Post by @jik@federate.social

Today I reread "Superluminal", by the late great Vonda McIntyre. It is a stunningly good book which you should read. It has been >30 years since I last read it.
Superluminal was published in 1983. I found this on pages 37–38 of the original, hardcover edition.
Read the excerpt below, then read again what I wrote above, that this book was published *in 1983*.
My friends, science-fiction authors are future-tellers.
#SF #SFF #ScienceFiction #VondaMcIntyre #books #bookstodon

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Ever since she had left the water, her message signal had been glowing, a pinpoint of light just behind her eyes. Granting acceptance, she received the messages through her internal communicator. They scrolled across a screen she imagined in her mind, and she scanned each one quickly.

A note from a friend pleased her; junk announcements broadcast to everyone on the port irritated her. She killed — Ever since she had left the water, her message signal had been glowing, a pinpoint of light just behind her eyes. Granting acceptance, she received the messages through her internal communicator. They scrolled across a screen she imagined in her mind, and she scanned each one quickly. A note from a friend pleased her; junk announcements broadcast to everyone on the port irritated her. She killed

each one as soon as she had read far enough to identify it. The people who wrote them got cleverer and cleverer. Orca’s message bank contained a strong filter that was meant to discard most advertising and other solicitations. Some of the circulars had confused the program enough to make it let them through. Orca would have to rewrite it and strengthen
its criteria. The escalation never ended. — each one as soon as she had read far enough to identify it. The people who wrote them got cleverer and cleverer. Orca’s message bank contained a strong filter that was meant to discard most advertising and other solicitations. Some of the circulars had confused the program enough to make it let them through. Orca would have to rewrite it and strengthen its criteria. The escalation never ended.

#vondamcintyre #sff #sf #sciencefiction #bookstodon #books

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