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prusikCoincidentally, the both spec fiction podcasts I heard are of stories I've read. Podcastle aired Bespoke by Genevieve Valentine, originally published at Strange Horizons. Lightspeed aired More than the Sum of His Parts by Joe Haldeman. I have no idea where it was originally published. I probably read it in an anthology when I was a teenager.
I loved "Bespoke" when I first read it and I love it again here. The story evokes this a complete world and an awesome concept with stunning economy. This is a short story. There's not much room to play with and yet the story delivers one fully realized character and a breath-taking world. Tiny Connolly gives it a reading that gives full measure to everyone's intentions. The way she reads the sparse bits of dialogue really bring out everything Genevieve Valentine has implied about all those characters.
I remember really liking "More than the Sum of Its Parts" at the time. Certainly, it must be memorable. It's been maybe twenty years since I read it and even though I didn't recognize the title, I recognized the story within a couple paragraphs. (Lightspeed says it was originally published in 1985 but I'm pretty sure I read a reprint.) What strikes me now is how well it has aged. Twenty-five years of advances in technology haven't hurt the story in any material way. i.e., the world the story implies is not one extrapolated from our present, but it's not implausible. (And now I have another working example of something Jeff Vandermeer mentioned when he critiqued one of my stories. Funny how once someone mentions something, you suddenly see it everywhere.)
I do wonder if anyone who started reading SF after the '80s knows what a "waldo" is though. It's easy to figure out from context, but the term used to be more prominent than it is now. OTOH, is there another word for robots that you control directly or indirectly through your nervous system? Or is this just something we don't write much about any more?
Either way, it's a classic story worth reading and listening to. I'm glad Lightspeed chose to reprint it.
I loved "Bespoke" when I first read it and I love it again here. The story evokes this a complete world and an awesome concept with stunning economy. This is a short story. There's not much room to play with and yet the story delivers one fully realized character and a breath-taking world. Tiny Connolly gives it a reading that gives full measure to everyone's intentions. The way she reads the sparse bits of dialogue really bring out everything Genevieve Valentine has implied about all those characters.
I remember really liking "More than the Sum of Its Parts" at the time. Certainly, it must be memorable. It's been maybe twenty years since I read it and even though I didn't recognize the title, I recognized the story within a couple paragraphs. (Lightspeed says it was originally published in 1985 but I'm pretty sure I read a reprint.) What strikes me now is how well it has aged. Twenty-five years of advances in technology haven't hurt the story in any material way. i.e., the world the story implies is not one extrapolated from our present, but it's not implausible. (And now I have another working example of something Jeff Vandermeer mentioned when he critiqued one of my stories. Funny how once someone mentions something, you suddenly see it everywhere.)
I do wonder if anyone who started reading SF after the '80s knows what a "waldo" is though. It's easy to figure out from context, but the term used to be more prominent than it is now. OTOH, is there another word for robots that you control directly or indirectly through your nervous system? Or is this just something we don't write much about any more?
Either way, it's a classic story worth reading and listening to. I'm glad Lightspeed chose to reprint it.
