoyed this story then you’ll probably like Story of Your Life, another award winning story from Ted Chiang.

Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell:
“Story of Your Life” follows Dr. Louise Banks, a linguist who alternates between describing her efforts at learning to communicate with aliens and explaining to her daughter the trials of being a parent. The story begins as several alien ships take up orbit around Earth and place hundreds of looking glasses at various places around the world to help facilitate communications with humans. In the USA the military sets up two person teams, composed on one linguist and one physicist, at each of its nine looking glass locations in order to learn as much as possible about the aliens without giving away any critical information. The aliens, dubbed “heptapods” because of their radially symmetric form, have a spoken language and a completely different written language. As Dr. Banks struggles to learn Heptapod B (the written form) she discovers an amazing side effect of learning to think in non-causal terms.

At the moment the looking glass was inactive, resembling a semicircular mirror over ten feet high and twenty feet across. On the brown grass in front of the looking glass, an arc of white spray paint outlined the activation area. Currently the area contained only a table, two folding chairs, and a power strip with a cord leading to a generator outside. The buzz of fluorescent lamps, hung from poles along the edge of the room, commingled with the buzz of flies in the sweltering heat.

Gary and I looked at each other, and then began pushing the cart of equipment up to the table. As we crossed the paint line, the looking glass appeared to grow transparent; it was as if someone was slowly raising the illumination behind tinted glass. The illusion of depth was uncanny; I felt I could walk right into it. Once the looking glass was fully lit it resembled a life-size diorama of a semicircular room. The room contained a few large objects that might have been furniture, but no aliens. There was a door in the curved rear wall.

My Two Cents:
Being an amateur writer myself, I always thought it would be cool to write a story about the difficulties of communicating with aliens. Now I’ll never do that – how could I compete with this masterpiece? I couldn’t, nor would I try, because the intellect, grace and tone portrayed by this story is very nearly perfect. I thoroughly enjoyed both story lines, and was constantly amazed at how skillful the author was at integrating concepts of physics into the story. A very deep and thought provoking story that has taken its place as one of my all time favorite science fiction stories.

The good:
If you are a fan of the hard sciences, and like reading about scientists’ struggles to figure out new puzzles, then you’ll probably really like this story. The author explains scientific principles with such finesse and skill that it is easy to willingly suspend your disbelief. Even though it could be classified as hard science fiction, the grace with which it is written makes for easy reading and an involved storyline.

The bad:
It is a novella, which is longer than either a short story or novelette, so if you are a fan of short short stories then you may not like the length of this one. The payoff, however, is that it is a much more involved storyline. Definitely worth the extra work in reading it. Also, if you don’t like hard scifi stories then you may not enjoy this one as much.

Fact Sheet:
• Length: 35 pages

• “Story of Your Life” garnered the following awards:

• Winner of the 2000 Nebula for Best Novella
• Winner of the 1999 Sturgeon award
• Short listed for the 1999 Tiptree award
• Ranked 10th on the 1999 Locus poll for best novella
• Nominated for the 1999 Hugo Award for Best Novella
• Nominated for the 1999 HOMer award for best novella

Where you can find “Story of Your Life”:

• This story first appeared in Starlight 2 in 1998.
• “Story of Your Life” is included in Ted Chiang’s collection Stories of Your Life and Others.
• You can download an eBook version of Stories of Your Life and Others from fictionwise.com.
• It was also included in Gardner Dozois’s anthology The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year’s Best Science Fiction.
• You can read “Story of Your Life” online for free at the Internet Archive.

Related Yet Still Interesting Links:

• If you want to increase your enjoyment of this story, and stretch your mind a bit, then learn more about Fermat’s principle and the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis.
• For another review of “Story of Your Life” see Tinkoo’s post over at Variety-SF.
• Did you know that Ted Chiang holds a degree in Computer Science? Yep. You can learn more about this fantastic author at Wikipedia.

Craving More Stories?
If you enjoyed this story then you’ll probably like A Rose for Ecclesiastes, the classic story of Martian linguistics and love, by Roger Zelazny.