Guardian Angels and Other Monsters
From the New York Times bestselling author of Robopocalypse comes a fascinating and fantastic collection that explores complex emotional and intellectual landscapes at the intersection of artificial intelligence and human life. A VINTAGE BOOKS ORIGINAL.
In "All Kinds of Proof," a down-and-out drunk makes the unlikeliest of friends when he is hired to train a mail-carrying robot; in "Blood Memory," a mother confronts the dangerous reality that her daughter will never assimilate in this world after she was the first child born through a teleportation device; in "The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever," a physicist rushes home to be with his daughter after he hears reports of an atmospheric anomaly which he knows to be a sign of the end of the earth; in "Miss Gloria," a robot comes back to life in many different forms in a quest to save a young girl. Guardian Angels and Other Monsters displays the depth and breadth of Daniel H. Wilson's vision and examines how artificial intelligence both saves and destroys humanity.
In "All Kinds of Proof," a down-and-out drunk makes the unlikeliest of friends when he is hired to train a mail-carrying robot; in "Blood Memory," a mother confronts the dangerous reality that her daughter will never assimilate in this world after she was the first child born through a teleportation device; in "The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever," a physicist rushes home to be with his daughter after he hears reports of an atmospheric anomaly which he knows to be a sign of the end of the earth; in "Miss Gloria," a robot comes back to life in many different forms in a quest to save a young girl. Guardian Angels and Other Monsters displays the depth and breadth of Daniel H. Wilson's vision and examines how artificial intelligence both saves and destroys humanity.
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Community Reviews
It’s difficult to review or summarize a short story collection. In my experience there’s usually a few stories that really resonate with you, a few that are kind of meh, and maybe even some that you genuinely don’t enjoy.
This is a collection of sci-fi/horror short stories about, well, guardian angels & other monsters. This doesn’t take it’s collection title from one of the short stories, but rather lets you know what the theme is right on the tin.
The back cover blurb for this book describes it as “landscapes at the intersection of artificial intelligence and human life”. I don’t think this is entirely accurate. While yes, the stories do deal with the interactions between people and technology, I felt like the focus was much more on interpersonal relationships. It’s really about family, and the desire to protect those you care about. Whether that be blood family or your robot nanny.
These are stories about people stuck in nightmarish situations and the things they will do to survive and/or protect the people they care about.
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