Nanotech, edited by G. Dozois and J.Dann. A book review by jpoc.

Nanotech edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

A great anthology on the theme of Nanotechnonogy.

A readable, thought provoking series of stories on the theme of nanotechnology. Eight short stories, one poem and a novella. No bad stories and one truely great one.

I liked this book a lot. I had only read one of the stories before in a magazine anthology. The others were new to me.

The highlight of the book is "We were out of our minds with joy" by David Marusek. This story has enough in the way of ideas and development potential to spawn a novel*. The price is worth paying for this novella alone. Indeed, at the price, it seems like a bargain!

While Marusek is still an emerging talent, other authors featured here such as Bear, Egan, di Fillipo and Baxter will be more familiar.

At the end of the book, the editors add a list of further reading on the same subject. I will be following up a number of their suggestions.

*I have received an email from Marusek to the effect that he is working on a novel based on this story but set some years after the events in the story. I'm looking forward to that.

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JPOC Rating

Eight out of ten. Well worth it. Indeed, the price seems ot be a real bargain!

List of contents.

Bear, Greg: "Blood Music"
A story about early experiments and infections with nanomachines. 5/10

Kress, Nancy: "Margin of Error"
Murder most nano! 6/10

Egan, Greg: "Axiomatic"
A world where you can buy emotions, thoughts beliefs etc. But what will people use this for? 8/10

Flynn, Michael F.: "Remember'd Kisses"
Can a man recreate his dead wife by applying nanotech to another person? 4/10

McDonald, Ian: "Recording Angel"
A "grey goo" story about the world under attack. 4/10

Goonan, Kathleen Ann: "Sunflowers"
Another tale about the quest to regain lost loved ones. This time, the loss and the quest both use the same technology. 4/10

Baxter, Stephen: "The Logic Pool"
Is a "grey goo" sentient and if so, what does it think? 6/10

di Fillipo, Paul: "Any Major Dude"
A love triangle as the word falls into the ineluctable grip of a liberated technology. 8/10

Marusek, David: "We Were Out of Our Minds With Joy"
Two people in love are challenged when one suffers irreversible changes. Great technology and characters. 9/10

Landis, Geoffrey A.: "Willy in the Nano-Lab"
A sort of poor mans Hillair Belloc poem for the nanotech age. 4/10