Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Proof of Concept by Gwyneth Jones Tor.com. Science fiction. Fantasy. The universe. And related subjects. Gwyneth Jones. Fiction and Excerpts [1] Proof of Concept. The One Book That Made Me Believe In Female Heroes. The first Joanna Russ story I read was “When It Changed,” her famous account of a colonised planet where the men all died, and the women have found a new way of living. It touched a longing in me—except the partner I saw beside me, in a world free of gender roles, was my boyfriend. Later, I backtracked and enjoyed the “Alyx” adventures: stylish sword and sorcery, written in the Sixties, with a female protagonist. The fourth story, a slim novel called Picnic On Paradise , is a game-changer. Alyx has been scooped out of S&S land (literally, scooped: snatched from an execution by drowning in the ancient Mediterranean by the mysterious Trans-Temp Miltiary Authority) and sent to the winter sports sector of a “resort planet,” where a group of tourists, stranded in a warzone, need to be couriered to an evacuation point. As the story opens she’s just arrived from TTMA HQ: through a Portal into a kind of Spaceport first-class lounge, all squirmy, eye-hurting mall-décor, and (to the eyes of this tough little Ancient Med sword-for-hire) bizarrely decorated, naked giants. The junior lieutenant in charge refuses to believe she’s the Trans Temp Agent. She convinces him by tying him in knots (weight and height don’t count against skill and daring, as Alyx is always happy to demonstrate), and strips off her shift in polite response to the tourists’ nakedness. Everyone’s horrified! “You have on your history,” explains the artist, Raydos, referring to her worn, scarred little body, “we’re not used to that.” Proof of Concept. On a desperately overcrowded future Earth, crippled by climate change, the most unlikely hope is better than none. Governments turn to Big Science to provide them with the dreams that will keep the masses compliant. The Needle is one such dream, an installation where the most abstruse theoretical science is being tested: science that might make human travel to a habitable exoplanet distantly feasible. When the Needle’s director offers her underground compound as a training base, Kir is thrilled to be invited to join the team, even though she knows it’s only because her brain is host to a quantum artificial intelligence called Altair. But Altair knows something he can’t tell. Kir, like all humans, is programmed to ignore future dangers. Between the artificial blocks in his mind, and the blocks evolution has built into his host, how is he going to convince her the sky is falling? Gwyneth Jones’ science fiction novella Proof of Concept is available now from Tor.com Publishing. Latest Posts. Molly TempletonThe Future Is Never For Everyone: Sarah Pinsker’s We Are Satellites 9 hours ago Anne M. Pillsworth and Ruthanna EmrysNo Drivel About Mysteries: Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Horror of the Heights” 10 hours ago Stark HolbornRead an Excerpt From Stark Holborn’s Ten Low 10 hours ago Andrew LiptakA New Evil Dead Film Is Coming to HBO Max 10 hours ago Liz BourkeLamplighters Vs. Vampires: The Lights of Prague by Nicole Jarvis 11 hours ago Leah SchnelbachExploring the Afterlife in Fantasy: Therapy Sessions for Your Soul 12 hours ago Andrew Tejada Batwoman Needs to Focus More on the Law Enforcement Issues It Raises 13 hours ago. 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That page is already in . Something went wrong. Check the webpage URL and try again. Sorry, that page did not respond in a timely manner. Sorry, that page doesn't exist or is preventing translations. Sorry, that page doesn't exist or is preventing translations. Sorry, that page doesn't exist or is preventing translations. Something went wrong, please try again. Try using the Translator for the Microsoft Edge extension instead. Proof of Concept by Gwyneth Jones. From and To can't be the same language. That page is already in . Something went wrong. Check the webpage URL and try again. Sorry, that page did not respond in a timely manner. Sorry, that page doesn't exist or is preventing translations. Sorry, that page doesn't exist or is preventing translations. Sorry, that page doesn't exist or is preventing translations. Something went wrong, please try again. Try using the Translator for the Microsoft Edge extension instead. ISBN 13: 9780765391445. On a desperately overcrowded future Earth, crippled by climate change, the most unlikely hope is better than none. Governments turn to Big Science to provide them with the dreams that will keep the masses compliant. The Needle is one such dream, an installation where the most abstruse theoretical science is being tested: science that might make human travel to a habitable exoplanet distantly feasible. When the Needle’s director offers her underground compound as a training base, Kir is thrilled to be invited to join the team, even though she knows it’s only because her brain is host to a quantum artificial intelligence called Altair. But Altair knows something he can’t tell. Kir, like all humans, is programmed to ignore future dangers. Between the artificial blocks in his mind, and the blocks evolution has built into his host, how is he going to convince her the sky is falling? Proof of Concept is a science fiction novella from Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author Gwyneth Jones. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. GWYNETH JONES is a writer and critic of genre fiction. She's won the Tiptree award, two World Fantasy awards, the Arthur C. Clarke award, the British Science Fiction Association short story award, the Dracula Society's Children of the Night award, the Philip K. Dick award, and the S.F.R.A. Pilgrim award for lifetime achievement in sf criticism. She also writes for teenagers, usually as Ann Halam. She lives in Brighton, UK, with her husband and two cats called Ginger and Milo; curating assorted pondlife in season. " Proof of Concept is proof that Gwyneth Jones is an international treasure. If she writes it, you need to read it––that's all you need to know." ―Pat Cadigan, Hugo and Clarke Award-winning author of Synners . " Proof of Concept by Gwyneth Jones is deeply unsettling and utterly transcendent.” ―Kathleen Ann Goonan, Campbell Award-winning author of the Nanotech trilogy. “ Proof of Concept engages and excites, its puzzles unwrapping with deft speed. I liked it a lot. Prepare for concept acceleration!” ―Gregory Benford, Nebula Award-winning author of Timescape and the Galactic Centre series. “ Proof of Concept has almost everything: a truly fascinating setting in a deeper cave than any we have yet found, an interesting near future society, virtual sex, an AI, a likeable young heroine, a planet (Earth) that's in dire trouble and Post Standard Model Physics that may (or may not) solve the planet's problems. A dense, unsettling, compelling tale written in Gwyneth Jones' usual fine style. I want to visit the cave, and I wouldn't mind knowing more about the theoretical physics.” ―Eleanor Arnason. "A terrific, intricately wrought matryoshka doll of a story, crammed with weird science, steeped in the ambience of an authentically strange but thoroughly plausible future." ―Paul McAuley. "A delicious portrayal of what it feels like when that nagging voice in your head telling you something is wrong is in fact your only ally." ― The Washington Post. Proof of Concept by Gwyneth Jones. I’ve been a little MIA the past couple of weeks due to all the holiday stuff and some major life changes in the not too distant future. I’ve found it increasingly difficult to just sit and read, so I’m not making any promises of anymore posts for the year. Also check out the Brandon Sanderson’s State of Sanderson post if you haven’t already. T itle : Proof of Concept Author: Gwyneth Jones Genre: Science Fiction Audience: Adult ROTS Setting: CU, Distant-Future, Potential-FTL, AI Synopsis: On a desperately overcrowded future Earth, crippled by climate change, the most unlikely hope is better than none. Governments turn to Big Science to provide them with the dreams that will keep the masses compliant. The Needle is one such dream, an installation where the most abstruse theoretical science is being tested: science that might make human travel to a habitable exoplanet distantly feasible. When the Needle’s director offers her underground compound as a training base, Kir is thrilled to be invited to join the team, even though she knows it’s only because her brain is host to a quantum artificial intelligence called Altair. But Altair knows something he can’t tell. Kir, like all humans, is programmed to ignore future dangers. Between the artificial blocks in his mind, and the blocks evolution has built into his host, how is he going to convince her the sky is falling? Recommendation: I do not recommend this book. Nothing particularly wrong with it but I don’t feel it’s worth your time. Another little book I picked up from the library. It’s biggest selling feature is it’s short length. Overall it was just ok, and didn’t really standout in any particular way. I also found the prose to be rough and a bit jarring. There were several times I had to reread something several times to grasp what was being conveyed. Part way through I thought it might be attempting to be “politically correct” but in the end I settled at “dystopian” instead. Which allowed me to actually enjoy my experience. The MC was, personally, unlikeable. As a character she sufficiently carried the plot along but I never felt anything for her. In fact, when she emphatically declares that using the word “anthropomorphic” is sexist, any glimmer of feeling evaporated. Proof of Concept. Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Proof of Concept by Gwyneth Jones is a science fictional novella put out by Tor.com. I picked it up based on a recommendation from a friend, and the vague belief that maybe I'd like Gwyneth Jones more now that I was older. Proof of Concept had some interesting ideas in it but they did not overall make up for certain less interesting aspects of the writing and story. To start off, I found the start difficult to follow. The actual opening scene was OK, as far as these things go, but the subsequent section which, more or less, explained the point of the story was hard to follow. Especially since I was tired when I was reading it. I actually ended up going back and rereading a section because I realised I had no idea what was going on. I will note, however, that further into the book things pick up a bit and I found myself more interested in returning to reading it than I was nearer to the start. I mentioned giving this story a chance based on a recommendation. The reason I needed a friend's recommendation to give it a try is because the only other Gwyneth Jones book I've read is Bold As Love, back in my early teens. Back then, I picked that book up because it had a pretty cover (so pretty, more so in real life than online) but didn't enjoy it. I thought at the time it was because I was too young to get some of the references (true but not the whole issue) but reading Proof of Concept I noticed a few parallels in character choices, mostly of background characters that bothered me the same way. So I think I'm just not a fan of Gwyneth Jones's writing and probably never will be. That said, the middle and end of Proof of Concept were interesting enough to have me turning pages for reasons beyond wanting to get it over with. The plot centres around an isolation mission, with people sealed into a large underground cavern on a not-spaceship. The idea is that the scientists will perform experiments in a giant Faraday cage (or something, the basis was wishy-washy with intention) and the other half of the inhabitants were something to do with the media. I may have missed something, but I think it was a reality TV kind of thing, to be released after they all came back from the mission. (See what I mean about being confused? I only really managed to get my head around the science half of the premise.) Unexpected stuff starts to happen though, making the plot more interesting and culminating in a satisfying ending. I should be clear that I found the ending satisfying because it fit with my headcannon, but others might find the degree of uncertainty frustrating. I would recommend Proof of Concept to fans of hard SF who don't mind a significant character-driven component to their stories. On the other hand, I wouldn't recommend it to fans of character-driven stories. I liked the main character, who is also a host for a quantum computer, but I didn't feel that she was enough to save the story. Not that she was a bad choice of point of view character, just that we could have gotten to know her even more that we did. Personally, I don't think I'll bother picking up anything by Gwyneth Jones in the future, but this is a very subjective analysis and you definitely shouldn't let me put you off if you haven't given her a shot (and being a novella, Proof of Concept isn't a terrible way to sample her writing).