HUGO AWARD-WINNING SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY MAGAZINE
Pack
Our first piece of audio fiction for September is "Pack" written by Robert Reed and read by Kate Baker.
Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 60 - Pack by Robert Reed [35:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (35562)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert Reed is the author of nearly three hundred published stories, plus more than a dozen novels. He is best known for his Great Ship stories, including The Memory of Sky. And for the novella, "A Billion Eves," which won the Hugo Award in 2007. He lives in Lincoln, Nebraska with his wife and daughter.
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ISSN 1937-7843 Clarkesworld Magazine © 2006-2021 Wyrm Publishing. Robot illustration by Serj Iulian.
Steve wrote on September 4th, 2011 at 7:53 pm:
I don't think the protagonist is an AI ... he eats, and he refers to the woman wearing boots and being sunburnt. He might be posthuman.
The story reminds me very much of Clifford Simak's City tales of intelligent postdogs in a future era of human isolation and decline. I'd think Pack is a deliberate homage.
object... wrote on September 6th, 2011 at 1:12 pm:
At first I though it was a game- mainly I think because of the way the main character refered to using up his reserves of courage...
Later I thought, like Steve [above], that the main character and his kind were the people who did/could combine with technology (mostly because he had scraps of food left over from his own supply), and then the boots, sunburn & smile of the invader at the end clinched it for me...
Great story though, and I enjoy the ambiguousness. It makes it feel less familiar, like I should understand and it should be obvious, but things are so different I just don't get it... and as ever, beautifully read
MarkatBestSF.net wrote on September 7th, 2011 at 3:51 am:
I took it to be looking at just how far can humanity go before they are in effect another species? If you are closeted away from the environment, there is no 'local' anymore, and your brain is overclocked to the nth degree, then will humans as we are now, and have been for centuries, creatured who live under the sun and live (in effect) as pack animals, seem an altogether less developed species.
Dominic wrote on September 7th, 2011 at 2:21 pm:
1. Congrats on the Hugo. Well done and well deserved.
2. Enjoyable story; good reading. Kate is one of my top three favorite regular podcast readers, along with Norm Sherman and Frank Key.
3. I've subscribed to the magazine on Kindle...so hurry up and get me that second podcast!
Paul wrote on September 7th, 2011 at 7:15 pm:
Simpler than that. I read it as merely the haves and the have-nots, an insulated upper culture with armor and AI assists, but still just people. The Dogs are the have-nots, still just people, but people without the elaborate castle and armor &c. The neighbor seems pretty happy to be collared by the dogs.
It's a small revolution.
Dominic wrote on September 9th, 2011 at 2:04 pm:
Possibly I missed something, but I didn't get AI from this...I thought the protagonist was human and the dogs were actually dogs, albeit mutated and possibly evolved, a la Planet of the Apes. That made the ending scene, with the dog at the door, much more powerful for me. Am I being too literal?