In her introduction to Sex in the System, Cecilia Tan tells us there are two truisms that form the basis for this book. One, any new technological development will very shortly be put to an erotic use, and two, science fiction stories are often really examining today's world.

There are 15 stories (technically, 14 stories and a poem) in this collection by authors such as Joe Haldemann (who appears twice), Sarah Micklem, Paul Di Fillipo and others, and they cover a wide range of aspects of life, including love and loss, that weird guy/gal at the office, even late-night infomercials.

And, of course, each story deals in the erotic, from the adventures of the living sex-doll Pinocchia to the grad students Schatzi and Gerald trying to figure out the "Value For O," from lovers using a mental implant to keep in touch over millions of miles to the programmer who falls in love with her latest erotic creation.

The stories are not only entertaining, they are, as Tan says in her introduction, "just plain hot."

by Laurie Thayer
Rambles.NET
27 January 2007