Tides from the New Worlds: Anakoinosis

Tides from the New Worlds: Anakoinosis by Tobias Buckell

Installment 4

Anakoinosis is the word used to describe the breeding process of an alien species encountered by a group of spaceship-wrecked colonists, but the meaning goes far beyond just “reproduction”. It means the passing on of knowledge and learning, from one generation to the next, through genetic memories. That is how the whiffet pass on information from one generation to the next.

The main character in this story has no name. He/she is merely is, a being conscious and cognizant from birth with the knowledge of its parent, imparted at conception. A group of human colonists have crash landed unexpectedly on an unexplored world, and this leads to the two species meeting and forming a strange and unsettling relationship. In exchange for human technology, the whiffet people basically hand over their offspring as indentured servants, or realistically, as slaves.

The humans wish only to repair their ship and return to their original flight plan, but as their machines begin to break down, they start relying more and more on the raw labor provided by the whiffets. NN-721, as his/her ownership tattoo proclaims, is one among many who merely want to learn from the strange humans, but with a master unlike the others. The master sees something very wrong with this relationship, and does anything and everything possible to try and get his whiffet to see the realities and problems inherent in a society based on slavery.

This story brings to mind our own world’s history with slavery. In the United States, the North beat the South partly through technological advantages. If the South had not relied so heavily on slave labor, would they have innovated more? Does depravity and inhumanity cause us to become less than human? Humanity prides itself on the progress we continually make, and part of that progress is the fair and honest treatment of our fellow man. What happens when we fail to extend that attitude towards other creatures?

Perhaps this story is what would happen. Read it to find out how the master and NN-721 begin to change the whiffet people into something others might recognize as human. Buckell has created an interesting race and posed very serious questions to his readers in this short.

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You can check out Tobias Buckell on his website, or follow him on Twitter @tobiasbuckell
The master post can be found here, Tides from the New Worlds

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Tides from the New Worlds: Io, Robot

Tides from the New Worlds: Io, Robot by Tobias Buckell

Installment 3

An obvious nod to Isaac Asimov (even says so in his introduction) with its references to the three laws of robotics, Io, Robot also strikes me in its similarities to WALL-E, which is funny considering this story precedes that movie. Sam (Semi Autonomous Machine) is a data collection unit on one of the moons of Jupiter, specifically Io. It has been stranded there for twenty years, compiling information and cannibalizing its fellow robots for spare parts.

When it encounters humans again for the first time since it came to Io, interesting questions start to arise. What makes someone human? Will our dependence and integration with technology one day make us more machine than man or woman? What will the machines under our control think of us (if they think) when we begin to look more like them and less like ourselves?

I admit, this story was actually a very creepy read for me. Sam is not WALL-E, whatever superficial similarities there are between them. This is not a cute and cuddly robot that has been anthropomorphized. This is very much a cold machine, with very calculating thoughts. The ending is surprising and chilling, and makes you think about all those hours you spend attached to your electronics. Would you make good spare parts for them?

Io, Robot is really where this anthology starts to take off.

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You can check out Tobias Buckell on his website, or follow him on Twitter @tobiasbuckell
The master post can be found here, Tides from the New Worlds

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Tides from the New Worlds: In the Heart of Kalikuata

Tides from the New Worlds: In the Heart of Kalikuata by Tobias Buckell

Installment 2

This story centers around Andrea, a woman sentenced to indentured servitude after being shipped from her old home planet of Loki to the new Kalikuata, a cylindrical Orbital that’s basically a version of India in space. It begins with her disguised as a man and working as a rickshaw puller in order to pay off her handlers. Her rickshaw is designed to record the conversations of her illustrious passengers, and she is rewarded based on what is overheard.

When a simple assignment to carry a man from the spaceport to his estate goes awry, Andrea begins to realize that no matter where she ends up in the universe, she can’t continue to go on running from her problems.

Again I am impressed by the themes Buckell addresses in his story. Not only is Andrea a woman, she’s a woman of color. There’s a very telling line in this story, where Andrea accuses her handlers of using her based on her skin color. She’s dark skinned where they are white, she’s stuck doing the manual labor while they listen on high tech electronic devices in air conditioned rooms.

It’s the third world in space, and she’s found herself in a position where she has to decide whether to continue being used, or try and make a life for herself by standing up for herself. Nobody else is going to come and save this damsel in distress.

It’s a pro-woman, pro-people of color story, and the ending is very satisfying. You can still tell this is early days for Buckell, but the story is richer and more filled out than Fish Merchant. I can’t wait to share the rest of the anthology.

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Tides from the New Worlds: The Fish Merchant

Tides from the New Worlds: The Fish Merchant by Tobias Buckell

Installment 1

The first short story in the anthology, you can tell right away that Fish Merchant is one of Buckell’s earlier works. There are times were the narrative doesn’t flow very well, and the story in general lacks some of the fleshed out feeling of what you’ll read later on.

Set in China, it follows the day of Li Hao-Chang, a common and somewhat poverty-stricken fish merchant. In a chance encounter in the market with a black man named Pepper, Li’s life is changed forever. This story bring up themes of national isolation and what happens when world changing events occur in a country that has a policy of news blockades.

It also brings up the idea of what consequences there would be if normal average people were suddenly involved in events beyond their understanding or control. It’s not always grand adventure and glory and honor at the end. This story was very sad for me to read, in that I know China’s government really does hold these policies, but the end of the short is so very hopeful that I feel like someday things will be all right.

I was impressed that one of Buckell’s first stories was set in a country and culture so very different from ours, and with characters of color as the main antagonist and protagonist. He managed to handle the setting and wording in a respectful and well-written manner. Pepper is a fascinating character and I hope Buckell uses him again.

The one woman in the story was a little underdeveloped, in that we didn’t hear her story from her own mouth, we heard it through reminiscing in Li’s head. What else happens to her, I won’t say, but I’m glad that some of the stories in the rest of the anthology feature strong women and make up for this one.

All in all, this is a good start to the anthology, and I’m sure you’re all dying to hear what else is in store. Look for more tomorrow.

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