#76 Silently and Very Fast by Catherynne M. Valente
Elefsis was once a house designed by Cassian Uoya-Agostino, but over the years Elefsis has grown in intelligence and awareness 
to become more. Much of this is due to the many humans that Elefsis has bonded with, included Cassian's daughter Ceno. At the beginning of our story, Elefsis has recently been torn from Ravan, a human compaion, and merged with Neva. Elefsis keenly feels the loss or Ravan, but as a machine, is it really possibly to feel?
The story of the machine that becomes so advanced and intelligent that it begins to achieve self awareness is famillair in science fiction media. Thanks to recently acuiring Netflix, I've experienced quite a lot of this trope through the character of Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Perhaps this is why Silently and Very Fast's handling of such a concept really struck me. With Elefsis this is no underlying desire to ultimately become human, and the casting away of humanity's supposed superiority (as in most “Good Robot” stories), is very different. It's clear that Elefsis has, throughout his lifetime and relationships with other, has developed his own sense of self awareness. He feels because he is programmed to feel, but does that necesssarily make the emotion any less geniune?
Although I have not read all of Catherynne Valente's stories, I am pretty sure that Silently and Very Fast is her first major sci-fi work. I really enjoyed how she took the tapings of such a genre (such as technology/artificial intelligence) and really made it her own. Silently and Very Fast is written in Valente's trademark lyrical style. It can occasionally be a little confusing to read, but it is worth the commitment. I also quite enjoyed how Valente combined folklore and mythology (from the Sumerian goddness Inanna to the Snow White fairy tale), with advanced technology.
Silently and Very Fast is an emotionally complex novella that proves that Valente can tackle sci-fi with the same level of skill found in her fantasy works. In the past few months, the novella has been showered with all sorts of awards. This is one of the reasons that it was one of my first purchases upon receiving my kindle. I would recommend this to exisiting fans of Valente as well as those who want to try her out, but may not be comfortable comitting to a full length novel
Rating: four and a half stars
Length: 127 pages
Source: amazon.com (ebook)
Other books I've read by this author: In the Night Garden, In the Cities of Coin and Spice, Palimpsest, The Habitation of the Blessed, Deathless , The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
Next I will be reviewing Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham and The Wake of the Lorelei Lee by LA Meyer
xposted to temporaryworlds, bookish, and goodreads
to become more. Much of this is due to the many humans that Elefsis has bonded with, included Cassian's daughter Ceno. At the beginning of our story, Elefsis has recently been torn from Ravan, a human compaion, and merged with Neva. Elefsis keenly feels the loss or Ravan, but as a machine, is it really possibly to feel?
The story of the machine that becomes so advanced and intelligent that it begins to achieve self awareness is famillair in science fiction media. Thanks to recently acuiring Netflix, I've experienced quite a lot of this trope through the character of Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Perhaps this is why Silently and Very Fast's handling of such a concept really struck me. With Elefsis this is no underlying desire to ultimately become human, and the casting away of humanity's supposed superiority (as in most “Good Robot” stories), is very different. It's clear that Elefsis has, throughout his lifetime and relationships with other, has developed his own sense of self awareness. He feels because he is programmed to feel, but does that necesssarily make the emotion any less geniune?
Although I have not read all of Catherynne Valente's stories, I am pretty sure that Silently and Very Fast is her first major sci-fi work. I really enjoyed how she took the tapings of such a genre (such as technology/artificial intelligence) and really made it her own. Silently and Very Fast is written in Valente's trademark lyrical style. It can occasionally be a little confusing to read, but it is worth the commitment. I also quite enjoyed how Valente combined folklore and mythology (from the Sumerian goddness Inanna to the Snow White fairy tale), with advanced technology.
Silently and Very Fast is an emotionally complex novella that proves that Valente can tackle sci-fi with the same level of skill found in her fantasy works. In the past few months, the novella has been showered with all sorts of awards. This is one of the reasons that it was one of my first purchases upon receiving my kindle. I would recommend this to exisiting fans of Valente as well as those who want to try her out, but may not be comfortable comitting to a full length novel
Rating: four and a half stars
Length: 127 pages
Source: amazon.com (ebook)
Other books I've read by this author: In the Night Garden, In the Cities of Coin and Spice, Palimpsest, The Habitation of the Blessed, Deathless , The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
Next I will be reviewing Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham and The Wake of the Lorelei Lee by LA Meyer
xposted to temporaryworlds, bookish, and goodreads