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A review by yevolem
Fast Times at Fairmont High by Vernor Vinge
3.0
In this novella set in what has become an alternate present (~2025) Juan Orozco is an eighth grader in San Diego, California. The times are different than they were in the ancient history of the 20th century. They're fast now. What their parents had years to learn, their children now have only days. Everything so moves so fast that what was an employable skill a year ago is now completely obsolete. You've got to be as adaptable as possible and willing to do whatever it takes. Not only are you expected to make full use of your own talents, you also need to use AI and networks, both human and digital. What you personally know doesn't matter anywhere as much as knowing how to find out who knows, whether that's AI or some arbitrary person anywhere in the world. That's what the ambient Internet of Things is for. If you aren't enough on your own, then you'll have to use drugs and implants. It's your own fault if you can't keep it up. You'll just have to join the mass of unemployables. No one may be able to differentiate between what's real or not any longer, but that doesn't matter. Common sense and non-marketable knowledge are irrelevant. All that matters is that you don't become obsolete. If you aren't employable, then you're dead weight on everyone. Don't be a loser. Dedicate all that you are to becoming the best contributor that you can be.
Juan thinks he had it made with his nootropics and Bertie Todd, a remote classmate, both in the sense of not being physically present and being emotionally distant. Sure, he's being manipulated, but that comes with its benefits. Then there's Miriam, Miri, Gu. She's a top student whose parents were sent to Chinese American detainment camps during the war, though her mother was and remains part of the US military. For them it's time for their final exams. The students are graded on how much they contribute, whether financially or scientifically. The minimum for a passing grade is three times the cost of their tuition. If you aren't able to make a lot of money, then you don't deserve to graduate. One of the exams is an unaided skills test, which is clearly unfair and barbarous. How can anyone bear to be away from their smart devices, let alone do anything without them? Surely the rule is meant to be broken and then not to be found out.
This is mildly interesting and amusing, but nothing more than that. It doesn't go anywhere other than presenting its world and the characters are merely adequate. That suffices for me and it was enough to win a Hugo Award. I haven't read the book, Rainbows End, that takes place in this setting or the one its title comes from, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, so I can't say how they're related. Reading this hasn't made me want to read the novel, so I may not, though I'll read more from Vinge at some later time, as I've yet to read anything novel length from him. This was suggested for me to read.
Juan thinks he had it made with his nootropics and Bertie Todd, a remote classmate, both in the sense of not being physically present and being emotionally distant. Sure, he's being manipulated, but that comes with its benefits. Then there's Miriam, Miri, Gu. She's a top student whose parents were sent to Chinese American detainment camps during the war, though her mother was and remains part of the US military. For them it's time for their final exams. The students are graded on how much they contribute, whether financially or scientifically. The minimum for a passing grade is three times the cost of their tuition. If you aren't able to make a lot of money, then you don't deserve to graduate. One of the exams is an unaided skills test, which is clearly unfair and barbarous. How can anyone bear to be away from their smart devices, let alone do anything without them? Surely the rule is meant to be broken and then not to be found out.
This is mildly interesting and amusing, but nothing more than that. It doesn't go anywhere other than presenting its world and the characters are merely adequate. That suffices for me and it was enough to win a Hugo Award. I haven't read the book, Rainbows End, that takes place in this setting or the one its title comes from, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, so I can't say how they're related. Reading this hasn't made me want to read the novel, so I may not, though I'll read more from Vinge at some later time, as I've yet to read anything novel length from him. This was suggested for me to read.