Contains explicit material

Soft Apocalypse

Soft Apocalypse book coverAs atmospheric carbon rises towards 450 units per million and the pitch of climatologists reach higher levels of alarm, Soft Apocalypse offers a worst-case scenario of what a slow collapse of society might look like from the inside. Where McIntosh's Bridesicle/Love Minus 80 revolved around a misuse of life-saving technology, Soft Apocalypse is an avalanche of Hell unleashed on our planet. It is futurehorror without a Freddy or Michael, where the bad guys numbered in billions around the globe. Many of them bad guys who live among us today, but who haven't been forced to show their true natures as long as the distractions of civilization keep them in check.

This story could easily be the world outside as everything unraveled in Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Watching the slow collapse of society through Jasper's narrative, we see humanity returning to its fierce roots as the veneer of civilization is slowly stripped away. Soft Apocalypse is a message you live through as you read it.

33 Sci-Fi Stories by Philip K. Dick as Free Audio Books & Free eBooks

Philip K. DickOpen Culture has put together a list of Philip K Dick stories freely available for download. This includes 33 eTexts in a variety of formats such as PDF, epub and Mobi formats. Seven of these are also available in audio formats for your listening pleasure.

33 Sci-Fi Stories by Philip K. Dick

CryptoDNA

Microscopic view of a virusHis alarm sounded, followed by three pings to let him know that many messages were waiting. Jack rolled over, grabbing his phone off the stand and heading for the toilet. Blinking, he palmed his right eye. It was hazy, like a filmy shower door.

Taking a seat, Jack's stomach rumbled and a tension headache was working up his neck. The flu? he wondered, but a quick review of his phone's health sensors didn't show anything of concern. They weren't infallible, but they'd catch any substantial temperature increase.

Jack thumbed up the first message and squinted. Rsrv @ Ice House 8:30. Dinner with his brother, Earl. He flipped it to his calendar and pulled up the next as his stomach made a fuss. Package printed, ready for shipping. Track via Y8DK848785984. He tapped the code and it shot offscreen to his tracking software. His stomach emptied so hard he shivered.

TiMER (2010 comedy)

Timer movie posterWhile most science fiction uses action films to hide ways to make us think, TiMER is a relationship comedy. Set in a future where a wearable device counts down the time until the wearer is destined to meet his or her soul mate, this soft science fiction film looks at what we lose when we give too much control to a technology.

In the film, Oona (played by Emma Caulfield from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) has a TiMER that doesn't register a number - meaning her soul mate has not yet had a TiMER installed. The film explores the myriad ways the service influences how users seek, wait, and find love. It's an interesting film that is a nice break from the explosion filled dystopias Hollywood tends to produce.

No Maps For These Territories

No Maps DVD coverAn independent documentary by Mark Neale, No Maps puts William Gibson in the back of a limo and provides an informal interview while riding around North America, Ireland, and the UK. Most of the content is Gibson's responses to unheard questions with the presentation coming off as a stream of consciousness.

Covering a range of topics, Gibson provides his views on culture, the current technology revolution, and his writing process. It's a rare and interesting opportunity to hear thoughts from a winner of both the Hugo and Nebula awards (both for his novel Neuromancer) and worth the time to enjoy.

River of Gods

 

River of Gods coverIt's 2047, a hundred years after India gained independence from Britain, River of Gods is set in a country now broken into smaller nations. There hasn't been a monsoon season in years, resulting in a parched region with a Ganges trickling through Varanasi after being dammed upstream - a dam that has two nations on the edge of war.

The world is a different place in 2047. Genetic modification is everywhere, including superchildren and gender neutralizing body modifications. Artificial intelligence operates at different levels, some of them above the limits banned by international treaty. Otherwise, much of India is still poor, water is even more scarce, and the caste system carries on with only a few adjustments.

However, the Americans have found something deep in space. An object that causes a lot of questions and sends a specialist in search of her former lover. In India, someone else finds him first, someone with a strange past and who might not be completely human. Meanwhile, Mr. Nandha, one of the Krishna Cops, is hunting aeai's (artificial intelligence) with his team.

A winner of the British Science Fiction Association award and a nominee for both the Arthur C. Clarke Award and Hugo Award, River of Gods is a wild ride through a futuristic Indian culture. The complexity of the story, presenting normal human lives and emotions intertwined with decades of advancements, presents a believable backdrop against which events unfold.

Her (2013)

Her - setting up the computerTheodore Twombly is an introvert going through divorce. After he purchases an operating system designed to be a virtual friend, Theodore become emotionally attached to 'Samantha' and enters into a romantic relationship with her. - her being the artificial intelligence in his computer. Her follows their relationship through the typical trials most human relationships go through, with the added issues of a virtual companion who attempts to satisfy their 'lover' through a variety of emotional and romantic experiences.

At its heart, Her is a relationship film set around two very different people, one made of code, attempting to find common ground. It explores the variety of their relationship from Theodore's viewpoint, though Samantha's growth and issues are also represented throughout the story. As the story unfolds and the relationship goes through its ups and downs, we get a sense of this new and fragile pairing.

Nominated for five Academy Awards, Her won best screenplay in addition to being nominated for best picture. With a laid back, futuristic setting and a story presented through conversation and emotion, Her isn't just science fiction, it's a brilliant look at a future where artificial intelligence, and also artificial emotion, impacts the individual.

The Gate (2011 short film)

Screen capture from The Gate The Gate is a short film depicting a horrific event where humans are modified via unlicensed pharmaceuticals. Using a governmental review of the event as the structure, flashing back to images of mutants and conflict with authorities, it presents how the events came about and who was effected. A brief glance at what could happen if current pharmaceutical practices continue as the ability to manufacture designer drugs become the norm.

Afterparty

Afterparty book coverSet in the near future, Afterparty explores a world where psychoactive drugs are printable. All you need is a chemjet printer and an Internet connection to begin printing designer drugs on paper, which is torn up and digested for each hit. The story follows Lyda Rose, one of the five founders of Little Sprout, a group trying to find a cure for schizophrenia, a condition from which Lyda's mother suffered.

The group is successful and Numinous is ready for trials when an event changes their lives. In high enough doses, Numinous permanently alters the user's perception by imprinting a bond with whatever god they believe in, often paired with hallucinations of a holy figure to watch over or even run their lives. Lyda believed the recipe was off the market, but then someone shows up in her ward who is clearly under its effect.

Angered by this, Lyda leaves care early with plans to find the source. With help from a few friends, not all of them real, she goes on a thrilling adventure across Canada and the United States in search of answers.

Splice (2009)

View of the spliced creatureAs genetic engineering progresses, humanity will be faced with issues of morality time and time again. Splice looks at the field of artificial life and the specific issue of combining human and non-human DNA. In the film, two researchers, facing the loss of their research, decide to combine human and animal DNA to create a new life form - just to prove it can be done. Once the birth occurs, each has a different response to the creature and those responses change over time as Dren develops towards adulthood.

The plot focuses on the different relationships Clive and Elsa have to the being they have birthed for science. Fearing their employer's response, they hide Dren and eventually mover her off site to protect her. Dren's development affects both scientists in different ways, with each responding to Dren and each other in different and sometimes horrific ways.

 

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