Digital Rapture
The Singularity Anthology
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When the Singularity arrives and computers possess superhuman intelligence, will there be an ecstatic merging of machine and mind--or an instantaneous techno-apocalypse? Will there be the enslavement of humanity or "the Rapture of the Nerds"? The post-human future is here in its wildest science-fictional imaginings and intriguing scientific speculations.
This far-reaching anthology traces the path of the Singularity, an era when advances in technology will totally transform human reality. It travels to the alien far-future of H. G. Wells (Mind at the End of Its Tether), to the almost human near-future of Ray Kurzweil (The Singularity Is Near), from Elizabeth Bear's fusion of woman, machine, God, and shark ("The Inevitable Heat Death of the Universe"), to Isaac Asimov's evolution of ineffable logic ("The Last Question"). As intelligence both figuratively (and possibly literally) explodes, science-fiction authors and futurists have dared to peek over the edge of the event horizon. Join them there.
This far-reaching anthology traces the path of the Singularity, an era when advances in technology will totally transform human reality. It travels to the alien far-future of H. G. Wells (Mind at the End of Its Tether), to the almost human near-future of Ray Kurzweil (The Singularity Is Near), from Elizabeth Bear's fusion of woman, machine, God, and shark ("The Inevitable Heat Death of the Universe"), to Isaac Asimov's evolution of ineffable logic ("The Last Question"). As intelligence both figuratively (and possibly literally) explodes, science-fiction authors and futurists have dared to peek over the edge of the event horizon. Join them there.
Fiction / Science Fiction / Collections & Anthologies
Fiction / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy
Fiction / Fantasy / Historical
About this Author
James Patrick Kelly is the Hugo, Nebula, and Italia award-winning author of Burn, Think Like a Dinosaur, and Wildlife. He is a member of the faculty of the Stonecoast Creative Writing MFA Program at the University of Southern Maine. He has co-edited a series of anthologies with John Kessel, described by the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction as "each surveying with balance and care a potentially disputed territory within the field." Kelly is the technology columnist for Asimov's Science Fiction magazine and the publisher of the e-book 'zine Strangeways.
John Kessel is a Nebula, Sturgeon, and Locus award winner and the author of Corrupting Dr. Nice, Good News From Outer Space, and The Pure Product. He teaches courses in science-fiction, fantasy, and fiction writing at North Carolina State University. His criticism has appeared in Foundation, the Los Angeles Times Book Review, the New York Review of Science Fiction, and Science Fiction Age.
John Kessel is a Nebula, Sturgeon, and Locus award winner and the author of Corrupting Dr. Nice, Good News From Outer Space, and The Pure Product. He teaches courses in science-fiction, fantasy, and fiction writing at North Carolina State University. His criticism has appeared in Foundation, the Los Angeles Times Book Review, the New York Review of Science Fiction, and Science Fiction Age.
Reviews
"Full of compelling and controversial stories."
--Publishers Weekly
"There are a few things I always look for in a high-quality anthology: First, it should have a wide range of selections that yet epitomize the theme of the anthology. Second, it should be a diverse collection of author and genre. Third, it should have a well-written introduction that acts as a thesis of sorts and adds to the literature on the subject. Digital Rapture has all these things...."
--Nerds in Babeland
"Even those in the know will be enthralled by the visions of post-biological futures in this collection of short stories and essays. Sci-fi stalwarts James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel have assembled a definitive primer on the singularity, with contributions from top-tier scientists, futurists, and science-fiction writers."
--Cosmos
"...this book rocks for those who are looking for a primer on the subject. The facts explain the thinking, the fiction tries to figure out what all that thinking could mean. The strength of the book lies in this mashing together of the theorists' theories and content creators' creations."
--Book View Cafe
"It's the kind of anthology that opens your mind so far that your brain feels like it's going to fall out."
--Blogcritics
--Publishers Weekly
"There are a few things I always look for in a high-quality anthology: First, it should have a wide range of selections that yet epitomize the theme of the anthology. Second, it should be a diverse collection of author and genre. Third, it should have a well-written introduction that acts as a thesis of sorts and adds to the literature on the subject. Digital Rapture has all these things...."
--Nerds in Babeland
"Even those in the know will be enthralled by the visions of post-biological futures in this collection of short stories and essays. Sci-fi stalwarts James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel have assembled a definitive primer on the singularity, with contributions from top-tier scientists, futurists, and science-fiction writers."
--Cosmos
"...this book rocks for those who are looking for a primer on the subject. The facts explain the thinking, the fiction tries to figure out what all that thinking could mean. The strength of the book lies in this mashing together of the theorists' theories and content creators' creations."
--Book View Cafe
"It's the kind of anthology that opens your mind so far that your brain feels like it's going to fall out."
--Blogcritics
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