Guardian Angels and Other Monsters

Wilson’s spectacular first collection brings together 14 original stories that explore artificial intelligence in its many incarnations, sprinkled with horror elements and wielding a decidedly humanistic edge. In “The Nostalgist,” an elderly man holds onto the memory of childhood in the best way he knows how. “God Mode” is a poignant tale of memory and longing surrounding an artificial world. In the heart-wrenching “The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever,” a single father and physicist must brace himself and his little girl for a cataclysmic event. In the tragic, disturbing “Special Automatic,” a bullied and abused teen boy uses the implant that controls his seizures to link his mind to a robot he built, giving himself more power than he ever could have dreamed. Also included are stories from the worlds of Robopocalypse and The Clockwork Dynasty. Wilson displays an aching humanity and literary sensibility that will satisfy his fans and win him plenty of new ones. This thoughtful, affecting collection will linger in the thoughts of readers long after the last page is turned. (Mar.)