32 ms·
This, along with "It Looks Like You’re Trying To Take Over The World"[0] are two of my favorite short pieces of speculative fiction that embody the Frederik Poh
by jkingsman 3y ago
This, along with "It Looks Like You’re Trying To Take Over The World"[0] are two of my favorite short pieces of speculative fiction that embody the Frederik Pohl quote, "a good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam."
This story, a sequel, and other great short stories are collected in his book of ten short stories "Valuable Humans in Transit".[1] I'm a big fan of supporting indie scifi offered with DRM-free ebooks! [I am not affiliated with qntm despite my enthusiasm]
[0]: It Looks Like You’re Trying To Take Over The World: https://gwern.net/fiction/clippy https://gwern.net/fiction/clippy
[1]: Valuable Humans in Transit: https://qntm.org/vhitaos https://qntm.org/vhitaos
- marcellus23 3y agoI didn't realize this was the same person who wrote Fine Structure! That book is amazing. Definitely going to pick up their other books now.
- jkingsman 3y agoOoh I haven't read that one. Next on the list!
- LeifCarrotson 3y agoI'm a big fan of Ra, the hardcover is on the top of my bookshelf right now!
- mhink 3y agoSo, I wasn't that big a fan of the Clippy story (probably not the target reader here) but the QNTM one was *fantastic*.
- aloe_falsa 3y agoFunnily enough, "MMAcevedo" doesn't break my suspension of disbelief, while "Clippy" does, hard - even though it tries to stay grounded in reality and drown you in quotes and references.
- nmeofthestate 3y agoWhat happened at the end of It Looks Like etc, after it's killed all humans, and it launches the ICBMs? Does it decide to kill itself for some reason? Couldn't decipher that.
- Philpax 3y agoIt’s not nuking Earth; the ICBMs are reconfigured into self-replicating spacecraft whose mission is to spread the glory of Clippy to the rest of the universe.