The Cosmic, Specter-Bombing Internet

Wow, I totally forgot about posting last week. And this is the weekend that I was going to do that big conversion. I guess being out of town over a weekend will sometimes do that to you. However, I do have the stories that I meant to post about last week ready and waiting to get posted now. So let's get those suckers up. I'll do my normal punishing of myself by posting another three stories tomorrow morning as well as another two posts tomorrow evening (one for last week and one actually for tomorrow night).

The stories I have for you tonight are pretty awesome. The first one comes from Technology Review's Science Fiction anthology. It's "Specter-Bombing the Beer Goggles" by Paul Di Filippo. The second story comes from the New Yorker's special sci-fi edition earlier this month. The story? "My Internet" by Jonathan Lethem. The classic story of science fiction this month, coming from the year 1930, is "Cosmic Express" by Jack Williamson. My apologies ahead of time for the lack of stories available online. But I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. You'll be getting another handful of stories tomorrow.




Specter-Bombing the Beer Goggles by Paul Di Filippo -- Technology Review: Science Fiction
Set in a not-so-distant future where augmented reality is just as pervasive and ubiquitous as the internet is today, this story follows the life in a day of an average-joe plumber. The narrative tends to focus more on the technology of the story rather than the story itself, however, a story still exists here, and the beer goggles play a heavy role.

My Internet by Jonathan Lethem -- The New Yorker, June 2012 (The Science Fiction Issue)
This is a short, short story. But it is a lot fun. The first couple of paragraphs are quite poetic and playful, and that spirit kind of flows throughout the rest of the story. And it's a great reminder to the average reader that though the internet is a social place, it can also be quite lonely.

Cosmic Express by Jack Williamson -- Amazing Stories, November 1930
Here's a spin about a writer and his gal who, while living in some far distant future where humans have nearly forgotten about the toils and labors their forefathers had to endure, long for the good old days where man obeyed the laws of nature rather than the other way around. It's a little cheesy, but what do you expect? It's from 1930. Read it and respect it.