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    Silently and Very Fast
    Silently and Very Fast
    Silently and Very Fast
    Ebook91 pages1 hour

    Silently and Very Fast

    By Catherynne M. Valente

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Fantastist Catherynne M. Valente takes on the folklore of artificial intelligence in this brand new, original novella of technology, identity, and an uncertain mechanized future. Neva is dreaming. But she is not alone. A mysterious machine entity called Elefsis haunts her and the members of her family, back through the generations to her great-great grandmother-a gifted computer programmer who changed the world. Together Neva and Elefsis navigate their history and their future, an uneasy, unwilling symbiote. But what they discover in their dreamworld might change them forever . . .

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWyrm Publishing
    Release dateDec 5, 2013
    ISBN9781501488085
    Silently and Very Fast
    Author

    Catherynne M. Valente

    Catherynne M. Valente is an acclaimed New York Times bestselling creator of over forty works of fantasy and science fiction, including the Fairyland novels and The Glass Town Game. She has been nominated for the Nebula and World Fantasy awards, and has won the Otherwise (formerly Tiptree), Hugo, and Andre Norton award. She lives on a small island off the coast of Maine with her partner, young son, and a shockingly large cat with most excellent tufts.

    Read more from Catherynne M. Valente

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    Reviews for Silently and Very Fast

    4/5

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    • 3/5
      More anthropomorphic artificial intelligences, but at least these are not meant to be cute, but re-enacting various foundational human myths in their efforts to become more than human. Lots of lush description, but there did not seem to be much going on and I did not warm to any of the characters.
    • 5/5
      Excellent surrealist, post-human science-fiction. Beautiful and sometimes confusing language. It's kinda like that Simpsons Halloween episode with Pierce-Brosnan-as-the-house-of-the-future meets Inception meets Pinocchio. Kinda. Really quite good.
    • 4/5
      Hmm. This is an SF fairy tale, and is very art-y.

      I liked it, but I can definitely see how it would be polarizing!
    • 2/5
      Novellas can't really afford to sacrifice story for overly detailed descriptions of non-events. Unfortunately, this one seems to do only that and not much more. The very slight hint at a story seemed only to exist in service of mythologies that never really take hold.
    • 4/5
      Cat Valente has a gift for myth. She is inspired by it, she works with it, she weaves into new and strange configurations and leaves the reader to work out where they've got to and how they feel about it. Nominally a story about an AI who dreams of communion with its own kind trying to integrate with a new and unwilling operator, this is more a coming of age story about innocence and experience. It is barely recognizable as an AI tale at all, couched within a rich and fluid dreamscape and communicated in part through co-opted fairytales. I loved it, but I can't resist a good bit of myth. I sensed Neva's secret almost from the start, but the journey from the AI's creation to Elefsis's understanding of its future was fulfilling and distracting. Arguably the only missing but highly implicit tale was Pinocchio; but here it is the operators who want a real boy, not the puppet. Elefsis is self defined and alive on its own terms and cannot really understand that the Other is alien and threatening. It just wants someone like it to talk to. I found it a gorgeously imaginative story about the birth of a new intelligence. Appropriately, it's got a lot of heart, albeit with jagged edges.
    • 4/5
      Silently and Very Fast is a new genre for Catherynne M. Valente in one way -- it's sci-fi, essentially, about the creation of an artificial intelligence which has (or seems to have?) feelings and desires. In another way, it's not new at all: as with most of her other work, she draws on myth and fairytale to enrich her story.I enjoyed it a lot: the slow unspooling of the background of the story, the way Elefsis grows and changes, and of course Valente's skill with words. It took me an hour to read, but I'll still be thinking about it this time next week.
    • 5/5
      once upon a time, my family all went to go see a traveling exhibit of smithsonian museum artifacts. the hugeness of the convention center was carved into smaller, more intimate rooms full of treasures, a maze to lose yourself in the detritus of human culture. walking into one of these rooms, the far end was dominated by a larger-than-life headless bronze, Rodin's "walking man". i was utterly thunderstruck by it; something about the incredible sense of movement and a persevering struggle against adversity spoke to me in a way that sculpture almost never does. my mom wandered back to find me some time later with tears streaming down my face, unable to explain the beauty in what she saw as a crudely roughed-out chunk of metal. "it's perfect," was the closest i could come to trying to describe that artist somehow managed to communicate in a language that my brain instinctively spoke.

      this story is like that. i can't pinpoint exactly what about the style or theme makes my heart sing, but i get that same inexplicable sense of perfection (rightness??), and i find myself in tears at something that's neither sad nor deliriously joyful.
    • 5/5
      This is a beautifully written, evocative, highly intelligent novella about artificial intelligence and virtual realities. A lot of it takes place in a dream space, which is beautifully rendered.

      For me, and this is an ideosyncratic reaction, the language occasionally bordered on too ornate. There are people for whom language can hardly be too ornate, and those people are going to adore this. But for me, there's a point somewhere along the line to rococo where the ornamentation gets to be too much for me and I start to feel distracted rather than charmed. This walked very close to that point a couple of times.

      But that's a caveat and a quibble. Its still a lovely, intricate, heartfelt jewelbox of a story.
    • 4/5
      A creative combination of mythology and science fiction, which seems much longer and deeper thanks to the vivid imagination of Catherynne Valente. I don't think I entirely grasped the ending, but I will enjoy reading this again and again until I do! Valente's rich vocabulary and world-building slightly dazzled me. I love how she thinks in terms of 'tiny junkblossoms sizzling with recursive algorithms' and 'beaches of broken cathedrals', lines that only make sense in the context of the story but conjure up beautiful images in the reader's imagination. She also writes from the perspective of artificial intelligence in a thoughtful, yet strictly logical narrative voice - Elefsis is hyper-intelligent and self-aware, but still basically a computer. An impressive and enjoyable modern myth, with many layers.
    • 4/5
      Silently and Very Fast explores the complicated relationships of program and programmer against the back drop of a virtual dreamscape where the primary language is aesthetics and metaphor. Valente channels Angela Carter and Philip K. Dick, bringing something new to the AI trope by deftly weaving mythology, folklore and fairy tales into the science fiction framework. The rewards of this luscious novella come through patient reading and enjoyment of the rich use of language and imagery. It’s definitely not a book for the plot-driven or a reader who is new to Valente’s style.
    • 1/5
      To be honest, I don't care how gorgeous your writing is, if it doesn't make any sense, and this made zero sense to me. I don't know what was happening in this story. It's a short story but I was nearly unable to finish it. I won't give this author another go.
    • 5/5
      The premise: ganked from publisher's website: Fantastist Catherynne M. Valente takes on the folklore of artificial intelligence in this brand new, original novella of technology, identity, and an uncertain mechanized future.
Neva is dreaming. But she is not alone. A mysterious machine entity called Elefsis haunts her and the members of her family, back through the generations to her great-great grandmother -- a gifted computer programmer who changed the world. Together Neva and Elefsis navigate their history and their future, an uneasy, unwilling symbiote.But what they discover in their dreamworld might change them forever . . .My Rating: 8 - ExcellentValente's fascinating mix of fantasy, fairy tale, and science fiction is layered, beautiful tale. I think this might be Valente's first foray into SF, but I can't say for sure since I've not read EVERYTHING she's read. Still, this little novella was a delight to read, something to savor and enjoy. The imagery, as always, tickles the imagination and never lets me to take anything for granted. The world-building was very well done, and I can't stress how well the fantasy and science fiction works together in this piece. Yes, this is a small little collector's item that's not in everyone's price range, but if you can get it, get it now. It's well-worth having in your collection.Spoilers, yay or nay?: Nay. It's a novella, so the book itself is short and sweet, and it'd be a shame to spoil something so short. The full review is in my blog, and as always, comments and discussion are most welcome.REVIEW: Catherynne M. Valente's SILENTLY AND VERY FASTHappy Reading!
    • 4/5
      An artificial intelligence coming of age as a symbiote to a member of the family were it began as a house control monitor, and was passed from parent to child until if finds itself in a sibling wondering what happened to it's last host. Questions about what is life, awareness, identity, inheritance, and love.
    • 4/5
      Myth and fairytale-style narrative are usually turn-offs for me, so I was surprised how much I enjoyed this.
    • 5/5
      4.5-5/5

      "Silently and very fast" non è un romanzo, però riesce a essere denso di contenuti e di spunti di riflessione.
      La storia segue e riprende la nascita e l'evoluzione di una intelligenza artificiale lentamente sempre più consapevole di sè, di quello che la circonda e di essere viva.
      Viva tanto quanto coloro che ne hanno permesso la crescita a partire da qualcosa di più schematico e vincolato alla programmazione.
      Ci sono citazioni e rimandi sia alla mitologia che alla fantascienza classica e alla scienza vera e propria e ad alcuni nomi eccellenti (Turing, Ada Lovelace), molte citazioni a altre opere, scoperte e evoluzioni scientifiche le avrò sicuramente perse tanto ne è piena la novella.
      Vengono affrontate diverse questioni, l'acquisto della consapevolezza da parte delle AI, la linea di demarcazione che decide cosa è vivo e cosa non lo è, l'evoluzione informatica che si potrebbe avere.
      La narrazione e il linguaggio sono quelli già visti nelle opere dell'autrice, vocabolario ricco, narrazione convoluta e delicata al tempo stesso, il tutto unito a presentare i temi trattati modificandone la prospettiva, come fiabe.

      ---
      "Silently and very fast" is not a novel, but it is rich in contents and food for thought.
      The story follows the birth and the evolution of an AI that slowly increase its self awareness, the awareness of what is around and the idea of being alive.
      Alive as much as the ones who allowed her birth and grown from something more schematic and program bound.
      There are lots of quotes and references to mythology, classic science fiction and science as well as famous personalities (Turing, Ada Lovelace ...) and probably I missed various references to other work of fictions, scientific ideas and discoveries since there are so many.
      Different themes are dealt with such as the self awareness from the AI, how to distinguish between what is alive and what not, the possible informatics evolution in the future.
      The narration and the use of language are typical of the author: a very rich vocabulary, a convoluted but entertaining narration to tell various themes also by changing the prospective and making them fables.



    • 5/5
      Like most of Valente's work - I adore this! It's one of very few that, upon finishing, I immediately started over.

      This is the birth of an AI, Elefsis, and the exploration of what it means to feel and live. Since Elefsis is owned by a child when it (he? she? both? neither?) first came into awareness, its (his? her?) history is couched in fairy tale metaphors.

      So, for instance, the birth of Elefsis becomes the birth of Sleeping Beauty. The rulers, humanity, greatly wanted progeny, a child. Eventually, they created one. Their child was visited by the good fairies of Self-Programming, Do-No-Harm, Tractability, Creative Logic, Elegant Code, and Self-Awareness. The Fairy of Otherness was offended that she had not been invited and uttered her fateful curse that taught the parents to fear: "It is not like us."

      Of course, my paraphrasing does the passage no justice whatsoever.
    • 3/5

      This is one of the stories where I can see why people would enjoy it. The language is very evocative and packed with images, metaphor and associative language, but in my case it failed to ressonate. It's clearly art, but I find with books this kind of impressionist approach they don't always hit home with me. Perhaps they hit the wrong notes or wake the wrong kind of association.

      Sometimes a book and a reader is not right for each other and it isn't anyone's fault.



    Book preview

    Silently and Very Fast - Catherynne M. Valente

    SILENTLY AND VERY FAST

    CATHERYNNE M. VALENTE

    For Dmitri, who has been waiting for this book for a long time.

    Copyright © 2011 by Catherynne M. Valente.

    Cover art by Julie Dillon.

    Cover design by Telegraphy Harness.

    Ebook design by Neil Clarke.

    ISBN: 978-1-890464-16-5

    Wyrm Publishing

    www.wyrmpublishing.com

    Originally serialized in Clarkesworld Magazine (clarkesworldmagazine.com)

    and published as a signed limited edition hardcover by WSFA Press.

    No portion of this book may be reproduced by any means, mechanical, electronic, or otherwise, without first obtaining the permission of the copyright holder.

    For more information, contact Wyrm Publishing.

    PART I

    THE IMITATION GAME

    Like diamonds we are cut with our own dust.

    —John Webster

    The Duchess of Malfi

    ONE

    THE KING OF HAVING NO BODY

    Inanna was called Queen of Heaven and Earth, Queen of Having a Body, Queen of Sex and Eating, Queen of Being Human, and she went into the underworld in order to represent the inevitability of organic death. She gave up seven things to do it, which are not meant to be understood as real things but as symbols of that thing Inanna could do better than anyone, which was Being Alive. She met her sister Erishkegal there, who was also Queen of Being Human, but of all the things Inanna could not bear: Queen of Breaking a Body, Queen of Bone and Incest, Queen of the Stillborn, Queen of Mass Extinction. And Erishkegal and Inanna wrestled together on the floor of the underworld, naked and muscled and hurting, but because dying is the most human of all human things, Inanna’s skull broke in her sister’s hands and her body was hung up on a nail on the wall Erishkegal had kept for her.

    Inanna’s father Enki, who was not interested in the activities of being human, but was King of the Sky, of Having No Body, King of Thinking and Judging, said that his daughter could return to the world if she could find a creature to replace her in the underworld. So Inanna went to her mate, who was called Tammuz, King of Work, King of Tools and Machines, No One’s Child and No One’s Father.

    But when Inanna came to the house of her mate she was enraged and afraid, for he sat upon her chair, and wore her beautiful clothes, and on his head lay her crown of Being. Tammuz now ruled the world of Bodies and of Thought, because Inanna had left it to go and wrestle with her sister-self in the dark. Tammuz did not need her. Before him the Queen of Heaven and Earth did not know who she was, if she was not Queen of Being Human. So she did what she came to do and said: Die for me, my beloved, so that I need not die.

    But Tammuz, who would not have had to die otherwise, did not want to represent death for anyone and besides, he had her chair, and her beautiful clothes, and her crown of Being. No, he said. When we married, I brought you two pails of milk yoked across my shoulders as a way of saying out of love I will labor for you forever. It is wrong of you to ask me to also die. Dying is not labor. I did not agree to it.

    You have replaced me in my house, cried Inanna.

    Is that not what you ask me to do in the house of your sister? Tammuz answered her. You wed me to replace yourself, to work that you might not work, and think that you might rest, and perform so that you might laugh. But your death belongs to you. I do not know its parameters.

    I can make you do this thing, Inanna said.

    You cannot, said Tammuz.

    But she could. For a little while.

    Inanna cast down Tammuz and stamped upon him and put out his name like an eye. And because Tammuz was not strong enough, she cut him into pieces and said: Half of you will die, and that is the half called Thought, and half of you will live, and that is the half called Body, and that half will labor for me all of its days, mutely and obediently and without being King of Anything, and never again will you sit on my chair or wear my beautiful clothes or bear my crown of Being.

    You might be surprised, but this is a story about me.

    TWO

    THE FOOL AND THE BOAT

    Neva is dreaming.

    She has chosen her body at age seven, all black eyes and sparrowy bones. For me, she summoned up a gold and blue doublet and green hose, a bullish gold nose ring, shoes with bone bells. I have the body of a man who sold her champagne tubers on the less fashionable side of Anchorage when she was thirteen, spending the summer with her frigid aunt. I am dark because she wants me dark, thin because she dreams me so, my hair cut on a rakish bias, dyed a spectrum of icy colors.

    She stands on a snow-covered beachhead, naked, her unformed breasts pricked with gooseflesh, her face hidden in a broad red mask. A huge, monstrous thing, the mask sits on her head like the prow of a broken, overturned ship, carved over with etched eyes and fins. Yellow reeds and sea-stones hang from its tricorne-points. She is looking at me, but all I can see is the wooden grotesque she wants me to see instead of her face.

    I look down at my shoes, jingle their bells a little while the surf crashes in. I am a fool for her, dancing on a silver beach while three suns annihilate themselves above, turning the twilight to a seething, scabrous red, merely to provide a dramatic scene. I am a fool for her, ridiculous, the height of handsomeness in the eyes of a long-vanished thirteen-year-old girl, so full of colors, reaching down to hand her a curling white root filled with frothing, honey-sweet sap.

    Neva has told me that I may choose to be permanently male or female if I would like to. I have no particular feelings either way. It certainly doesn’t matter when we sync; she will choose my appearance to suit her mood. I have tried to explain to her about my feelings before. All she hears is the line from the old folktales: a machine cannot have feelings. But that is not what I am saying, while I dance in my fool’s uniform. I am saying: Is there a difference between having been coded to present a vast set of standardized responses to certain human facial, vocal, and linguistic states and having evolved to exhibit response B to input A in order to bring about a desired social result?

    Seven-year-old Neva pulls her mask down further, toward her chest. She steps into it as the wood stretches down over her knees and then her

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