A review by dr_matthew_lloyd
Upgraded by Neil Clarke
3.0
As with any short-story collection, the quality and interest of stories in Upgraded was variable. There was nothing here that I thought was terrible, but there were a couple I just plain couldn't follow. The ones which interested me the least were those which just told stories about people who happened to live in worlds where there were cyborgs, rather than reflecting on the personal/social effects of such a radical change to the human body. These far outnumbered those which had genuine solid SF premices about the impact of "upgrading" human beings with machinery. Indeed, a few too many of these stories focused less on the upgrading than on the permutation of mechanical additions - they focused on able-bodied people getting additions rather than the medical function of most cyborg additions.
Stand-out stories, for me, were: "What I've Seen With Your Eyes" by Jason K. Chapman; "Married" by Helena Bell; "Tender" by Rachel Swirsky (particularly for its appraoch to questions of bodily automony); "Tongtong's Summer" by Xia Jia; "Musée de L’Âme Seule" by E. Lily Yu (for a second-person narrative which works, a triumph in itself); "Memories and Wire" by Mari Ness; "God Decay" by Rich Larson; "Small Medicine" by Genevive Valentine; "Collateral" by Peter Watts (although I'm not sure I agree with some of the assertions made in this story, it certainly leaves a lot to think about); and "Seventh Sight" by Greg Egan. Most of these are in the latter half of the volume, which I suppose should encourage you to keep going if you're reading it! I flagged a little as I went on, I must say. Ken Liu's "The Regular" also deserves a mention as a solid story, although it was enjoyable to read while those above tend more towards the "left me with interesting questions" branch of SF.
I would recommend this volume. The good is worth it.
Stand-out stories, for me, were: "What I've Seen With Your Eyes" by Jason K. Chapman; "Married" by Helena Bell; "Tender" by Rachel Swirsky (particularly for its appraoch to questions of bodily automony); "Tongtong's Summer" by Xia Jia; "Musée de L’Âme Seule" by E. Lily Yu (for a second-person narrative which works, a triumph in itself); "Memories and Wire" by Mari Ness; "God Decay" by Rich Larson; "Small Medicine" by Genevive Valentine; "Collateral" by Peter Watts (although I'm not sure I agree with some of the assertions made in this story, it certainly leaves a lot to think about); and "Seventh Sight" by Greg Egan. Most of these are in the latter half of the volume, which I suppose should encourage you to keep going if you're reading it! I flagged a little as I went on, I must say. Ken Liu's "The Regular" also deserves a mention as a solid story, although it was enjoyable to read while those above tend more towards the "left me with interesting questions" branch of SF.
I would recommend this volume. The good is worth it.