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Ambiguity Machines: An Examination
This tale is an unusual take on an engineering exam that explores new concepts in machine design and function. All new machine discoveries must be investigated and classified. This is the story of three such machines and the truth or lie of their existence.
This short story was acquired and edited for Tor.com by consulting editor Ann VanderMeer.
Cover art by Pascal Campion
This short story was acquired and edited for Tor.com by consulting editor Ann VanderMeer.
Cover art by Pascal Campion
24 pages, ebook
First published April 29, 2015
About the author
Vandana Singh
163 books199 followersVandana Singh was born and raised in India and currently lives in the Boston area, where she is a professor of physics at Framingham State University, and a science fiction writer. Although her Ph.D. is in particle physics, in recent years she has been working on the transdisciplinary scholarship of climate change, focusing on innovative pedagogies. She has collaborated with the Center for Science and the Imagination three times, twice on climate change–related projects. Her first collaboration (a story for Project Hieroglyph) led to the start of her academic work in the area, resulting in a case study of Arctic climate change as part of a program award from the American Association of Colleges and Universities, for which she traveled to the Alaskan North Shore in 2014. She was also a participant in a re-enactment of “The Dare,” as part of the Year Without a Winter Project, and has contributed a story to the upcoming anthology (forthcoming from Columbia University Press in 2018). She has been an invited panelist for the National Academy of Sciences working group on interdisciplinarity in STEM, and has taught in and/or co-led summer workshops on climate change for middle and high school teachers.
Vandana’s short fiction has been widely published to critical acclaim, and many of her stories have been reprinted in Year’s Best collections. Her North American debut is a second short story collection, Ambiguity Machines and Other Stories (Small Beer Press) that was No. 1 on Publisher’s Weekly’s Top Ten in Science Fiction when it came out in February 2018, and earned praise from Wired, the Washington Post, and the Seattle Times, among others. Locus Magazine’s Gary K. Wolfe refers to her as “one of the most compelling and original voices in recent SF.”
Vandana’s short fiction has been widely published to critical acclaim, and many of her stories have been reprinted in Year’s Best collections. Her North American debut is a second short story collection, Ambiguity Machines and Other Stories (Small Beer Press) that was No. 1 on Publisher’s Weekly’s Top Ten in Science Fiction when it came out in February 2018, and earned praise from Wired, the Washington Post, and the Seattle Times, among others. Locus Magazine’s Gary K. Wolfe refers to her as “one of the most compelling and original voices in recent SF.”
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 21, 2018
The writing is lyrical, making the best of an ambitious and inventive idea; patterns and their relationships to maths, and that relationship to time and space. Three vignettes add a human element that brings the complexity of human relationships (both to each other and to the world), and the whole combines into a teasing but fascinating story.
Available from Tor in celebration of the release of a collection of Vandana Singh's work - free to read here: https://www.tor.com/2018/02/19/read-v...
And if this was any barometer of the rest of the collection, we're in for a treat.
Available from Tor in celebration of the release of a collection of Vandana Singh's work - free to read here: https://www.tor.com/2018/02/19/read-v...
And if this was any barometer of the rest of the collection, we're in for a treat.
December 17, 2021
Welcome to Day 17 of my 2021 25 Days of Short Stories Christmas Advent Calendar. Each day I will be reading a short story from the collection of over 600 short stories and novellas available for free on Tor.com. This is a collection of horror, sci-fi and fantasy. I will be letting fate (and the random number generator) decide what I read each day**.
Day 1: The Art of Space Travel by Nina Allan
Day 2: These Deathless Bones by Cassandra Khaw
Day 3: Swift, Brutal Retaliation by Meghan McCarron> (Trigger warning: Emotional abuse of children and women)
Day 4: Freeze Warning by Susan Krinard
Day 5: Daughter of Necessity by Marie Brennan
Day 6: The Girl in the High Tower by Genniger Albin
Day 7: Come See the Living Dryad by Theadora Goss
Day 8: Black Friday by Alex Irvine
Day 9 Up From Hell by David Drake
Day 10: The Tallest Doll in New York City by Maria Dahvana Headley
Day 11: The Caretakers by David Nickle
Day 12: Your Orisons May Be Recorded by Laurie Penny
Day 13: Of Roses and Kings by Melissa Marr
Day 14: A Christmas Bun for Ulysses by Sarah Morgenthaler**
Day 15: Making My Entrance Again With My Usual Flair by Ken Scholes
Day 16: The Library of Lost Things by Matthew Bright
Day 17: Ambiguity Machines: An Examination by Vandana Singh
I was not sure what to expect from this title and intro. Was this going to be a steampunk? Was it going to be overly technical so I was going to need a degree in physics to understand what I was reading? Those were my best guesses, but no. This was something else entirely. Each story was individual, but was still delicately interwoven. It made for a great read. I was very emotional about each story. Each of the three stories was about the search for love and belonging. Vandana Singh is definitely a writer to look into for the future.
You can read Ambiguity Machines: an Examination by Vandana Singh here.
Day 1: The Art of Space Travel by Nina Allan
Day 2: These Deathless Bones by Cassandra Khaw
Day 3: Swift, Brutal Retaliation by Meghan McCarron> (Trigger warning: Emotional abuse of children and women)
Day 4: Freeze Warning by Susan Krinard
Day 5: Daughter of Necessity by Marie Brennan
Day 6: The Girl in the High Tower by Genniger Albin
Day 7: Come See the Living Dryad by Theadora Goss
Day 8: Black Friday by Alex Irvine
Day 9 Up From Hell by David Drake
Day 10: The Tallest Doll in New York City by Maria Dahvana Headley
Day 11: The Caretakers by David Nickle
Day 12: Your Orisons May Be Recorded by Laurie Penny
Day 13: Of Roses and Kings by Melissa Marr
Day 14: A Christmas Bun for Ulysses by Sarah Morgenthaler**
Day 15: Making My Entrance Again With My Usual Flair by Ken Scholes
Day 16: The Library of Lost Things by Matthew Bright
Day 17: Ambiguity Machines: An Examination by Vandana Singh
I was not sure what to expect from this title and intro. Was this going to be a steampunk? Was it going to be overly technical so I was going to need a degree in physics to understand what I was reading? Those were my best guesses, but no. This was something else entirely. Each story was individual, but was still delicately interwoven. It made for a great read. I was very emotional about each story. Each of the three stories was about the search for love and belonging. Vandana Singh is definitely a writer to look into for the future.
You can read Ambiguity Machines: an Examination by Vandana Singh here.
June 5, 2015
This is the first of anything I've ever read by Vandana Singh, and all I can say is wow, can this woman write. Ambiguity Machines: An Examination is a short story told in the format of an engineering exam (well, I mean, it is still a story, not a test) but had me thinking about it long after I finished reading. The candidates taking the exam for the position of Junior Navigator (well, us readers) read the three fairly long stories relating to the discoveries of impossible machines, and later hypothesize upon whether a machine can transcend the "ultimate boundary- between machine and non-machine". Singh has an incredibly lovely way of balancing the poetics of her narrative with that of the complexities of the ideas expressed. All somewhat melancholy in feel, the first story tells the tale of a young boy traveling through the Gobi desert who later in life tries, through the assemblage of machine, to conjure the likeness of a lost love. The second tale tells of an Italian artist who as a child finds a mysterious dimension shifting tile in a courtyard that later on in life poses a challenge for her and her mathematician/lover to transcend time and space. The third tale tells of an archeologist and her students who come across a group of villagers and is asked to explain what type of being she/they are. While wearing a machine-like construct, boundaries blur between that of her self and other. Singh's detailing throughout these tales is nothing short of amazing, and can be read for free by searching the story at Tor.com, but truly if you value this author's voice, you will plunk down the whole .99 and purchase it as a digital only offered e-story.
May 24, 2021
What an interestingly weird book! Mixing some of the more abstract math terminology with the concept of machines, the book captured my imagination from the get go. We start with a characterization of machines as an object in an abstract space such that some parts of the space don't allow for feasible machines. Later breaking into a specific sub-class of ambiguity machines which tend to dissolve the boundary between disparate concepts, the author presents three case studies -- machines that dissolve reality/metaphor, past/future and self/other boundaries. I was was thoroughly entertained, and only wish this was longer!
January 12, 2023
A young Mongolian engineer, held captive by an extremist group, is ordered to produce a superweapon. He builds a teleportation device instead, and escapes to his beloved wife. So opens this extraordinary story, a major work that you should not miss reading. 4.5 stars!
Online at https://www.tor.com/2015/04/29/ambigu...
This is Vandana Singh's best story that I've read so far, and is also the title story for her new collection, Ambiguity Machines and Other Stories.
Online at https://www.tor.com/2015/04/29/ambigu...
This is Vandana Singh's best story that I've read so far, and is also the title story for her new collection, Ambiguity Machines and Other Stories.
January 19, 2016
What can we make of the relationship between human and machine?
This is three beautifully told related vignettes wrapped in a twist made of awesome. (Really, the twist end booted this very firmly up from four to five stars. I'm into this kind of thing, though.) Available free at Tor. Go and read it already.
This is three beautifully told related vignettes wrapped in a twist made of awesome. (Really, the twist end booted this very firmly up from four to five stars. I'm into this kind of thing, though.) Available free at Tor. Go and read it already.
January 30, 2022
Clocking in at only 24 pages you might also be surprised to discover that this story is actually made up of three smaller stories, very loosely connected by a theme of "strange machines". The book subtitles itself as an examination, however it might more aptly be considered a collection of case studies. The three minisodes are given as accounts of experiences with inexplicable machines.
Although there's something interesting in each of these short accounts the main focus is hardly on the ambiguity machines at all. The characters are well described in the short space of each tale, especially so in the third account. However, in order to tell these stories with such a limited amount of words the author has glanced over the potentially interesting science fiction elements. A few philosophical questions are added in a handful of paragraphs as an end of chapter exercise which kind of tied it all together for me.
I enjoyed this but felt it didn't entirely deliver on its promise.
Although there's something interesting in each of these short accounts the main focus is hardly on the ambiguity machines at all. The characters are well described in the short space of each tale, especially so in the third account. However, in order to tell these stories with such a limited amount of words the author has glanced over the potentially interesting science fiction elements. A few philosophical questions are added in a handful of paragraphs as an end of chapter exercise which kind of tied it all together for me.
I enjoyed this but felt it didn't entirely deliver on its promise.
March 13, 2018
I really enjoyed this story of machineries of loneliness and belonging. A bit philosophical, meditative and such.
Mida rohkem ma sellele loole mõtlen, seda rohkem meeldib.
Tõesti soovitan. Miskipärast seostub Baturiniga, aga ehk seetõttu, et kõik kolm juhtumit, millest loos räägitakse, toimuvad põnevates kohtades nagu Mongoolia, Sahara ja natuke vähem põnevalt, Itaalia.
Mida rohkem ma sellele loole mõtlen, seda rohkem meeldib.
Tõesti soovitan. Miskipärast seostub Baturiniga, aga ehk seetõttu, et kõik kolm juhtumit, millest loos räägitakse, toimuvad põnevates kohtades nagu Mongoolia, Sahara ja natuke vähem põnevalt, Itaalia.
March 21, 2019
I enjoyed the second section more than the first. “But, being an artist, she knew obsession when she saw it.”
July 2, 2018
You might also enjoy:
✱ The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate which can be found in:
- Nebula Awards Showcase 2009
- The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fifth Annual Collection
- The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 2
✱ The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories
✱ Conservation of Shadows
✱ Stories of Your Life and Others
✱ At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories
✱ The King in Yellow
✱ The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate which can be found in:
- Nebula Awards Showcase 2009
- The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fifth Annual Collection
- The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 2
✱ The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories
✱ Conservation of Shadows
✱ Stories of Your Life and Others
✱ At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories
✱ The King in Yellow
April 27, 2016
Too fanciful, too pomo.
I didn't like this as much as the other Singh stories I read (such as the memorable Infinities). Part of the difference may be due to the author's familiarity with the setting of these other stories. This one on the other hand is all over the place and doesn't feel as real.
I liked the idea underlying the third part and some of the descriptions but the whole thing is too self-consciously literary and doesn't make enough sense.
I didn't like this as much as the other Singh stories I read (such as the memorable Infinities). Part of the difference may be due to the author's familiarity with the setting of these other stories. This one on the other hand is all over the place and doesn't feel as real.
I liked the idea underlying the third part and some of the descriptions but the whole thing is too self-consciously literary and doesn't make enough sense.
November 29, 2015
Another delightful tale by Vandana Singh
Vandana Singh combines a lyrical voice with a special imagination, one that is shaped by the mysterious forces that unfold from multiple, indeterminant possible realities. A quantum story teller who gives life to a subjectivity that mathematician-philosopher Alfred North Whitehead understood to be the real, irreducible nature of reality.
Vandana Singh combines a lyrical voice with a special imagination, one that is shaped by the mysterious forces that unfold from multiple, indeterminant possible realities. A quantum story teller who gives life to a subjectivity that mathematician-philosopher Alfred North Whitehead understood to be the real, irreducible nature of reality.
Read
May 2, 2015I didn't want to write anything at all about this haunting story, because that felt too much like pinning it down, and it's best knowing nothing about it when you begin. But on reflection that felt dismissive, so I shall simply say this, and that it is well worth the beginning, and free online.
April 26, 2016
Ambiguity Machines is a captivating story about time and love of various sorts. The writing is lyrical, and the three stories illicit such longing and melancholy that you'll be left feeling the words for some time.
May 3, 2015
An oddly compelling, strangely addictive story.
May 18, 2015
Three very strange, bizarre, yet somehow powerfully magical short stories packed together in a fictional engineering exam that explores new concepts in machine design and function.
June 12, 2015
I think the set up of this one went over my head a little bit, but the overarching themes and the emotion resonated with me. I would probably give it 3.5 stars if I could.
January 7, 2016
Three mini-stories about impossible machines. Very clever.
September 24, 2015
I'm working my way through some Tor.com novellas and novelettes. This is a sweet modern fairy tale with a middle eastern bent, three vignettes presented in the form of an engineering exam paper.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews