Thursday, November 5, 2009

Favorites: When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth, by Cory Doctorow

Cory Doctorow is perhaps the foremost champion of free literature on the internet, and I've read most all SF he's published. When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth is probably my favorite story of his. It presents a very interesting picture of how system administrators, behind their negative-pressure secure doors, might survive a societal breakdown and help to rebuild. The geeks-rule sensibility has much appeal for me, and it's quite well told. Read it and go hug a programmer.


Reads of the Day


Emma Bull is one of my favorite authors, so when Free SF Online picked up several new postings by her and Will Shetterly, I bookmarked several for reading. Today I read What Used To Be Good Still Is, a nice little story about a girl preserving the spirit of a mined mountain. The story touches lightly on the effects of copper mining, but doesn't have nearly the punch of, say, Paulo Bacigalupi's The People of Sand and Slag. Probably didn't intend to. A nice diversion, but that's all. 2 stars.

Also read an early piece by Greg Egan, Neighborhood Watch. Egan started his career writing horror, but it is as well crafted as his later hard SF. But I'm not a huge horror fan, so I only give it 2 stars

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