“Communications Breakdown: SF Stories About the Future of Connection”, Jonathan Strahan editor, 2023 The MIT Press

The Short: For the Best Editor Short Form nominations for the 2024 Hugo Awards, I read “Communications Breakdown: SF Stories About the Future of Connection“, Jonathan Strahan editor, 2023 The MIT Press. I thought it was very good, with an overall rating of 3.75/5, or “Very good”, for the ten science fiction stories included. Recommended.

The Long: I don’t think I saw a review of “Communications Breakdown: SF Stories About the Future of Connection“, Jonathan Strahan editor, 2023 The MIT Press, in Locus. It was featured in their 2023 Recommended Reading List in Anthologies, but I had not added it to my TBR.

While I was reading for Best Editor Short Form nominations for the 2024 Hugo Awards, I saw that one of the Jonathan Strahan anthologies listed was one I did not remember hearing about, “Communications Breakdown: SF Stories About the Future of Connection“. I was able to get it from my regional library collaborative.

“Communications Breakdown: SF Stories About the Future of Connection“, Jonathan Strahan editor, 2023 The MIT Press, includes 10 original stories of science fiction, several essays, an good Introduction by Strahan, an interesting essay by the outstanding cover and interior artist Ashley Mackenzie, and an interview “What About Privacy?” of Chris Gilliard by Tim Maughan. The trade paperback comes in at 224 pages. There is an e-book version; I don’t see an audio book version so far.

I can’t say if all 10 stories hit “SF stories about the future of connection”, but most of them did.

It’s hard for me to pick out favorites among the stories, as they are all at either a strong “Very good” at 3.7/5 or “Great” at 3.8/5 for me. If pushed, I’d reluctantly say that my three favorites are:

1. “Sigh No More” “, a short story by Ian McDonald, about a Carrington geomagnetic solar storm event and a community theatre group.
2. “The Excommunicates”, a short story by Ken Macleod (one of the Glasgow 2024 Worldcon Guests of Honor!), about deniers and an undefined but probably continental area where owning a phone or such has deadly consequences.
3. “My City Is Not a Problem“, a short story by Tim Maughan, an author new to me, about the first, London municipal AI and consequences.

My overall rating for the 10 stories was a robust 3.75/5, or “Very good”. I enjoyed the essays and the interview. Recommended.

It’s worth mentioning that the current 6/8/2024 Table of Contents for “Communications Breakdown…” at ISFDB is incomplete. I submitted an update on 6/6/2024.

DETAILED REVIEWS/COMMENTS – SPOILERS EVERYWHERE

“Here Instead of There“, a novelette by Elizabeth Bear. A very good story where hurricane warnings have been paywalled. An offshore anarchist/whatever pod struggles to survive a hurricane, and the POV character decides to keep sharing hacked weather info. Rated 3.7/5, or “Very good”.

“Moral Hazard“, a short story by Cory Doctorow. A very good story of massive financial failure, and mass homelessness, and bailouts. Trans homeless techie Trish creates an app that will enable every homeless person to have an LLC and get government corporate bailouts. Irony abounds. Rated 3.7/5, or “Very good”.

“Sigh No More”, a short story by Ian McDonald. A great story of societal impacts of a Carrington Event, where a geomagnetic solar storm fries much of modern technology including communications, as told through the lens of two people involved in a community theater show in the UK. I love this story, but the POVs could have been more clearly differentiated. Rated 3.8/5, or “Great”.

“Less Than“, a novelette by Lavanya Lakshminarayan. A very good story of a not too distant future, probably in India. A pro gamer who is married but does not want children discovers an immense conspiracy to legally and culturally eliminate the poor. while encouraging her to have children. This scheme involves manipulating many things for many people. Rated 3.7/5, or “Very good”.

“The Excommunicates“, a short story Ken Macleod. A great story by one of the Glasgow 2024 Guests of Honor. A world in which unnamed parties have used EMP, cyberattacks, and a huge network of drones designed to destroy any phone and similar devices, often killing or injuring those using them. The protagonist is a young man who is the child of an excommunicate, a denier who has been banned from the Internet. At the end, we find the same young man and his wife, also the child of an excommunicate, destroying a Church of the Book in Scotland, perhaps to fight disinformation. Rated 3.8/5, or “Great”.

“Noise Cancellation“, a short story by S. B. Divya. A very good story of a person with electromagnetic hypersensitivity syndrome (EHS) in a world where electromagnetic signals are always present. Their young child has EHS also, but worse. After considerable discussion and negotiation, the family moves to a resort with no EMS. Science does not currently support the existence of EHS, but this is still a very good story. Rated 3.7/5, or “Very good”.

“My City is Not A Problem“, a short story by Tim Maughan. A great story by an author new to me, of a new municipal AI expert system for London about to go live. Before they go live, a dry run with the mayor reveals that AI Clara’s first recommendation is to solve income inequality by massive wealth redistribution. The mayor wants the AI system killed, but the lead techie lets it go live after wavering, agreeing with Clara’s goals. Rated 3.8/5, or “Great”.

“Cuttlefish“, a novelette by Anil Menon. A great and heartbreaking story set in a world where cuttlefish DNA have been introduced into the genome of some humans, with some hoping to provide humans with the ability to edit their mRNA and better resist disease. The story does not tell us if that occurred, but the rangeela display their feelings on their skin like cuttlefish. They are a despised, persecuted minority here. The POV is an old man operating a remote, very isolated guest house. His latest guests include a daughter who is rangeela, like his disappeared daughter. Rated 3.8/5, or “Great”.

“Company Man“, a novelette by Shiv Ramdas. A fun, almost zany story of a world where corporations are more equal than humans. The protagonist has had a heart replacement, but the company wants to repossess it. He finally comes up with a surprising solution. Rated 3.7/5, or “Very good”.

“At Every Door a Ghost“, a novelette by Premee Mohamed. A great story of a world where an AI is asked to do something science related, and a lot of people die after humans use the results. As a result, scientists are under very close, panopticon kind of surveillance. Scientists start to disappear. Two scientists rebel against this, and the AI helps them. Rated 3.8/5, or “Great”.