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Vast: Stories of Mind, Soul and Consciousness in a Technological Age by [C. R. Dudley, Peter Burton, Jonathan D. Clark, Ellinor Kall, Ava Kelly, Juliane Graef, Sergio Palumbo, Vaughan Stanger, J.R. Staples-Ager, Stephen Oram]

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C.R. Dudley

Ava Kelly

Vast: Stories of Mind, Soul and Consciousness in a Technological Age Kindle Edition

by C. R. Dudley (Author), Peter Burton (Author), Jonathan D. Clark (Author), Format: Kindle Edition

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Ten exciting, thought-provoking science fiction stories exploring the relationship between cutting-edge technology and the human psyche.

What would it mean for an artificial brain to become conscious? Is awareness always tethered to the body? Could we ever accept a virtual reality as our own? Perhaps our minds already have more impact on the fabric of reality than we realise...

Contents:

Stephen Oram - Chimy and Chris
J.R. Staples-Ager - Little Thief
Thomas Cline - Limited Infinity
Vaughan Stanger - Dreamtime
Sergio 'ente per ente' Palumbo - The Weight of Your Mind
Jonathan D. Clark - The Video
Ellinor Kall - The DreamCube Thread
Ava Kelly - Luz Beyond the Glass
Peter Burton - Every Aspect of Every Recollection
Juliane Graef - Ancestors

Print length

164 pages
Language

English
Publication date

February 28, 2020
File size

378 KB
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B084CVF7DS
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Orchid's Lantern (February 28, 2020)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 28, 2020
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 378 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 164 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1999868447
Lending ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #2,172,046 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #3,983 in Metaphysical Fiction
- #4,302 in Metaphysical Science Fiction eBooks
- #4,992 in Science Fiction Anthologies (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
7 ratings

About the authors

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C. R. Dudley
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C.R. Dudley is a visual artist, writer, and mind explorer. She is fascinated by the human condition, in particular the effect future technological developments might have on the psyche, and sees everything she creates as part of one continuous artwork.
She started blogging in 2014 as a way to express the ideas stemming from her studies in Jungian psychology, philosophy and various schools of mysticism. Her first few stories were distributed as hand-stitched art zines in aid of a mental health charity, and her style became known for its multi-layered narratives.
In 2017 she founded Orchid’s Lantern, a small independent press focusing on the metaphysical and visionary genre. She is the author of two short story collections, Fragments of Perception and Mind in the Gap, as well as a forthcoming series of novels inspired by the workings of the unconscious mind.
C.R. Dudley lives in North Yorkshire, and is a lover of forest walks, pizza, tequila and dark music.
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Ava Kelly
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Ava Kelly is an engineer with a deep passion for stories. Whether reading, watching, or writing them, Ava has always been surrounded by tales of all genres. Their goal is to bring more stories into the world, especially those of friendship and compassion, those dedicated to trope subversion, those that give the void a voice, and those that spawn worlds of their own. www.avakellyfiction.com
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Logan Ryan Smith

Great anthology with a strong theme

Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2020

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This collection has a very interesting undercurrent running through it. An anthology with a true theme, as the tagline states: Stories of mind, soul and consciousness in a technological age. A lot of science fiction deals with what it means to be human, or, what it means to be alive and aware. This collection of ten authors all delve into similar territory, but what struck me was the linked nature of these supposedly standalone short stories. However, having read editor/publisher C.R. Dudley's two books of short stories/flash fiction, I guess I'm not totally surprised that CONNECTION is not only a theme in her books but also how this anthology works. There's the tangible and intangible holding hands in that idea. In reading VAST, yes, these authors tackle what it means to be human, but almost every story has a more direct question: What's next for humans? What will become of the mind in a post-human world? The consensus seems to be UNITY. While all these stories struggle with the idea of the individual, many are occupied with the dissolution of the individual so that it may be absorbed into the whole. I find that pretty intriguing. Like, a book of short stories, which all exist, at least in part, as a means of self-expression, seem to describe a longing to be absolved of the responsibilities of the self while becoming a part of something larger. Which is complicated in itself. How is "one" a "part" of any "whole"? Who knows, but that's what this book got me thinking about, and I'm impressed by this anthology's ability to have all these different stories from different people talking to each other, in a sense, while remaining singular, but also part of the whole. I mean, all that said, each story could absolutely be read alone, by itself. Which likely is why the anthology, as a WHOLE, worked in the first place. Anyway, I'll let others respond more directly to the individual stories/authors, but as someone who is a longtime proponent for the BOOK as being an entity unto itself, something whole, complete, an object living in the world, divorced of its creators, and with its own sense of logic/reality and so on, I'm glad to have the opportunity to read something like it. Definitely recommend picking up a copy (it's a quick read despite how long I took to read it) and checking out other works by its talented (and smart and fun) authors and editor.

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museofdestiny

An interesting and enjoyable experience

Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2020

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I enjoyed reading through all of the stories in Vast. The common theme of how technology and science could potentially change our world was a fascinating experiment. Each of the authors brought a unique perspective with their pieces. There were definitely some standout stories, particularly The Video by Jonathan D. Clark, The DreamCube Thread by Ellinor Kall, and Luz Beyond the Glass by Ava Kelly. I enjoyed Clark's depth of understanding of the human condition as well as his exceptional imagery. With Kall's unique style choice, I was really able to feel connected to this story as if it were a real comment thread I was reading online. Kelly did a great job with this unconventional love story. Overall Vast is a great read if you're looking for something a little "out there."

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KIP KOELSCH

Read. Think.

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2020

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These are not conventional short stories and if you can get past that you they may challenge how you view or think about the relationships between humans, technology and the world.

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Eve

A thought-provoking anthology and a must read!

Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2021

A thought-provoking anthology and a must read. A few stories really stood out for me.

"Chimy and Chris" by Stephen Oram was the first story and it really blew me away. Just a good opening piece.

"Little Thief" by J.R. Staples Ager was really good.

"The Video" by Jonathan D. Clark. For something so tragic, it was written so beautifully.

These three were favorites, but the anthology as a whole was incredible.

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Symchicken

A superb collection of speculative fiction short stories - recommended.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 15, 2020

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VAST is a collection of ten short stories, themed on an exploration of consciousness and technology. In short, it is a fantastic collection of innovative, well-written stories that should 'tickle the imagination' of anybody interested in speculative fiction.

In the opening story, Chimy and Chris, Stephen Oram sets out a wonderfully novel retelling of the brain in a vat analogy, riffing on the basic materialist position of matter = mind, before twisting sharply and subverting such traditional idea. Similarly, Sergio Palumbo (The Weight of Your Mind) presents a different materialistic presentation, narratively spanning neuroscience, quantum physics and dreams.

These stories sit in tension with dualistic presentations of consciousness, such as Peter Burton's Every Aspect of Every Recollection, a bold exploration of consciousness free from the tethers of a linear, or even a single, timeline. Reading the stories next to each other, it is easy to appreciate how the desire to identify our minds entirely with our bodies is held in check by the special qualitative nature of what it is to be conscious. Jonathan D. Clark provides a wonderful micro-study in what it is to see something in his deceptively simple story, The Video. The story contrasts seeing a video for the first time against every single repeated viewing afterward, where the outcome is known, and in doing so, captures the essence of what it is to experience in the moment. For a bit of fun, I suggest reading it a second time, knowing the end of the story for a bit of recursive philosophical humour.

I particularly enjoyed Ellinor Kall's The DreamCube Thread, with it's playful use of form balanced against an interrogative line of thought about the nature of thought itself and the interconnectivity of minds. This represents everything I love about speculative fiction. It's an enjoyable read that's simultaneously intellectually satisfying; think Terry Pratchett pontificating on socio-economic theories through Sam Vimes and his cardboard-soled boots.

Whether you like your spec-fic cyberpunk (J.R. Staples-Ager's Little Thief), mystery (Thomas Cline's Limited Infinity - probably my favourite overall) or cli-fi oriented (Juliane Gaef's Ancestors), there will be something in here for you to enjoy and get your teeth into. And if there's something that isn't your bag, move on to the next story; there are ten, all different, yet interconnected into a satisfyingly coherent package. Editor C.R. Dudley deserves credit for bringing together a disparate set of narratives that all drive at the same ephemeral question from a variety of different directions and in a way you could almost believe they were written with knowledge of each other.

As a final note, I would say something about formats. Many stories exist as simple consumables - the narrative exists to be read and enjoyed and that's it. Nothing wrong with that. In such cases, I'm happy to consume in paperback or on my Kindle. I'm not fussy. In this case, however, the stories benefit from being consumed and digested - if that makes sense? As such, my recommendation is to invest in the paperback. It feels to me like having a physical copy of the stories helps me form a stronger connection to them than I would get in a purely digital format, where I can't flip back and forth as easily. Maybe there's something in that or maybe it's simply a reflection of my own position on the mind-body problem. Who knows?

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Fab-Jul

Loved these thought experiments

Reviewed in France on March 1, 2020

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I really enjoyed all these thought experiments. Especially Juliane Graef's story prompted a lot of discussions with a couple of friends. We read her short story over coffee and adored her cute plantchildren characters. Kudos!!

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C. R. Dudley

Ava Kelly

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