Michael Swanwick

Found this short story after watching the Love, Death, and Robots adaptation, and I'm really glad I did. Martha appears to be an unreliable narrator, but through the hours she trudges through Io alone with the body of her crewmate, we get a significant glimpse into her mind and the tragic beauty of her perceptions and worldview. It was hard to be sure whether Io was a figment of her imagination, a product of her tired and sometimes drug-amped mind, or whether the moon was truly sentient and helping her in the only way it knew how. I would like to think it was the latter, because whether we're among our own on Earth or stranded in an alien landscape, there is always some comfort in believing we're not truly alone.

Also, the concept of Io as a living machine composed of various physical and chemical processes is both slightly creepy and strangely alluring. It does hold the title of being the most volcanic object in the solar system, and produces a plasma torus surrounding Jupiter which is not fully understood (and which I think is what the title refers to). Reading about how all these things came together, and seeing the austere, wild beauty of the Io landscape through Martha's eyes, reminds me how so much of our universe, or even the backyard of our solar system, contains ongoing mysteries. Perhaps some of these are meant to be solved and others aren't, possibly beyond the scope of human understanding, but there is also beauty in mystery. And there is also a sort of beauty when considering that even in our final moments, it may not truly be the end, as we are rejoining the universe from which we were created.… (more)

I don't remember "cyberpunk" book that was more unsettling than this - pure in-depth horror of our future where the very essence of humanity will become completely and routinely correctable. This book gives more perspective on that subject than any dystopian book I read or heard of. Because author creates not simple story to tell some warning, send a message or paint a bleak picture, he creates absolutely balanced and self-contained normal world where people live and prosper, going forward and spreading... but the Change! I can argue with it, say some strong words like "price", "never" and so on, I can fear and hate it, but I still believe in possibility of this.… (more)

This book is one of those rarities that make my brain a little bit numb from emotion storm. There is nothing coherent, just a storm of love, hatred, questions, guesses, objections, suggestions, alterations, admiration, amusement, dissatisfaction... I want more, but I know that there is no more and there must be no more - for all good things must end by their own will or be twisted into the MacDonald's-like things by others. Such books and the worlds they create is more like a glimpse in the dark. They flash before your eyes, they leave you with images, with seeds of desire, and they gone... they don't need our imagination, they are free from us.… (more)