Ambiguity machines & other stories

First Title Value for Searching:

Personal Author:

Singh, Vandana

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

320 pages ; 22 cm.

Genre:

Science fiction.

Short stories.

Summary:

"We think we're all moving together through space and time at the same speed and in the same direction, yet the universe is far stranger than that. The stories in this collection explore and celebrate this world and others and characters who are trying to make sense of the people they meet, what they see, and the challenges they face"--

Contents:

With fate conspire -- A handful of rice -- Peripeteia -- Lifepod -- Oblivion : a journey -- Somadeva : a Sky River sutra -- Are you Sannata3I59? -- Indra's web -- Ruminations in an alien tongue -- Sailing the Antarsa -- Cry of the kharchal -- Wake-rider -- Ambiguity machines : an examination -- Requiem.

Subject Term:

Interpersonal relations -- Fiction.

Life change events -- Fiction

Short stories, American

Publication Info:

Easthampton, MA : Small Beer Press, 2018.

Subject:

Interpersonal relations -- Fiction.

Life change events -- Fiction

Short stories, American

Science fiction.

Short stories.

Human relations

Interpersonal relationships

Personal relations

Relations, Interpersonal

Relationships, Interpersonal

Social behavior

American short stories

SAILS ISBN:

9781618731432

Available:

Library	Shelf Number	Shelf Location	Status
Searching... Fairhaven-Millicent	SCI SINGH VANDANA AMBIGUITY	SCIENCE FICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Mattapoisett Free Public Library	SF SIN	FICTION	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Philip K. Dick Award finalist

Praise for Vandana Singh:

"A most promising and original young writer."--Ursula K. Le Guin

"Lovely! What a pleasure this book is . . . full of warmth, compassion, affection, high comedy and low."--Molly Gloss, author of The Hearts of Horses

"Vandana Singh's radiant protagonist is a planet unto herself."--Village Voice

"Sweeping starscapes and daring cosmology that make Singh a worthy heir to Cordwainer Smith and Arthur C. Clarke."--Chris Moriarty, Fantasy & Science Fiction

"I'm looking forward to the collection . . . everything I've read has impressed me--the past and future visions in 'Delhi', the intensity of 'Thirst', the feeling of escape at the end of 'The Tetrahedron'..." --Niall Harrison, Vector (British Science Fiction Association)

"...the first writer of Indian origin to make a serious mark in the SF world ... she writes with such a beguiling touch of the strange." --Nilanjana Roy, Business Standard

In her first North American collection, Vandana Singh's deep humanism interplays with her scientific background in stories that explore and celebrate this world and others and characters who are trying to make sense of the people they meet, what they see, and the challenges they face. An eleventh century poet wakes to find he is as an artificially intelligent companion on a starship. A woman of no account has the ability to look into the past. In "Requiem," a major new novella, a woman goes to Alaska to try and make sense of her aunt's disappearance.

Singh's stories have been performed on BBC radio, been finalists for the British SF Association award, selected for the Tiptree award honor list, and oft reprinted in Best of the Year anthologies. Her dives deep into the vast strangeness of the universe without and within and with her unblinking clear vision she explores the ways we move through space and time: together, yet always apart.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

A delicate touch and passionately humanist sensibilities sweep through this magnificent collection, which ranges from the near future of our world to eras far away in space and time. Highlights include "With Fate Conspire," in which Gargi, taken from slum life because of her ability to use a device which lets her look through time, has more power to influence history than the scientists around her suspect; "Somadeva: A Sky River Sutra," about an 11th-century Indian poet who has become the companion of a spacefaring folklorist; and "Ambiguity Machines: An Examination," a story in the form of a test that pushes the limits of narrative by trying to define what is not possible rather than what is. The short piece "Indra's Web" is more interested in depicting its solar-powered utopia than in plot or characterization, but in general this collection is full of risky experiments that turn out beautifully: colorful, emotionally resonant, and consistently entertaining. Refreshingly for this flavor of SF, the protagonists are often bright, passionate women in middle life, driven by some kind of art or science or cause and in no way defined by their relationships with men. Those not familiar with physicist and SF author Singh (Younguncle Comes to Town) will find this a perfect introduction to her work. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Singh's dexterous hand for speculative science fiction is on full display in this lyrical and humanist collection. In each story, keen and ruthless female protagonists work to make sense of a world that has been defeated by the violence of nature. Climate change, atmospheric inhabitability, time travel, and interuniversal travel are only some of the epic walls to be scaled by Singh's characters. While many narratives of the book capitalize on the limitlessness of fantasy, most have roots in very possible, very scary natural disasters. In Indra's Web, a knife of a woman faces the possible failure of the slum-turned-utopian-solar-farm community she has built. In Requiem, a heartbroken niece travels to Alaska to explore the bizarre loss of her aunt following a devastating rise in temperature. The pieces vary in length and lightness, making for an intriguing adventure across the author's concepts of time and space. Singh, both a physicist and wordsmith, is developing an exciting new subgenre all her own, and Ambiguity Machines is an enjoyable introduction to her voice.--Eathorne, Courtney Copyright 2018 Booklist

Library Journal Review

Several of the 14 beautifully written stories collected here have been either performed on BBC radio, finalists for the British SF Association Award, selected for the Tiptree Award honor list, and/or reprinted in "best of the year" anthologies. In "Wake-Rider," a young woman faces death in different forms as she also contemplates the possibilities of her life. In "Oblivion: A Journey," a long-held need for revenge keeps the protagonist striving for life beyond death until the realization sets in that mortality may be the only relief. The heroine of "Requiem" travels to Alaska a year after her aunt's disappearance, -seeking answers. All of the stories here feature characters who are trying to discover the nature of their existence and how their lives connect others. VERDICT Rising star Singh draws on her Indian roots and physics background to bring her first North American collection to readers. Admirers of literary sf will want to read this.-KC © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

With Fate Conspire	p. 1
A Handful of Rice	p. 25
Peripeteia	p. 53
Lifepod	p. 67
Oblivion: A Journey	p. 81
Somadeva: A Sky River Sutra	p. 107
Are you Sannata3159?	p. 123
Indra's Web	p. 145
Ruminations in an Alien Tongue	p. 155
Sailing the Antarsa	p. 173
Cry of the Kharchal	p. 213
Wake-Rider	p. 235
Ambiguity Machines: An Examination	p. 249
Requiem	p. 271

Available:

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Booklist Review

Library Journal Review

Table of Contents