SFF-KIT 2021 - February - Sentient Things

Welcome to this month’s SFF-Kit, Sentient Things!

I really liked this topic when Dejah_Thoris hosted it last year so when I volunteered to host in 2021 I decided to use it again.

For science fiction the books could be about cyborgs or AI or sentient spaceships - In Fury Born by David Weber which I'm reading right now (I know it's early:). Also Murderbot by Martha Wells.

For fantasy a couple of books I can think of would be The Innkeeper Chronicles by Ilona Andrews which start with Clean Sweep. Also By the Sword by Mercedes Lackey

Anything suggested for last years SFFKIT would work: https://www.librarything.com/topic/318950. Dejah_Thoris is more eloquent then me so I would highly recommend that you check last years thread for her suggestions.

Here's the wiki: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2021_SFFKIT#2021_SFFKIT

I've had a fantasy novel titled The Serpent's Egg on my unread shelf for years. I don't know for certain that it features a sentient thing but the title does so now is it's time to be read.

I've just gotten an anthology of 14 stories that I'm excited about, and which I think will be a perfect fit. My Battery is Low and It Is Getting Dark was edited by Crystal Sarakas and Joshua Palmatier, and the title alone sucked me in as soon as I saw it. Its tag/description: "Explore the myriad ideas of what happens when out-of-date and abandoned technologies are given a second life--one that takes them in a new direction, far outside their intended programming and beyond their original purpose."

I haven't begun reading yet, but from the couple of story descriptions on the book's back cover, I'm pretty sure a lot of the stories will fit this challenge, and I'm anxious to dig in.

Would a city being alive qualify? I have The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin in my queue. I'm not sure if this will work due to the avatar. From NPR The City We Became is Jemisin's first book in her Great Cities series, a series that asks: What if a city had a soul? What if it could come alive, embodied in a human avatar?

>4 luvamystery65: I think that book would work fine.

>5 SilverWolf28: Thanks

I am going to be reading Network Effect by Martha Wells.

>1 SilverWolf28: thanks for setting up the thread!

Hmm. Nice topic. I'm not sure what I have that will fit the bill - will have a poke around on the tbr shelves. Otherwise I may have to buy something...

Like >7 DeltaQueen50:, I have Network Effect (by Martha Wells) in my February stack! :-)

>9 HanGerg: Murderbot!!!

Book #1 is $3.99 right now on Kindle.

I will probably not get to Assassin's Apprentice before February 1. I was thinking of reading it in February.

Is there a sentient being in the story, anyone?

>11 fuzzi: I read them all last year. I'm a massive fan. I did want to re-read Network Effect sometime soon though. I might do that if I can't get inspired with anything else.
Thinking of other things I've read in this category - the Ian M. Banks Culture novels have some great Ship intelligence characters. He really does convey well the idea that the Ships are thousands of times more intelligent than humans, but still have flaws and personalities. A very optimistic take on AI I think.

Back to say, after looking at last year's thread, that I'll tackle R.U.R & War with the Newts as I've had it on my TBR pile for a long time and this will motivate me to finally read it! I might also treat myself to the Audiobook of You've Got Murder as that sounds like a lot of fun.

>12 fuzzi: There are certainly sentient beings in Assassin's apprentice, but I don't know if there are sentient things. Might have to wait until the second trilogy for the stones to make an appearance.

Sentience is the capacity to feel, perceive, or experience subjectively. from wikipedia

On 2nd thought, I don't think the stones are sentient.

The Silver Ships series has Self Aware Digital Entities.

>26 spiralsheep: SADES! For those not familiar with the The Silver Ships, it’s a family-friendly space opera series (by S. H. Jucha focused on exploration and first encounters. SADES play a crucial role in every storyline and reflect some of the social issues of a developing, inclusive culture. :-)

In checking whether anything on the shelf fits the challenge, I came across Galactic Pot-Healer by Philip K. Dick. According to the description, it features the Glimmung, "a being that looks something like a gyroscope, something like a teenaged girl, and something like the contents of an ocean." Sounds kinda like a sentient thing--thoughts?

If anyone's still looking for a suggestion, I've just read Department of Mind-Blowing Theories by Tom Gauld, which is a collection of his single-page comics mostly published in New Scientist magazine, and it's worryingly full of "sentient things". It probably goes without saying that I laughed aloud. 5*

>18 NinieB: It sounds good.

>20 SilverWolf28: I'll give it a try! The last time I read PKD I was a little baffled, so I'll go off-TBR if this doesn't work for me.

Murderbot!


Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

Murderbot goes on a rescue mission, putting itself in a no-win situation against the best sec units a corporation can field. Fun read, as always.

Would Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Count?

>23 BBGirl55: I don't see why not, they're not humans.

>23 BBGirl55: It will fit just fine. I think I may read it this month also.

I read Mr Tiger, Betsy, and the Blue Moon, by Sally Gardner, which is a younger children's fantasy novel with many delightful illustrations, and was printed in a font supposedly more readable by dyslexic people. The girl protagonist Betsy goes on a quest with her dad who is an ice-cream maker, and her mum who is a mermaid, and a princess who has been turned into a toad, and Mr Tiger who is a circus ringmaster, and an extensive team of emigrant Gongalong acrobats who are all very small (and have very small ponies too). Whimsical. 3.5*

Sentient things: an anthropomorphic moon.

Would one of McCaffrey's dragons count as a sentient thing? Or be disqualified as they are sentient beings?

Inquiring mind wants to know what you (all) think...

>27 fuzzi: Rude to dragons imo! :D

But I was hoping to wedge The Serpent's Egg in there on the technicality that eggs are things (although I suspect it might be a magic gemstone in the story) so a dragon's egg would presumably be both a sentient-dragon and a thing-eggshell... maybe?

I read The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang for this month's theme, which is a very short novel or very long story about raising AI in the form of virtual "pets" called digients. It raises a lot of interesting questions. This story was included in his collection Exhalation.

>29 sturlington: I wanted to mention this one as I think it fits the theme perfectly! I read this one when I was on a rampage to read everything Ted Chiang has written and really liked it.

>27 fuzzi: One of her Pern books that featured the A.I. (Avis?) that they found on the southern continent would work.

>31 SilverWolf28: thank you, I remember that one. I just don't want to read it again. I like Pern without all the technology.

It's okay, I got a Murderbot read so far this month.

Last night before bed I didn't feel like starting my next book in the queue, so I walked over to my "unread" shelves and pulled out Assassin's Apprentice. I believe it was SilverWolf28 who recommended Robin Hobb last year in the SFFKIT.

I'm about 100 pages in and enjoying it very much, except for one tragic event. :sniff:

>33 fuzzi: Oh, I read that last year & loved it! Hope you do too.

>33 fuzzi: Ah, if you're just starting to read Robin Hobb, I predict many hours of delightful reading ahead. Enjoy!

I listened to Interview with the Robot by Lee Bacon. This is a children's book (according to Audible, for ages 10 and up) so not a lot of science in the science fiction but well written & enjoyable. I think parents could have some interesting discussions with their kids about some of the issues the book raises, such as should Eve (the robot who in appearance looks like a 12-year-old girl) be the property of the man who built her (or his company)? What rights do "sentient things" have or should they have?

I just finished rereading Howl's Moving Castle, which I would think counts? IDK? Anyhow, still a good book about a Welsh gadabout and the woman and fire demon who love him (despite their better sense). Would recommend it for YA Fantasy/Harry Potter fans who want to branch out into other authors.

>36 leslie.98: I'm pretty sure I picked up that one when it was offered as a free Audicle Original. I was actually trying to find it in my library for this month, but wasn't able to find it right away. I will have to do a more through search. Glad to hear it was enjoyable.

Since I couldn't find the other one I was looking for, I decided to finally give The MurderBot Diaries a try. I enjoyed the first one so much, that I finished the first four of the novellas yesterday. They were such fun, quick listens.

All Systems Red, 4*
Artificial Condition, 3.75*
Rogue Protocol, 4.25*
Exit Strategy, 4*

I was going to keep going with Network Effect, but when I saw it was a full lenght novel, decided to take a break. I will definitely get back to it at some point this month. I also found the short story, Cumpolsory, which takes place before the books, online and gave that a quick read too. So glad to have finally gotten around to reading these.

>39 staci426: they're a lot of fun, aren't they?

>39 staci426: I also read Compulsory the very short prequel story to the Murderbot series by Martha Wells.

Compulsory: https://www.wired.com/story/future-of-work-compulsory-martha-wells/

Almost finished with Assassin's Apprentice, enjoying it but, Alas! No sentient things...unless the Witness Stones are considered as such?

Anyone?

>39 staci426: and >41 spiralsheep:. I wasn't aware of Compulsory, thanks for bringing it to my attention - it was fun! I've just been eyeing the new Murderbot novel Fugitive Telemetry on Amazon - due for release on April 27th. I might put my name down for a copy, it'll be something to look forward to during this grim time.

>43 HanGerg: I already have a reservation at my local library for the next book in my current favourite SF series which won't be published until the end of this month but, as you say, it's a treat to look forward to.

March thread is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/329751

I'm starting Record of a spaceborn few by Becky Chambers. It doesn't have tags linking it to this theme but the first two books had AIs as such prominent characters that I'm hoping some will at least appear in this book.

>45 majkia: thank you!

Like some of the others here, I continued with the Murderbot series and finished Rogue Protocol. Very enjoyable! I'm looking forward to reading the 4th novella and then the full-length Murderbot novel.

I read We are Legion (We are Bob) for this one. Good fun, good humor, things to think about.

Just in case anyone is still making up their mind over what to read on this one, I'm about halfway through the stories in My Battery is Low and It Is Getting Dark, and it's pretty fantastic, as well as being a perfect fit for this month's Kit. So far, there's not been a single story that I haven't been glad to have read, and it's a lot more varied than I expected, given the theme. At around 200 pages, it's also a lot more accessible than lots of other anthologies out there :)

>50 whitewavedarling: Wow I love it when someone brings to light a book with so few readers! This seems like a really nice anthology.

I'm a third in Record of a Spaceborn few by Becky Chambers and I like it quite a lot but I'm not seeing any sentient thing yet.
So when I stumbled across this other anthology I did not hesitate much before picking it up: Robot Uprisings, the title of which says it all. Sounds like fun, although I can't help but think that Chambers's characters would call it prejudiced against AI.

Also at 320 pages it's also fairly accessible. :)

>51 chlorine:, That's one of the reasons I wanted to mention it :) It's giving me a lot of new authors to look up and keep an eye on, too! I've already ordered a few other anthologies from this same publisher/organization, too!

>36 leslie.98: I listened to Interview with the Robot too. I wasn't expecting a lot going in, but it wound up being both fun and meatier than I'd expected.

I also read Here There Be Gerblins, which is a graphic novel adaptation of a podcast. Very funny. I hadn't realized it would fit here, but in addition to gerblins, here there also be a sentient magic item you really don't want to mess with.

>42 fuzzi: I don't remember any sentient things in the Assassin's Apprentice trilogy either, though it's been long enough since I read them that I'm likely to forget anything minor. The Liveship Traders sub-series definitely does, though.

>50 whitewavedarling:. Ooh, that looks good! I've added it to my wishlist.

>54 HanGerg:, yay! I'm always glad when I can get a great little-known book/press on a new reader's radar!

It appears that no one has mentioned Consider Phlebas or any of Iain M, Banks's Culture novels all of which have the best and most sentient ships.

>53 antqueen: there weren't any, but my Murderbot read fit the challenge anyway.

>56 vwinsloe: hmm. Another recommendation...

>56 vwinsloe: Thank you for the recommendation! I've never heard of Iain Banks books.

>58 SilverWolf28: Ooh you have something to discover then. He wrote under either the name "Iain Banks" or "Iain M. Banks", with different styles for each name, and the M. books being less SF than the others. I personnally prefer his without M. books and have struggled with the first of his culture series, published with the M. and starting with Consider Phlebas, but have also loved other books in the series.
He's definitely an author to check out IMO.

(edited because I had confused which books were with or without M.)

I read The Serpent's Egg, which was Caroline Stevermer's first novel, and is a fantasy of manners set in a not-Elizabethan not-England. The author demonstrates at least a basic understanding of how her chosen social system would function in practical terms, but the plot didn't work for me and I didn't find any of the characters especially engaging. 2.5*

SFFKIT: "Sentient things": only in the title as the magic thing collects consciousnesses but is probably not itself sentient (so I won't claim it)

I have been rereading some of the Liaden series leading up to the latest one, Trader's Leap, which I recently purchased. It has several different types of sentient things in it:

Robots (not androids as they are not human in appearance) - Jeeves, the butler of Clan Korval's main domicile, and his daughter, Tocohl. Jeeves (whose name always makes me smile - love that the authors put in the implication that despite their relocation to a new universe millenia ago of course someone brought along P.G. Wodehouse!) is a recurring character while Tocohl is first constructed and introduced into the series rather late (book #18??).

Sentient ships - there are at least 2 that are important: Bechimo and Admiral Bunter.

A sentient space station - Tinsori Light

The above are the kind of 'sentient things' that I had in mind for this KIT - mechanical devices with an artificial intelligence that is aware. However, this series also has some others that work for this category. Most intriguing for me is Korval's (or Jela's) Tree (and its offspring). We all know that trees are living but we still call them "things" (as in 'living things') but this Tree is aware and can communicate with those it chooses, though not through words but rather through emotions and the senses (vision & taste in particular).

Korval's cats also seem to be more sentient - at least a lot more than my cats are! - but as I don't consider cats as things, I won't count them here.

Clones are present which I wouldn't count here either in that their biological bodies may have been constructed but their minds were downloaded from humans.

There are also "manufactured" people which are different from clones in that they are not intended to be a copy of an existing person but to be an 'improved' version of humanity. They are considered property by those who make them (illegally) which argues that they are "things" but I'm not sure they fit this category...

Books read that contain one or more of these sentient things are: I Dare, Ghost Ship, Dragon in Exile, Alliance of Equals and Neogenesis (so far).

Finished My Battery Is Low and It Is Getting Dark, and I adored it. I've written a full review, but I'd absolutely recommend this anthology to all lovers of sci-fi. At around 210 pages, it's also one of those anthologies that can easily be picked up and read as you'd read a novel, too, which is nice--it's not a giant collection that's hard to hold and which you'll want/need a break from.

As far as the theme goes... there are 14 stories in this collection. Most of them (all but 3 or 4, I think) are directly relevant to the theme of sentient things. The others deal with repurposed technology that has outlived its original use, and is repurposed for something else entirely.

>61 leslie.98: Is there a good order to read the Liaden series in?

>63 SilverWolf28: There are several entries into the series. I started with Agent of Change, which was the first book published, partly because it is free as a Kindle book both from Baen ebooks (https://www.baen.com/agent-of-change.html) and from Amazon. Another good entry point in the series is Fledgling and it is also free as an ebook from both sources (https://www.baen.com/fledgling.html).

The authors have a web site concerning reading order which gives which books can be read without previous knowledge of the series, publication order & internal chronology:
https://korval.com/publication-list/correct-reading-order/

>64 leslie.98: thank you. I just requested a Kindle version of Agent of Change be emailed to me.

>64 leslie.98: Thank you!

>61 leslie.98: Bechimo is one of my favourite sentient things. :)

>63 SilverWolf28: >64 leslie.98: I started with Fledgling and its direct sequels before reading Agent of Change and its sequels, though I expect most Liaden Universe readers have done it the other way around. That's probably why Theo Waitley, the protagonist of Fledgling is my favourite Liaden character. She was the one who introduced me to the series!

>64 leslie.98: Thanks for these links! I remember reading and enjoying one of the Liadan books years ago -- maybe it was Agent of Change -- but I never continued with the series. Maybe now is the time!

>65 fuzzi:, >66 SilverWolf28: & >68 christina_reads: I'm glad to spark interest in this series, especially as I first became aware of it here at LT in the SFFKit several years ago. As it turned out, I was able to share these books with my mother, who first introduced me to science fiction and in particular to Bujold's Vorkosigan series, during the last year of her life and spent many enjoyable hours discussing the various characters. So I feel grateful to return to the source, so to speak, a boon that was granted me.

>67 mathgirl40: I really liked Fledgling and Saltation but found upon rereading some of the later books that Theo was beginning to grate on me - a bit too self-absorbed. However, I was happy to see that problem beginning to be addressed in Accepting the Lance. Assuming the series continues on, which I hope it does, it will be interesting to see how Theo & Bechimo proceed.

I have just completed my read of Network Effect by Martha Wells. This first full-length novel was everything I hoped it would be and I am looking forward to the next book in this series.

Read several books this month by T Kingfisher that featured a variety of sentient things. A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking (a YA Fantasy abd and which I read solely because of the title, had not read any books by her before) - there's a sentient gingerbread man. :D

And then read two of her horror fantasies: The Twisted Ones - there's some rather terrifying sentient effigies (aka poppets) and The Hollow Places featured a different form sentient horrors.

Enjoyable reads! Magic baking and terror + humor - who cam resist that? :D

>71 DeltaQueen50: good to hear! I've read a "meh" review on this one, and was hoping it wasn't a letdown from the others in the series.

>72 okeres: I really liked A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, especially the sentient sourdough starter!

>73 fuzzi: Fuzzi, I don't think fans of the Murderbot series will be disappointed with this full length novel, the story is a seamless continuation of the previous novellas with familar characters, an exciting story and, of course, Murderbot!

>75 DeltaQueen50: good to hear it!

I decided to jump on the Murderbot bandwagon and am I ever glad I did. I read the short story Compulsory and listened to All Systems Red. Really enjoyed this and I have Artificial Condition queued up.

Does a haunted skull fragment count as a sentient thing? Opinions please.

>78 spiralsheep: LOL, Someone's reading the Dresden Files!
I would say that Bob is a sentient thing : 1) He is sentient-- a self-aware spirit of knowledge and able to interact with others and; 2) He is a thing (whether spirit or skull); definitely not-human. ;-)

>79 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Haha! Good guess but not this time, lol. I'm reading weird El Salvadoran magical realism with a haunted skull fragment. Although I'm now tempted to read the Dresden Files as Bob sounds like an interesting character.

Thank you for that carefully thought through opinion. Its what I was thinking too but I wanted a reality check. Or a Fantasy check.... ;-)

>77 luvamystery65: another Murderbot Convert, woo!!!!

>79 Tanya-dogearedcopy: >80 spiralsheep: I love Bob from the Dresden Files, and FWIW, I also believe that a haunted skull fragment would count as a sentient thing.

>78 spiralsheep:/>80 spiralsheep:, Now I really want to know what this 'weird El Salvadoran magical realism' is...?

>83 whitewavedarling: I don't think most magical realism is the same genre as fantasy but this was very close with lots of supposedly supernatural shenanigans. It was the third novella, Village of God and the Devil, in Family Album : three novellas and my review is in this comment on my Category Challenge thread (with a shorter review on the work page):

https://www.librarything.com/topic/329803#7436292

>84 spiralsheep:, I'll look into it! I'd definitely not align magical realism with fantasy/sci-fi in general, but I'm a huge fan of magical realism, so my ears always perk up when I hear the term :) And I've heard of this author, but not read this work, so I'm excited to take a look!

>74 mathgirl40: Same! Loved Bob, the cranky sourdough starter, and the smug, opinionated gingerbread man. :D A very entertaining read.

Finished one more for February: The Outside by Ada Hoffman - powerful AIs. Powerful as in GODS.

I've finished Robot Uprisings and thought it was a very good collection, with barely a weak story!
I loved that the reasons for the uprisings were very diverse: freedom, survival, love, pride...

My two favorite stories were one by Cory Doctorow about an AI that is about to be shutdown and doesn't want to die, and one by Robin Wasserman about a robot suffering from PTSD after murdering so many humans.

Second the Kingfisher books (Swordheart and A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking).

And I can't believe no one has mentioned The Brave Little Toaster: A bedtime story for small appliances by Thomas M. Disch yet.