Digital pets, AI, and societal perspectives There is a lot to unpack in these complex speculative science fiction stories In this collection of short stories, the author visits themes of time travel, the future, and artificial intelligence, among others. It took me a few stories to warm up to the the writing style, which at first felt a little technical and cold (come to find out, the author is a technical writer) – but by the time I got to the story about self-aware online digital creatures (this story reminded me of the 1990s Tamagotchi digital pets my kids had) I was completely hooked. Each somewhat unsettling story is a well-thought-out idea on where the future may take us. The writing is nuanced and complex. I also enjoyed the author's notes at the end that explained where the ideas came from for each of the stories. Although there were a few stories that were extreme standouts for me (the one on life-logs and how the written word changes our societal perspectives was amazing,
The character of Brown Dog is the Upper Peninsula of Michigan's Siddhartha. Brown Dog is always on the lookout for a good fishing river, a night of carnal pleasure, or an odd job that pays enough to buy a six-pack. He is happiest when he is in the woods of Michigan and flying under society's radar. He is a flawed every-man with simple tastes and a pure heart whose bare-knuckled fighting skills, occasional poor judgment, and adherence to his own set of rules rather than the law of the land often land him in one sort of trouble or another. He does his very best to take care of those who can't take care of themselves, even when he's having a hard time meeting his own needs. This book collects all of the various Brown Dog novellas into one (along with one new B.D. novella) so lovers of Brown Dog can immerse themselves in his off-kilter hero's journey. I am so fond of the character of Brown Dog. As someone who has lived in and has strong memories of the U.P., I