Available online at http://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/fall_2010/fiction_the_lifecycle_of_softwar... ( )

There's depth to this that I want to think on but I think my main objection is going to sound extremely stupid: for a book where THE theme is the practicalities of "sapient
ai as software", it feels like I'm constantly thinking "this is ludicrously impractical" ( )

Disappointing. Not much of a plot at all. Flat characters. Simply raises a lot of questions around AI by putting a little bit of a story behind it. ( )

Somewhat disappointed. Interesting ideas, but the storytelling was weak. ( )

It's extremely common for fans of science fiction to describe the genre as being about "exploring what it means to be human". This is both a prestige move, to try and raise it to the level of Real Books where Real Stuff happens; and a tactical move, to separate it from the greasy wastes of fantasy with its endless repetitions of elves and chainmail bikinis. This book isn't the pinnacle of sci-fi or anything, and in fact I'm pretty sure several authors have neatly tucked its insights into their works before, but its fits right into that description of sci-fi and is actually fairly well-written. It's about two people, Ana and Derek, who get involved in the creation and use of digients, which are essentially sentient Tamagotchis for people who want alternatives to pets or children. They develop attachments to their digients, but when the company that makes them goes out of business and there's not enough money to port them to a new virtual environment, they have to cope with how the digients will fit into their lives as they try to get the money to pay for the port. It's basically a parable about how parents relate to their children, how do you deal with them growing up and having their own lives, how do you make time for them, etc. I have to say that this world is disturbingly possible, and I can easily see people getting extremely attached to software objects in lieu of having real children, getting caught up in this world where virtual relationships are more important than real ones. A large part of modern innovation consists of tricking existing human instincts to get people to buy things or do things they wouldn't otherwise do, and sometimes I feel like the generation that perfects virtual reality will be the last one, since it's so addictive and can offer plausible substitutes for reality that are far more sophisticated than most of what previous generations could ever dream of (at least outside of narcotics). The smooth, transparent writing style helped make the story even more plausible, so if you are more pro-Internet than I am you'll probably like it even more. The book was short but sweet, and won the 2011 Hugo Award for Best Novella. ( )