This little anthology contains only five short stories, but they are at least interesting. Each of the authors – Paweł Majka, Łukasz Orbitowski, Tobiasz Piątkowski, Robert J. Szmidt and Robert Wegner – approached the vision of the future of Poland differently. They have one thing in common – the vision of people as a hybrid of bodies and electronics. The reader has the opportunity to consider whether the page in which the development of humanity goes is correct. Polish names may sound a bit strange compared to the latest achievements in technology and electronics, but once you get involved in the action, it stops disturbing you. Each story has a slightly different style and atmosphere. All of them surprise positively, and our imagination has a lot of nourishment.
Does the spirit have a soul – fivefold reflection on the world
Striga’s heartRobert Wegner introduces us to the world of the future, where people exist not only in real life, but above all in the Internet. It is a reality in which various types of secondary pseudo-personalities (like ghosts in the past) invade homes. Mirek and Jacek “Młot” from the “Ghosthunters” company (the similarity of names is intended) deal with such a haunted building. The home network has been possessed by an unidentified entity that needs to be disposed of. The action should be easy and fast. It turns out that the home management program is taking over the habits of the deceased owner. But that’s not all … The story allows for a moment of reflection on what we are? Maybe the sum of memories? What if they were to be deleted? Does past life memory make us human? What would we be without her? A piece of meat? The last sentence of the story will bring a smile to the reader’s face,
1990Łukasz Orbitowski, as the title indicates, perversely takes us to the beginning of the 90s. When reading, the reader turns on nostalgia for youth, holidays and doing nothing. The language is deceptively light, because the story is told in the first person by a teenage boy who, together with a bunch of friends, gave a strong impression to a nerdy called Mokry (guess where this nickname came from). We learn that … it does not exist, although it lives and works. But how, you ask? It starts with an “earthquake”. It is summer and Sharp has recently hit the train. I will not spoil the fun, so I will not reveal the plot, but the idea of the story is great. The reader puts aside his reading with a slight sadness. The talent of the writer cannot be underestimated. The “youth” language, however, prompts further reflection – can the program have feelings? Can the world in your own head be as real as the world around us?
Shepherd’s tonguePaweł Majka is pulsating like horse hooves on the pavement and brings a breath of Hussar glory of old times. The confusion of a strongly tweaked Sienkiewicz’s style with vocabulary straight from the gloomy cybernetic future is engaging and astonishing. We are drawn into the action from the first page, and the author gallops around the gang. People in Majka’s vision do not come out of their protective armor and take drugs on computer programs. However, there is a certain analog couple who (to the disgust of those who know about it) like to jump out of electronic clothes … you know why … Halfway through the story, we have a twist when the lovers and several members of the Dragon Hussar set off to defeat … the shepherd. The action that is simple in assumption unexpectedly turns into a lethal game and provokes the thought that the programs do not actually need us. We are only biomass … The author also deals with the second decade of our century. However, the ending brings a glimmer of hope. Or rather, two crumbs.
The most difficult story to read is Copy of the Death of an ArcherTobiasza Piątkowski, with the text sharp as a box of pushpins. With many expressions such as “credited modernity” or “photorealistic illustration of untapped potential”, the text requires constant attention. It’s easy to get lost. Style does not necessarily allow you to get to know and like the heroes. The story takes place in Radom of the future, where the living Łucznik megafactory reigns. This mysterious facility, one of several on planet Earth, is broken into. Rania Starecka comes to town. Its task is to acquire new technology – so there is the thread of industrial espionage. The story is very cyberpunk, hard. The unit in it is only a cog in the service of the machine, equipped with implants and implants. He can change his memories, bodies, clone himself. Is it still a human?
Death is not the end of Robert Szmidt, the longest story in this volume raises the issue of further life after death, but is also, in a way, a good old police story. This makes it perhaps closer to the reader and easier to digest. The action takes place in Wrocław. It all starts when the protagonist, wrapped in an exoskeleton, Beryl Smith (or is she just accidentally named after the author?) And her colleagues arrested a hacker. Of course, not everything goes as planned, because the traitor appears. The story is about violence against women. Interesting language and many words like motherfuckers, syntek, kurwilala or rubber boots introduce us to the atmosphere of the future, where memories are transferred to androids who consider themselves human.
Can we live forever if we wrap our thoughts in a synthetic body? Or to torture our rubber foe forever … This is an interesting story, I have only one comment – it would be even better if the bad guys were more clearly outlined. The author gives the reader such material for reflection – can consciousness and memories without a physical body be called a human? Since this is an action story, we also have a revenge theme and an open question – what happened to the body? Here’s an appeal to the author – I’ll be happy to know what to do next.
Final remarks
The stories are very diverse and everyone will surely find something interesting for themselves despite the meager size of the anthology. The best I consider “1990”, although it is the least cyberpunk of all, and “Shepherd” due to the daring language.
I wrote the review on the basis of a paper book and the last remark applies to its correction. There are some bugs. Interesting stories deserve an appropriate setting. Typos are kind of a detail, but still a bit annoying when reading.