Entanglements: Tomorrow's Lovers, Families, and Friends (Twelve Tomorrows) by Sheila Williams

Entanglements: Tomorrow's Lovers, Families, and Friends (Twelve Tomorrows) Reviews

• 
  Andreas

  3.5 stars
  
  Summary:The Twelve Tomorrow's series by MIT is an annual anthology featuring near future SF stories. I really liked the past issues, and came to the same conclusion this year: there are some gems in it making the anthology worth its price and time investment, resulting in 3.5 stars. This year's novelty is a common topic "Entanglement" for the original stories, providing a more humanistic instead of technological view on our future. This resulted in some stories which I tagged as "Romance SF" which might by a neologism as a SF subgenre - though I'm fully aware that romances in SF go back to pulp SF times. Usually, I don't buy into romance stories, but James Patrick Kelly's novelette "Your Boyfriend Experience" is a very fine example which I really liked: it features a charming lovebot in an unusal restaurant episode. Most prominent in this anthology is Nancy Kress, opening with a novelette "Invisible People", supported by a very insightful biography and interview - both were excellent and let me look forward reading the whole anthology. The story combines Kress's trademarked humanistic topic with contemporary trends like nonbinary characters and very strong females. Another gem in this anthology is "Sparklybits" by Nick Wolven, combining multi-motherhood with A.I. companions. On the negative side there are stories which I simply didn't understand or which I didn't like that much - in other words: a plain normal anthology, worthwhile for everyone who likes Near Future SF set in our own world and society - you won't find space opera or cyberpunk here.
  
  If you're interested, check out my older
  2014 and
  2013 Twelve Tomorrows reviews (the newer ones rest on my shelves and didn't get through my reading slump).
  
  Contents: (review links lead to my blog)
  
  1    • ★★★★☆ • Invisible People • 2020 • Near Future SF novelette by Nancy Kress •
  review
  25  • ★★★★☆ • Profile: Nancy Kress • 2020 • Biography and Interview by Lisa Yaszek • excellent biography and a longer interview by the highly qualified professor of SF studies, uncovering not only Kress's background, but also emphasizing the author's "reputation for weaving ethical debates about the meaning and value of new scientific and medical trends into vividly dramatized stories", linking "big technoscientifc ideas with intimate portraits of families and relationships". The interview also gives insights into her process of translating hard science to the ethical aspects of societal change. She says that "science itself is fascinating. But unless I can translate it into narrative, and its effect on people, it doesn't hold as much fascination, and it doesn't, of course, create stories. Because stories are made out fo and for people." The influence by Ursula K. Le Guin is obvious, and I guess that's why I love her work.
  35  • ★★★☆☆ • Echo the Echo • 2020 • Near Future SF short story by Rich Larson •
  review
  51  • ★★★★☆ • Sparklybits • 2020 • Near Future SF short story by Nick Wolven •
  review
  75  • ★★☆☆☆ • A little Wisdom • 2020 • Near Future SF short story by Mary Robinette Kowal •
  review
  93  • ★★★★☆ • Your Boyfriend Experience • 2020 • Romance SF novelette by James Patrick Kelly • 
  review
  123 • ★★☆☆☆ • Mediation • 2020 • Near Future SF short story by Cadwell Turnbull •
  review
  135 • ☆☆☆☆☆ • The Nation of the Sick • 2020 • Near Future SF short story by Sam J. Miller • I just didn't get this story and have no intention re-reading it, so I leave it unreviewed.
  151 • ★★★☆☆ • Don't mind me • 2020 • Near Future SF short story by Suzanne Palmer •
  review
  171 • ★★☆☆☆ • The Monogamy Hormone • 2020 • Romance SF short story by Annalee Newitz •
  review
  185 • ★★☆☆☆ • The Monk of Lingyin Temple • 2020 • Near Future SF novelette by Xia Jia (translated by Ken Liu) •
  review
  
• 
  Jersy

  Entaglements is an anthology of stories about the impact of future technology and other developments on interpersonal relationships. In doing that, it focusses more on the emotional impact than on hard SF, exploring how relationships of any kind change but still, in their core, are about caring about each other and leaving an impression in someone’s life.
  
  There is a diversity in the relationships portrayed, ranging from parent – children, to friendships, to lovers, and even if you are not really into romance or family drama, that’s not a problem at all, since these are still more SF stories than anything else. I especially liked the positive portrayal of interactions between generations.
  A lot of the stories are quite similar in style, apart from outliers like the last story by Xia Jia, were the cultural influences are very apparent, and quality, making this a consistent anthology were readers that like one story most likely enjoy all of them. The stories are written for a modern audience, some actively pushing progressive ideas, some being more open to any conclusion the reader might come to. The emotions of the main characters were easy to grasp for me and I enjoyed the variety of themes and ideas discussed, like childcare and relationship models or memory. The tone is predominately optimistic, which was also nice.
  
  There was only one story that I didn’t care for, but that was more because of the topic than because of its execution. My favorites were the ones by Mary Robinette Kowal, Annalee Newitz and Sam J. Miller, either because of artistic decision, the way they made me feel for the protagonists or just how interestingly the concept was handled.
  
  If you like character focused stories or science fiction that is more about the effects on everyday life, give this collection a shot. I really appreciated how logical conclusions about possible developments in the near future were presented here. That said, if you’re looking for wild new ideas that no one has discussed in SF before, that’s not what this it, but if you want to see known theories played out in an emotional and maybe realistic way, this is really enjoyable.
  
  *I have received an arc from netgalley in exchange for a free and honest review*
• 
  Francesca

  3.5⭐️ Solitamente sono un po’ selettiva per quanto riguarda le mie letture. Nel senso, tutti i libri mi incuriosiscono un minimo, ma prima di comprarne e/o leggerne uno, devo fare un po’ di lavoro da detective, leggere recensioni su recensioni, estratti, conoscere la fedina penale dell’autore.
  Però, se mi dici “raccolta di racconti di fantascienza”, io sono tua. Punto. Non c’è scampo. È amore incondizionato.
  
  Anche questa raccolta mi è piaciuta molto. Certo, non è perfetta immacolata, però ho trovato interessantissimo creare una raccolta la cui tematica principale sia le relazioni nel futuro. Famiglie, partner, vendette, perdono, comunicazione, lutto, memoria, c’è di tutto. Non è una raccolta che mette al centro trame, colpi di scena, la tecnologia. Sono tutte storie in un futuro che sembra abbastanza prossimo, con personaggi che affrontano difficoltà in cui ci possiamo facilmente rivedere. Mmm, forse eccetto l’ultima storia. Non è particolarmente reletable. Almeno, spero per voi.
  
  Ora, di solito io preferisco iniziare le raccolte di racconti senza sapere niente, ma se volete saperne di più, ecco due righe su ogni storia:
  
  GLI INVISIBILI di Nancy Kress⭐️⭐️⭐️
  Una storia molto carina che tratta di genetica, altruismo e il buco di inferno verso il quale ci stiamo dirigendo :)
  
  L’ECO DI UN ECO di Rich Larson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  Questa mi è piaciuta tanto. Parla di lutto, della paura del lutto e della nostra identità. È molto toccante.
  
  DIGISPRAZZO di Nick Wolven ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
  Questa è dolcissima, vorrei un librino interamente dedicato a questi personaggi. Parla di educazione, disabilità e l’aspetto tecnologico l’ho trovato super originale.
  
  UN PIZZICO DI SAGGEZZA di Mary Robinette Kowal ⭐️⭐️
  Didn’t really get the point. L’importanza dell’arte? Della storia? Boh.
  
  LA TUA ESPERIENZA ROMANTICA di James Patrick Kelley ⭐️⭐️
  Il concept degli androidi quasi umani mi affascina sempre, but it felt sooooo long, and for what??
  
  MEDIAZIONE di Cadwell Turnbull ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
  Molto breve ma molto efficace. Parla di salute mentale, lutto e comunicazione in famiglia in modo molto realistico e tenero.
  
  IL PAESE DEI MALATI di Sam J. Miller ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  Bellissima. In poche pagine sono riuscita ad affezionarmi ai personaggi e ai rapporti che li legano, che sono credibilissimi. Poi anche la scelta di non avere una narrazione lineare secondo me è super azzeccata e l’ha resa una storia ancora più coinvolgente.
  
  PENSO CON LA MIA TESTA di Suzanne Palmer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  Bella bella. Interessante sia come sono state trattate le tematiche dell’educazione e della “protezione”, sia la tecnologia che mi ha ricordato un episodio di Balck Mirror in particolare, che parlava sempre di genitori iperprotettivi e autoritari. Mi ha lasciato la voglia di saperne di più su questo mondo.
  
  L’ORMONE DELLA MONOGAMIA di Annalee Newitz ⭐️⭐️⭐️
  Carino e dolce, ma forse utopico lol. Si parla di amore romantico e relazioni “aperte” (?). Mmm it’s complicated. Ma di amore ce n’è.
  
  IL MONACO DEL TEMPIO LINGYIN di Xia Jia ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  Il racconto più lungo della raccolta e il migliore per quanto mi riguarda. Parla di religione (in particolare buddismo), perdono, vendetta, karma…davvero un racconto stupendo. Difficilmente me lo riuscirò a togliere dalla testa.
• 
  Brian Clegg

  t's important to say up front that the star rating here is an average: there are some 5 star stories in this collection and there are some that would only get 1 star.
  
  It's very brave to put together a collection of science fiction stories with a message - in this case, the impact on relationships and families of emerging technologies. There is something very dampening about an enforced message that can so easily kill a story by making it feel like little more than propaganda. It's to the credit of many of the authors here that this doesn't usually happen.
  
  This is a collection of ten SF stories. A few really stand out. The opening story Invisible People, by Nancy Kress was excellent, exploring the tangled concepts of gene editing and designer babies with a fascinating twist on the subject of altruism. My only criticism would be that I think writers rather let their reader down when the story pointedly ends just before a major decision by a character, leaving the story incomplete. I don't buy the 'it's down to your imagination' argument - if you're telling a story, you should finish it.
  
  Two others deserving of high praise were Rich Larson's Echo the Echo and Sparklybits by Nick Wolven. In Echo the Echo there was a combination of a fascinating idea of an AI personal assistant that knows you so well it can audition dates for you (or rather can audition their avatars), plus some interesting thoughts on the nature of memory and personality. Although Wolven irritated me by the 1950s-style SF failing of unnecessary overuse of weak-sounding future technology names - why make an oven an 'ovenex'? - it's great fun with a twist on Ghostbusters where we're dealing with what amount to ghosts in the machine.
  
  My favourite overall was Suzanne Palmer's Don't Mind Me, set primarily in a school in a chilling near future America where, at their parents' request, some students are provided with textbooks with everything excised that is 'controversial' (such as climate change or the Earth being more than 6,000 years old), and where brain implants prevent memory storage whenever the students hear things their parents don't want them to hear. It's a great read.
  
  Every short story collection will have some pieces that work better than others. (It helps if there are rather more stories - only having ten meant some were over-long, and there were fewer opportunities to find favourites.) But, I suspect because of the weight of that imposed message, there were more that didn't work here than is typical. Three of them I had to give up on entirely. They simply didn't engage me as a reader - this hasn't ever happened with so many stories in a collection for me before. Two others were simply the right-on message wrapped in a fictional context - readable, but not much to write home about as storytelling. The other five were excellent.
  
  Considering the difficulty imposed by the need for a message, this collection does well - but it could have been so much better if the prime decision-making factor for inclusion was whether or not there was a good, engaging narrative, rather than whether or not the story ticked the right boxes for the theme.
• 
  Squittii tra le pagine

  Credo che parlare e provare a spiegare la forza di una raccolta di racconti – soprattutto se nati da penne di autori diversi – sia sempre un’impresa ardua.
  “Relazione” è la figlia ideale non tanto di Black Mirror, quanto di Soulmates (serie tv che con Black Mirror condivide il suo produttore), sia per tema che per un certo cauto ottimismo che trapela dai racconti. Infatti, il futuro che immaginano gli scrittori interpellati da Sheila Williams è molto lontano dalla fantascienza distopica di Black Mirror, fatta eccezione per “Mediazione” di Cadwell Turnbull che mi ha riportato a “Torna da me”, primo episodio della seconda stagione di Black Mirror; tuttavia, anche nel caso di “Mediazione”, le tinte non saranno mai cupe e angoscianti, ma apriranno sempre a uno sviluppo “sano” dei rapporti non sono interpersonali, ma anche tra esseri umani e tecnologie. Mi è sembrato che, sebbene ci sia una diffidenza iniziale, i protagonisti dei racconti tendano poi ad accettare la tecnologia, usandola al meglio. Questa tendenza è già evidente nel primo racconto di questa raccolta: “Gli invisibili” di Nancy Kress, che immagina le conseguenza dell’inserzione di geni “del comportamento altruista” all'interno di embrioni umani: lo sgomento iniziale lascerà lo spazio al buonsenso e alla riflessione.
  
  Trovi la recensione completa qui:
  https://squittiitralepagine.wordpress...
• 
  Bandit

  Woohoo. I’m the first person to review this book . Always a pleasure when there it’s a genuinely good read. There are so many science fiction and science fiction adjacent books out there that claim to be reminiscent of Black Mirror, trying to ride their way on that show’s almost entirely well deserved popularity, but few actually hit that level of cleverness, inventiveness and social awareness. This collection, I’m pleased to say, did. Mostly. It’s apparently a sixth volume in an ongoing series titled Twelve Tomorrows, but this is the first one I’ve heard of and (what are the odds) the first thematic one and I do so love thematic anthologies. This one is all about personal connections, whether familial or romantic. And each story has to do with how the technological advancements of the future will affect the way people interact and relate with each other. That’s exactly what Black Mirror did best and exactly the kind of science fiction I love. No space operas for me, none of that military sci fi, no cardboard clichés in an overbaked in tech and overdone in spec jargon actioneers….none of that. Give me a good character driven story anytime. Enhance it with otherworldly scenarios and concepts, sure, but only so long as it serves the dramatic plot. For me the social, sociological and psychological ramifications of the rampant technological advancements, especially since they tend to outpace society’s natural evolution, are about as fascinating of subjects as you can find. And in there stories, that’s what takes center stage and shines. Every time. There are all the standard elements you’ll find in the modern woke sort of fiction, it’s gender/sexual orientation/race, etc. progressive, there are robots (and sexbots) and eDawgs (and oh how awesome are those) and futuristic tech of all kind, but the main thing is always people, the ties that bind them and the connections that so entangle them. And that’s what makes it such a great, relevant, relatable, important and engaging read. Content wise there is a foreword and then something like ten (maybe?) stories, all of good length and one closer to a novelette and author’s bios. The featured author of this collection is Nancy Kress, whom I’ve read before and then and now the overall impression is somewhat lukewarm, like not love sort of thing, so anyway, she gets the first story slot and an expanded bio and an interview. The name recognition is about even with known and unknown authors, but it stands to mention the unknowns do just as impressively if not more so than the popular authors. I still don’t seem to care for Newitz’s writing. Didn’t like her novel and even here with her dating ditty short doesn’t do much, it’s woke as f*ck, sure, but overall too cutesy and bubbly and kinda off key with the main composition. Well meaning is fine and a lot of these stories are, but there ought to be a certain darkness underneath to really work, that is, after all, what makes Black Mirror work so well, because technology for all its awesomeness hasn’t actually made people’s personal lives uniformly easier or simpler, in fact it tends to mess things up right along with improving them. Just think about the smartphones, they have certainly not done any miracles for personal communication skillsets. People just forget to pay attention to what’s going by the wayside when they think they are gaining something new and shiny…like spellcheck atrophying spelling skills and so on. But anyway, this is digressive, but it’s along the lines of thinking this anthology might inspire. What’s gained and at what cost as technology stampedes on in its relentless march of progress. So yeah, this was very good. Recommended for all fans of intelligent literary science fiction. Thanks Netgalley.
• 
  Claudio Magistrelli

  Che bell’esordio quello di 451, nuova etichetta fantascientifica di EdizioniBD, che il 9 giugno arriva sugli scaffali delle librerie con un tripletta di titoli di altissima qualità tra cui spicca Relazioni. Amanti amici e famiglie del futuro, antologia di racconti a cura di Sheila Williams. Un volume che dimostra come lo sguardo della nuova casa editrice sia ben fisso e attento sul nostro presente.
  
  I dieci racconti selezionati da Williams sono dieci sguardi su un futuro prossimo, imminente, che spesso differisce dal nostro solo per un dettaglio o due: un inibitore neurale che consente ai genitori di censurare alcuni termini dall’esperienza quotidiana dei figli, un app di dating in cui in nostri avatar flirtano al posto nostro, o qualche nuova scoperta nel campo dell’ingegneria genetica. Pubblicato originariamente dal MIT nel 2020, Relazioni nasce da un’interrogativo: che effetto avranno le le scoperte scientifiche alle porte sui nostri legami più intimi?
  
  Leggere oggi questa antologia, invece, ha un effetto un po’ diverso, perchè la domanda che in molti ci poniamo è simile, seppure radicalmente differente: che effetto avrà avuto questo ultimo anno abbondante di pandemia sul nostro rapporto con gli altri? Le risposte scelte da Sheila Williams, seppure non cucite intorno a questa domanda, portano a una conclusione comunque rassicurante: si adatteranno, come fanno sempre, come hanno sempre fatto.
  
  Contrariamente alle grida d’allarme di chi si appella di continuo alla conservazione di qualche tipo di legame tradizionale, come se la tradizione non fosse anch’essa un costrutto culturale a sua colta, le relazioni aperte e tecnologiche raccontate in questo volume ci presentano un’umanità ancora affaccendata nell’eterno affanno del capirsi l’un l’altro, una chimera talvolta facilitata e talvolta complicata dalle nuove opzioni concesse tanto dalla tecnologia quanto da una mentalità finalmente più libera e più aperta.
  
  È il caso di Edwina, che si affida quasi per scherzo a Eternalove, la pillola miracolosa della Pro Tox che promette di trasformare in un monogamo perfetto anche il più incallito tra gli amanti. Ma anche quello di Jo, la casalinga in una comune di mamme che si occupano di Charliee di conseguenza anche di Digisprazzo, l’ectoplasmatica interferenza elettronica che infesta casa e con cui il ragazzo riesce ad interfacciarsi attraverso la sua unità didattica.
  
  Quasi rassicura, insomma, scoprire che anche per dieci delle menti più allenate nell’immaginare il futuro, le relazioni interpersonali rimangono qualcosa di complesso e complicato, equilibri delicati che la tecnologia da sola non può sciogliere, ma al massimo ampliare nella loro portata. Per questo motivo il focus di chi scrive è sempre orientato più verso l’elemento umano che in direzione di quello tecnologico.
  
  Altrettanto rassicurante è l’immagine del futuro che emerge dai diversi fili conduttori che legano tra loro i dieci racconti. Quello rappresentato in Relazioni è un (dopo)domani ancora afflitto da incomprensioni e divisioni, pur sempre dominato dall’ipocrisia delle multinazionali, ma è anche un tempo in cui le relazioni sentimentali conoscono meno vincoli e l’accettazione nei riguardi di qualunque tipo di approccio alle relazioni è sdoganata in maniera trasversale tra la popolazione.
  
  Forse proprio per questo motivo il racconto che mi più mi è rimasto impresso tra i dieci è Penso con la mia testa di Suzanne Palmer (tradotto da Emanuela Burigo), ambientato in una Carolina del Nord in cui ai genitori è concesso di censurare le esperienze dei propri figli attraverso un dispositivo collegato direttamente al cervello, che memorizza ogni interazione sociale e può cancellare pezzi di ricordo di chi lo indossa sulla base di temi o parole chiave.
  
  All’interno di una raccolta piuttosto luminosa per tematiche e ottimista per previsioni, Penso con la mia testa spicca per il tono distopico e per un uso della tecnologia più orientato verso la limitazione delle libertà personali. E se da un lato l’ambientazione nella Carolina del nord mi ha strappato un sorriso perchè anche in un altro racconto viene utilizzata come paradigma dello stato retrogrado, dove l’attività legislativa è coltivata allo scopo di soddisfare le istanze più conservatrici possibili, dall’altro l’innata propensione alla conoscenza e alla libertà di pensiero delle nuove generazioni immaginata da Palmer è forse lo slancio più ottimista e rassicurante di un volume già di per sé solare (senza mai sfociare nel consolatorio).
  
  La somma di questi elementi fa di Relazioni il volume perfetto per l’esordio di 451 non solo per tematiche, ma anche per la tempistica: il 9 giugno cade nel pieno del pride month e in tutti i racconti che compongono l’antologia si respira una bellissima atmosfera di comprensione e condivisione verso tutte le possibili sfaccettature dell’amore. Credo, per altro, che Invisibili, scritto da Nancy Kress e tradotto da Laura Bernaschi, sia uno dei primissimi casi in cui compare un adattamento del they/them neutro anglosassone.
  
  Tutto quanto scritto finora, insomma, non fa che confermare l’occhio attento della neonata 451 verso una letteratura fantascientifica che scriva di ciò che ci circonda e di ciò che è nell’aria. Un approccio confermato dagli altri due titoli che accompagnano Relazioni nell’esordio sugli scaffali, La voce del fuoco di Alan Moore e L’uomo immaginario di Al Ewing (apprezzato scrittore Marvel), a cui seguiranno a luglio Il gene del talento e i miei adorati meme di Hideo Kojima (sì, quel Hideo Kojima) e Il mondo dopo la fine del mondo di Nick Harkaway.
  
  Se queste sono le premesse, nel nostro piccolo non possiamo che rallegrarci per questa nuova voce nel panorama della fantascienza italiana: benvenuta 451, non vediamo l’ora di leggerti ancora.
  
  [Questa recensione è stata pubblicata in origine su
  Players
• 
  Kam Yung Soh

  An interesting anthology on the theme of emotional bonds between people (the 'Entanglements'). That bond would run through the stories, showing the various ways people will engage with those closest to them. I especially enjoyed those by Nancy Kress, Nick Wolven, Mary Robinette Kowal, James Patrick Kelly, Suzanne Palmer and Xia Jia (translated by Ken Liu).
  
  - "Invisible People" by Nancy Kress: a family who adopted a girl is visited by the FBI, who reveals that the girl (and others) was secretly genetically altered before being adopted. An investigation by the family would reveal just what kind of effects the alteration would have, and they have to decide whether to let it be, or try to reverse it.
  
  - "Echo the Echo" by Rich Larson: a man visits his grandmother, hoping to convince her to wear a cap that would record her every though. But she resists because she doesn't want to be come an 'echo' of herself to her descendents. As the story progresses, it reveals that we all eventually become echoes of ourselves and it becomes a matter of which echoes we want to become.
  
  - "Sparklybits" by Nick Wolven: in an unusual household where several women have become co-opted mothers, a child has become obsessed with communicating with a software AI known as Sparklybits to, in the various mothers opinions, the detriment of his future studies. But it would require the child's homebound mother to come up with a solution to the problem.
  
  - "A Little Wisdom" by Mary Robinette Kowal: a museum curator is on her way to supervise the opening of a new exhibition. Then, mother nature intervenes and the museum becomes a temporary refuge, leading her to dispense her knowledge to distract others. And she also picks up some wisdom from the emergency.
  
  - "Your Boyfriend Experience" by James Patrick Kelly: in a future where 'playbots' were widely used privately, a woman is asked to go on a 'date' with a new playbot created by her boyfriend. During the date, conflicts with others, who frown or enjoy playbots, along with a temporary playbot malfunction, would lead her to realise the real reason for the date, and whether she should continue not only to data the playbot, but her own boyfriend.
  
  - "Mediation" by Cadwell Turnbull: a researcher throws all her energy into her research as a way to cope with the death of her husband, leading her to neglect her children. In the end, it would require some mediation from software, as well as a talk with her dead husband (embodied in software), to help her resolve the situation.
  
  - "The Nation of the Sick" by Sam J. Miller: a series of unrelated events would lead a man, who has created software that can be used to model the future, to not give up on his 'dead-beat' brother. A decision which, in hindsight, might not be so unrelated after all.
  
  - "Don't Mind Me" by Suzanne Palmer: in a future where devices can be attached to children to block out memories of 'undesirable language', one kid becomes part of a group of students who have found a way to hack back the devices so they can learn properly. Things come to a head when the group's secret is discovered and the kid has to negotiate with his parents to get a proper education.
  
  - "The Monogamy Hormone" by Annalee Newitz: a woman who wants a serious relationship can't decide between her two lovers. One of her friends gives her a set of pills that would strengthen her bond with one of them (monogamy). But events turn out differently and leads her to make another decision about her relationships.
  
  - "The Monk of Lingyin Temple" by Xia Jia (translated by Ken Liu): a man goes to a high-tech temple on a mission. As the story progresses, we learn about the man's tortured past, the reason why he is there, and how the temple's technology that enables people to feel another person's emotional pain would help him to deal with the past.
• 
  Jeppe Larsen

  I am actually a bit disappointed with this anthology. It is not bad, just okay - hence the two stars. Maybe I expected a bit more from this line of authors.
  
  My main issue with many of the stories is that they don't use their premise for that much and usually go for the simple point rather than exploring the more difficult and interesting dilemmas of the premise they introduce.
  
  Nancy Kress' story has a really cool setup with genes being altered for some people to make them more altruistic. The downside is that they tend to get into accidents that might get them killed because of that. But the story merely focuses on one mother trying to reverse that for her daughter, where I think there is way more potential exploring the long terms effect of having such a gene in the population. Like she have done in other stories like "Beggars in Spain".
  
  A similar thing can be said about the James Patrick Kelly story, which sets up an interesting dilemma of introducing a sexrobot into a relationship acting as a standin partner (sexually and romantically) when the other is too busy with work. But the story only sets up the premise and doesn't deal with how this sort of relationship will work in the long term.
  
  The Annalee Newitz is similar dealing with a woman in a polyamorous relationship and her dilemma in choosing between her two partners. Again we get the problem, but the problem is "solved" in a really simplistic way that ignores any potential dilemmas and conflict for that kind of relationship down the line.
  
  The story by Suzanne Palmer is even more simplistic and with no nuances what so ever, with a story about very conservative Christian parents who have installed a mind control device in their sons brain. The message about religious indoctrination is just delivered in a very hamfisted didactic way.
  
  My favorite story is by Rich Larson because he manages to create a believable and interesting future and tackles complex emotional issues in a much more elegant way than many of the other stories.
• 
  Shona Tiger

  An interesting mix of stories. Some highlights for me:
  
  Echo the Echo, by Rich Larson, was my favourite story, about love and loss and trying to hang onto our loved ones, but also letting go of hard things. Very well done;
  
  Invisible People, by Nancy Kress, a gentle story about manipulation of genes and possible repercussions, even when we mean well;
  
  Don't Mind Me, by Suzanne Palmer, continuing the trope in science fiction about narrow-minded Christians 🤪 but an interesting thing about mind control by well-meaning (again) parents.
  
  The other stories sort of make up the difference, but if you can figure out the last one, you're truly a better man than me.
  
  Recommend if you want to read some short sci-fi, but it's pretty middle of the road on the whole, except for the stories I've mentioned.
• 
  Kris Freedain

  An amazing and relatable collection of stories. I really enjoyed this anthology.
• 
  Adjectiveplusnoun

  ARC Review: Entanglements: Tomorrow’s Lovers, Families and Friends (Anthology) by Sheila Williams
  If you enjoy this review, please consider visiting
  my blog for more
  I received an early copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own
  
  As always with anthologies, I will do my best to review each story briefly, and then give an overall impression of the work.
  
  Invisible People by Nancy Kress starts the anthology, and while I found the premise intriguing with some parallels to the modern anti-vax movement, I found the narrator unlikeable and the science of the story a little unrealistic. I had a hard time connecting to any of the characters, and was less interested than I otherwise might have been because of this.
  
  Echo the Echo by Rich Larson is the next up, and I enjoyed the story. The future of dating profiles and technology seemed believable enough while still being entertaining, and the dialogue between the narrator and his grandmother have the familiar feel of oft-repeated conversations. The ending of Echo the Echo was a little bit neatly wrapped for my taste, but I appreciated the message it delivered nonetheless.
  
  Sparklybits by Nick Wolven is next up, and I’m not thrilled with the representation of unconventional parenting, or of a child on the autism spectrum. I liked the story, and the idea of technological ghosts is a fascinating one, but the implications of all of Charlie’s mother’s having tension-filled interplay, and only Jo ‘truly’ caring for him and being his biological mother to be a little on-the-nose, and I didn’t trust any of the adults in the story to look out for Charlie’s best interests. The justification of Charlie’s abnormal behaviour and communication methods also rubbed me the wrong way, and I wish I had found at least one of the characters (Sparklybits aside) sympathetic. Instead the story was almost like Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Ernest, where the characters were overblown parodies of the folly of society—in this case I must assume neurotypical parents trying to ‘better’ a child by taking away his coping mechanisms. I also wish the idea of a communal family wasn’t tarred with the brush of toxic competitiveness, as I believe large support groups for children (particularly neuro-divergent children) could be incredibly helpful.
  
  A Little Wisdom by Mary Robinette Kowal is one of my favourites from the book, and I loved the seamless integration of Gail’s job, disability and relationships. The technology used in the book to treat Gail’s Parkinson’s was thoroughly believable, and I loved that while her life was altered by her illness, she was still fully in control of her life and competent in her career. The interplay between humanity and nature, art and the divine, fear and the small beauty around us, was explored beautifully in this story, and while the culminating threat in this story could have been foreshadowed a little more, I thoroughly enjoyed this story.
  
  James Patrick Kelly’s Your Boyfriend Experience is next, and while the first page or two were a little confusing, I thought the story was engaging and took an interesting look at the ethics of robots. Dak, Jin and Tate were interesting characters, and I liked learning more of the dynamics of Jin and Dak’s relationship as the story went on. A small note, but I found the mention of straight men, gay men, and women at the beginning of the book to be a little jarring. Most likely it was a simple oversight, but I find it hard to believe that lesbians and other WLW wouldn’t also be a part of the market for female playbots. Aeri and Sofia added interesting touches to the story, and I like the inclusion of various opinions on the topic of playbots, as this variation added believability to the story. The ending of Your Boyfriend Experience was a little vague, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
  
  Mediation by Cadwell Turnbull was well-written, and I enjoyed the slow reveal of the inciting events of the novel, though I wish the feelings of Dr Lyon’s children had been explored a little more. The use of the mediation program to both lay bare the narrator’s actions and motivations was effective, and I enjoyed the neat way the conflict both evolved and resolved.
  
  Sam J Miller’s The Nation of the Sick is up next, and I loved the elegant way Austin’s relationship with Colby was woven throughout the story surrounding Cybil’s disappearance. I wish the plot had been stronger, and the conclusion more definite, but I loved the poetic, dreamy feel of this story, and the optimistic use of technology to improve the world that was presented.
  
  Don’t Mind Me by Susanne Palmer was another great addition to this anthology, and the idea of minders as real-world censors is eerily believable. Jake is a sympathetic character, and I appreciated the commentary on intersectionalism included in this story. While Jake is being wronged, his female, black or less fortunate compatriots with minders are suffering in different and layered ways due to their disadvantages. The ending of this story did seem slightly unrealistic to me, but I appreciated the optimistic view of growing up, and learning to hold your own. I was reminded at times of Melina Marchetta’s novel, On the Jellicoe Road, and really appreciated the found family feeling of the clean-up/study group.
  
  The Monogamy Hormone by Annalee Newitz was an interesting read, and I was glad for the change of tone that a romantic drama provided at this point in the anthology. The science of this story was funny, well-integrated, and overall a nice touch in The Monogamy Hormone. I at first found Edwina annoying, but eventually came to appreciate her and sympathise with her struggle against her own perception of her choices. Augie and Chester were both refreshingly mature about her conflict, and I enjoyed the way this story resolved.
  
  The anthology wraps up with Xia Jia’s The Monk of Lingyin Temple, translated by Ken Liu, an incredible story that I’m glad I read. The seamless integration of technology with philosophy and religion was a great change of pace, and I loved that there was never a false dichotomy of faith vs tech. I was reminded a little at times of Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange, though the tone of The Monk of Lingyin Temple was nothing similar, instead having a dreamy, peaceful feeling, set as it is throughout a set of monastic rites. The characters presented were sympathetic and well-rounded, and I believe fans of Raymond E Feist’s work would enjoy this story.
  
  If there’s one criticism I have of this anthology, it’s that each story tends to wrap up very neatly and quite quickly. Everything has such a definite ending, and is written so efficiently, that in some cases it can seem too neat, and detract from the originality of the story. I appreciated the diversity present in this book, both in characters ad authors, and enjoyed the various social issues that the stories in this anthology commented on, paralleled, and attempted to provide solutions for. I found the futuristic integration of technology intriguing, at times touching, and often hair-raisingly likely.
  
  In all, Entanglements is a quick, entertaining anthology that provides ample opportunities for reflection on the future we’re creating, and the opportunities both for growth and problems that this creates. Anyone who enjoys reading science fiction that doesn’t shy away from social commentary will find plenty to enjoy in this anthology, which releases on September 15th, 2020.
• 
  Dan Trefethen

  This MIT-sponsored series is always interesting. They invite top authors to contribute near future stories on a theme. They serve as little tidbits that focus on a particular aspect of our future, usually involving some meaningful change in technology.
  
  Sometimes this seems like a bloodless exercise to showcase the coolest, jazziest tech idea. This year's anthology is different, with the focus being on connections and relationships between people. This focus appears to have deepened the nature of the stories; they have more impact than many in the past.
  
  From Sam Miller's “The Nation of the Sick” which posits a technology shift that completely renounces our current situation, to Cadwell Turnbull's “Mediation” which has very little tech in it, but is a devastating portrayal of the denial in grieving, there is more substance to these stories. A few of them (such as Suzanne Palmer's “Don't Mind Me”) focus on the ability of technology to prevent people from seeing things that authority figures have determined they shouldn't see. Nancy Kress' “Invisible People” asks what would happen if genetic engineering would allow us to increase selflessness; would we pursue that, or resist it as unnatural?
  
  Finally, “The Monk of Lingyin Temple” is a story by Xia Jia, translated by Ken Liu, about a type of technology that supports the karmic balance of life. Again, is this something we would choose for ourselves, either individually or collectively, knowing that it involves trade-offs and bringing pain and suffering as a necessary part of enlightenment?
  
  Absorbing questions from an intriguing collection of stories.
• 
  universolibri

  "Relazioni - amanti, amici e famiglie dal futuro" è una raccolta di racconti sci-fi curata da Sheila Williams, che si focalizza sui legami tra le persone e su come questi possano essere influenzati, sia in modo positivo che negativo, dalla tecnologia.
  
  Il volume inaugura 451, il nuovo progetto di Edizioni BD interamente dedicato al mondo della fantascienza, e contiene dieci racconti di dieci autori più o meno noti sul panorama. Letteralmente: un mix esplosivo di stili, tematiche ed emozioni differenti.
  
  In questa moltitudine di testi, il lettore entra in punta di piedi all'interno di relazioni dal futuro piuttosto strane, complicate, talvolta commoventi e incasinate. Diventa spettatore di dieci storie in cui la tecnologia accompagna la quotidianità delle persone, andando ad aggiungere un valore in più nelle loro relazioni o addirittura migliorandone i loro standard di vita.
  Testi in cui l'evoluzione tecnologica è considerata un mezzo per raggiungere la perfezione, quando, in realtà, questi legami sono bellissimi proprio perché imperfetti.
  
  Di "Relazioni" ho apprezzato ogni cosa, a partire dalla cura dell'edizione e della traduzione dei testi, e, naturalmente, la scelta dei racconti.
  Non vi dirò nulla in più per non rovinarvi la sorpresa, ma sappiate che questa antologia è un vero gioiellino per gli appassionati del genere o per chi chi, come me, non è molto ferrato sull'argomento e vorrebbe esplorarne di più.🚀🔥
• 
  Leslie

  The stories were mostly lackluster, except for those written by Turnbull, Kress, and Palmer. Xia Jia's novella, The Monk of Lingyin Temple, was the only excellent offering. The novella was intriguing and the mystery contained within the story was well explored and ended with a satisfactory surprise. I will keep an eye on Jia but am unlikely to check out the other collections in this series. I was a little disappointed for there are many authors who contributed to this collection that I enjoy, but most of the stories had little substance and left you with no memory of what you read a day later. Never a good sign.
• 
  Micol Benimeo

  Dieci racconti che hanno come fil rouge le relazioni e la tecnologia. Parlano di amanti, amici e famiglie del futuro ma come sempre nella letteratura sci-fi parlano del nostro presente, delle sue minacce e delle sue speranze, dei suoi demoni e delle sue potenzialità.
  Sono dieci visioni diverse, dieci tasselli che illuminano aspetti differenti e si combinano con grazia come poche volte accade nelle antologie. Aprono mondi, pongono domande, lasciano in sospeso, questa è la letteratura del futuro di cui ci innamoriamo.
• 
  Austin Beeman

  ENTANGLEMENTS: TOMORROW’S LOVERS, FAMILIES, AND FRIENDS
  RATED 70% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE: 3.4 OF 5
  10 STORIES : 0 GREAT / 5 GOOD / 4 AVERAGE / 1 POOR / 0 DNF
  
  This really isn’t a bad anthology although it is one of the very few books to not contain a single Great story. There are some good ideas and some competent writing. Which is exactly why I’m incredibly frustrated. Every one of these story had potential and none of them lived up to it.
  
  Modern Science Fiction has intentionally leaned towards characterization and prose style, with the scientific speculation taking a back seat. This is especially true when compared to the great SF writers of past generations who overwhelmed mediocre writing ability with legendary thinking ability. Perhaps, this is why many of the authors seemed to be unwilling to wrestle with their own premises.
  
  “Entanglements” stated purpose is to examine the relationships of the future in many permutations, but many of these stories seemed very stuck into the political and social biases of today. There is very little here that would challenge the received wisdom of the Present.
  
  Examples of underused ideas are:
  * the Coven of shared motherhood from “Sparklybits” with the class divide between the power-Mom’s and the stay-at-home Mom
  * the horror of “Your Boyfriend Experience” and the way sextoy corporation could use robots to infiltrate your relationships
  * Service animal robots and their interlinked role in people’s lives - “A Little Wisdom”
  * “Don’t Mind Me”’s Minder that allows parents to control was their children see and hear. * this one particularly bothered me, because Palmer chose to ignore the complicated social, economic, and political battle-of-ideas that would surround this technology. Instead, the focus is on bland characters and a lack of nuance or interest. I really want to feed this story into an AI that has been trained on the writing of Isaac Asimov.
  
  ***
  
  ENTANGLEMENTS IS RATED 70% POSITIVE
  10 STORIES : 0 GREAT / 5 GOOD / 4 AVERAGE / 1 POOR / 0 DNF
  
  1. Invisible People • novelette by Nancy Kress
  
Good. Lesser Kress, but that still makes this good, smart, and human. A family’s adopted daughter is shown to have been trafficked and experimented on, resulting is strange behavior that may be the future of humanity.
  2. Echo the Echo • short story by Rich Larson

  Good. When I read Rich Larson, I think “That is exactly what the future is going to be like.” This is a story of recorded memories of the elderly and a one-night-stand inspired by AI dating app.
  3. Sparklybits • novelette by Nick Wolven
Good. A group of powerful women share motherhood of a young boy who has started a relationship with a escaped AI.
  4. A Little Wisdom • short story by Mary Robinette Kowal

  Average. A good idea in an eDawg that cares for an elderly woman with Parkinson’s. But the execution gets muddled with tornadoes, office politics, and a bit of heavy-handed moralizing.
  5. Your Boyfriend Experience • novelette by James Patrick Kelly

  Average. Another interesting concept without an appropriate amount of thoughtfulness. A same-sex couple tests out sexbot prototype on a dinner date.
  6. Meditation • short story by Cadwell Turnbull

  Good. Simple story of a AI assisted grieving.
  7. The Nation of the Sick • short story by Sam J. Miller

  Good. On the date that a man is trying to visit his drug-addicted brother, he meets a woman who will transform the world with her products and ideology.
  8. Don't Mind Me • short story by Suzanne Palmer

  Average. Great idea - school children have devices that prevent them from hearing or seeing anything at school that goes against their parents’ beliefs. Lacking in nuance, but also in story and characters. So much wasted potential here.
  9. The Monogamy Hormone • short story by Annalee Newitz

  Poor. Propaganda for Polyamory with very minimal Sci-Fi elements.
  10. The Monk of Lingyin Temple • novelette by Xia Jia

  Average. A Buddhist monastery is also a science laboratory which has invented a way for people to truly experience each other’s suffering. I feel like there were elements of Buddhism imbedded here, but not fulling explained.
  
• 
  Jacob Williams

  This has several great stories:
  
  
  - Nancy Kress's "Invisible People" involves a fascinating, and not very far-fetched, ethical dilemma: parents learn that their adopted child was the result of illegal genetic tampering which made the child heartwarmingly altruistic but also prone to taking major risks. There's an experimental procedure for reversing this; should the parents have the child undergo it?
  - In Rich Larson's "Echo the Echo", a character tries to convince his grandmother to wear a device that will create an "echo" of her—an AI simulation of her that the family can talk to occasionally after she dies. In a heartbreaking comment about the effects old age has had on her, she declares, "I'm already an echo". This story also features a dating app where an AI simulation of you conducts conversations with simulations of other users, then arranges dates for you based on the most promising conversations, along with briefing you on what you might want to talk to them about. I 1000% want this app.
  - Nick Wolven's "Sparklybits" is about a young child who develops a private language with his best friend, a virus-like AI that his committee of mothers don't approve of. Also, it contains this excellent phrase: "hair malfunction at the hippie factory".
  - Mary Robinette Kowal's "A Little Wisdom" depicts a cozy moment amidst trouble: strangers taking shelter from a tornado at an art museum become entranced by miniature artwork.
  - James Patrick Kelly's "Your Boyfriend Experience" takes the idea of sexbots in an unexpected direction: the bot wants to form a throuple with an existing couple, and it seems to be able to smooth over the problems in the couple's relationship. But the bot's life depends on making the throuple a reality, adding a tricky element of emotional blackmail.
  - In Sam J. Miller's "The Nation of the Sick", automated idea generation enables rapid progress across a wide range of fields, which a visionary entrepreneur ensures is all used for the benefit of humanity—but the progress isn't enough to salve her personal pain.
  - Suzanne Palmer's "Don't Mind Me" is a somewhat simplistic vision of a far-right dystopia, but with a fascinating (horrifying) idea at its core: a "minder" device that puritanical parents force children to wear, which wipes the child's short-term memory whenever they're exposed to information the parents find objectionable.
  
  
  (
  crosspost)
• 
  WorldconReader

  Disclaimer: I would like to thank MIT Press for kindly providing a copy of this book to review.
  
  "Entanglements" is edited by the multi-Hugo award winning editor of "Asimov's Science Fiction", Sheila Williams, and published by MIT Press. This anthology contains ten stories by highly acclaimed authors which consider the effect that technology might have on human relationships. This combination makes for powerful stories as the authors explore the human side of gene editing, brain scans to allow interactions with departed loved ones, artificial humans, mind control through memory manipulation, and the complicated intersection of Buddhism, technology, good/evil, and revenge/acceptance, and other topics.
  
  The stories that Shelia Williams edits tend to be the kind of stories that I like. So it is not surprising that I found nearly all of these stories to be quite good, though I particularly recommend Ken Liu's translation of Xia Jia's "The Monk of Lingyin Temple" for its clarity, message, balanced handling of the spiritual with technology, and exotic Buddhism.
• 
  Ben

  Thanks to NetGalley and MIT Press for an ARC of this title.
  
  I love sci-fi/fantasy anthologies because they're a great chance to find new authors, and, for something like this, to see a bunch of different takes on the same general theme -- in this case, relationships, whether they be family, romantic, or something else entirely.
  
  This was just okay, and that's why I think I was disappointed by this. Even with anthologies I love, there's always a story or two that you skip or skim because it's Just Not Your Thing. This unfortunately felt like a book made up of things that weren't doing it for me, from some authors I've read before in the past and loved! There's some interesting ideas here, but a few too many of the stories don't quite hit what they're aiming for.
• 
  Eule Luftschloss

  This anthology is all about relationships, and how they might be influenced by new tech in the future.
  
  The ideas presented in this collection are awesome, from the avatars that chat with each other to test compatibility to nets which capture thoughts and memories to create an afterimage of a person that will remain after their death.
  I really liked the idea of AIs going rogue and haunting a smart house which means you have to call the ghost busters.
  
  But, sadly, I have to say that I enjoyed the ideas more than the execution, hence the three stars.
  
  The arc was provided by the publisher.
• 
  Marco

  Gran bella raccolta che esplora futuri in cui la tecnologia ha chiesto ai protagonisti di fare tabula rasa su discorsi quali morale, affetti e, appunto, relazioni.
  
  Quasi tutti gli scritti sono dei piccoli "what if", alcuni più ispirati di altri (così a pelle mi sembra che gli ultimi siano i più deboli, e anche i peggio scritti), alcuni scopiazzati paro paro da serie TV o altri libri, ma riproposti comunque in chiave leggermente diversa e quindi comunque interessante.
• 
  Katy

  As with any short story collection, I thought some were better/more thoughtful/engaging etc, but overall I enjoyed them. Considering how new tech will influence the way we interact with each other is very much a theme I enjoy, and I believe several of these explorations will stay with me.