Paperback : 325 pages
ISBN-10 : 1731320280
ISBN-13 : 978-1731320285
The Singularity 50...
A collection of 50 science fiction stories from the most thought provoking voices in new SciFi literature. What will happen when technology surpasses humanity?
Somewhere around the middle of this century, artificial intelligence will evolve beyond its human architects, vastly superior in every way. Technology will become independent of us, rapidly evolving beyond our wildest dreams… or nightmares.
This science fiction anthology that is set over the fifty years leading to the Singularity explores this idea.
Written by Andrew Baguley, Tara Basi, Diann Beck, Richie Brown, Lee Burgess, Dee Chilton, Yvetta Douarin, Jennifer Hawkins, Susannah Heffernan, Tom J Hingley, Michelle Hood, Clive Howard, Maggie Innes, Nick Jackson, David Jacobson, Matt George Lovett, Vera Mark, Ben Marshall, Chris McAleer, Don McVey, Ahren Morris, Sarah Newman, Tom Nolan, KT Parker, Elinor Perry-Smith, Steve Pool, Emma Pullar, Carmen Radtke, Mark Renshaw, Ann Rumsby, Patrick Ryder, Claire Rye, Caroline Slocock, Daniel Staniforth, Christopher Stanley, Dave Stevenson, Jade Syed-Bokhari, Melissa Szydlek, Simon Thomas, Ilesh Topiwala, Phil Town, Nick Twyford, Carrie Wachob, Danielle Wager, Christian Ward, Stephanie Wessell, Kim L. Wheeler, Bethany White, David Wilks, Nick Yates.
Project team: Jade Wheldon, Bryonny Quigly, Emma Heath and Cristina Palmer-Romero // Project leader Chris Jones
The Story of the Stories...
For many it is not IF computers will become sentient, it is WHEN.
Some even think this has occurred already. How often are you spooked about how clever these smart devices have become? One minute you are thinking about how awesome it would be to Cosplay as Iron Man for a Comic convention, and then BOOM – Iron Man costumes galore appear all over your social media! It is as if Artificial Intelligence is not only listening in on every conversation, but also already reading our minds.
It does not take a stretch of the imagination to consider that within the next fifty years Artificial Intelligence could become self-aware resulting in exponential growth in uncontrollable technology.
This hypothetical event is known as the Singularity, in which humans could be rendered obsolete. We could be wiped out Terminator-style, cared for by a more enlightened superintelligence or something else could occur beyond our comprehension. Whichever way it turns out, resistance will indeed be futile.
Such a theoretical marvel is a rich breeding ground for fertile imaginations. This scenario formed the basis of The Singularity50 anthology Create50 – fifty short stories set over the next fifty years charting the rise of Artificial Intelligence.
The Process
The Create50 team mapped out the next five decades in a hypothetical timeline charting major events such as wars, disasters, and political shifts. This future was split into three distinct eras – pre-Singularity, the Singularity event itself, and what life could be like after the rise of the machines. This was all a guideline to inspire and encourage a range of different stories with the same central theme. Authors could set their story in any of these eras and use the timeline or go beyond them.
Following a successful formula used by the Create50 team for their 50Kisses, Impact50 and Twisted50 projects, writers from all over the world were encouraged to submit their stories to the Singlularity50 portal – each entry 2,000 words or less with A.I. at the core of the story. Part of the submission process involved reading entries from other authors and offering constructive feedback. Authors used this feedback to help refine their stories in a continual improvement loop that allowed up to three drafts of each entry.
The result was hundreds of entries and a real spirit of communal creative spirit & comradery. I personally found this quite gratifying. My story improved drastically over three drafts thanks to the honest, constructive feedback I received. We were not competition; we were fellow writers and friends co-operating with each other creatively.
Judges then whittled down the submissions to fifty in a nail-biting and A.I. bashing final review and after one last edit, The Singularity50 was published!
The Singularity50
I was lucky enough to be the first story published in the anthology. Automatic Drive is set in a pre-singularity era and is a Black Mirror-esque tale about a corporate-owned automated highway that uses artificial intelligence to keep the traffic flowing… no matter what the human cost. It was an absolute joy to see my story on the page and hold a physical copy in my hands, plus we had a proper physical launch party with a red carpet. I even received one of the awards given out at the launch which still sits proudly on my mantelpiece.
The rest of the anthology is a mixture of chilling, cheering and thought-provoking tales. Fifty different imaginations, all with their unique take on the rise of A.I. in one collection.
Ask your Smart Speaker to order your copy now before it orders it for you and adds you to the naughty-human list!
Mark Renshaw
Latest news and updates
A Missive on the Singularity by Claire Rye
Monday night and a forgettable dream wakes me from my slumber. I look over at the clock. 11.53pm. My mind starts a conversation with itself.. It’s past midday in London. They have announced the winners. You were going to wait until morning. But i can check now… Go back to sleep you have to work
The Spark by Bethany White
I was studying screenwriting as part of my undergrad degree when I heard about Create50. I always dreaded writing dialogue, and I’d finally come to the decision to focus on refining it within my writing. Little did I know, this was the first spark. Create50 stood out to me as an idea more than anything;
‘Frank’… a story inspired by Create50
Before a friend suggested the Singularity competition, I’d never really written a short story. I ended up submitting four, all featuring the everyman character, Frank. It was great to have two stories short-listed. Something I don’t think would have happened without the constructive feedback of the Create 50 writing community. And to have, By Any
So those law studies weren’t wasted, after all… by Vera Mark
Question: What happens to a lawyer who sees the light? Answer: She becomes a writer. Update, several years later: She wonders if it really was such a great idea to chuck a solid career with good income… and… and… and… Yes it was. Thanks to a fine little Sci-Fi anthology called “The Singularity”. Over the
Disclosure: I’d never written a single word of science-fiction… By Carmen Radtke
Disclosure: I’d never written a single word of science-fiction. Read, sure, watched, hell yes, but writing? Then along came Singularity50, and while I loved the concept I had no intention to take part. More importantly, I also had no time. None. Zilch. Which is why a few days before the deadline I woke up with
Family Business by Vera Mark
Writers are weird, in general. Horror writers are twisted. Sci-fi writers are visionaries. Comet writers are… trailblazers? And they’re all part of the Create50 community, my weird, beloved family. I joined Create50 in 2015 with my short script Psukhe for the “Courage and Kindness” project. This resulted in a Best Script Award at the British
‘Rothschild’s Giraffe’ and the Little Brown Job
On the basis (a) of Chris Jones’s call for blogs and (b) that this blog may well be better than my story ‘Rothschild’s Giraffe’, here goes. (It’s not so much a blog as a plea for redemption.) The suggested timeline for The Singularity included one event that intrigued me very much viz. the resurrection of
How a Sci-Fi Screenplay Ended up in an Anthology of Short Stories
Back in 2015, before the invention of Brexit and Trump, I wrote a short screenplay called Automatic Drive. Inspired by the development of driverless vehicles, I imagined a future in which corporations responsible for automated highways used nefarious methods to keep the traffic flowing at all costs. The script was well received by all who
Finding Your Confidence by Ashlee Renz-Hotz
The Create50 community imparts something incredibly valuable to its writers – almost like finding gold at the end of a rainbow. Not only does it instill a sense of accomplishment, bringing an urgency to write, but also through the writer feedback, it helps impart a sense of confidence in your own work. The collaboration and
The Power of Feedback by Clive Howard
An exciting aspect of Create50 was the opportunity to get feedback from other writers. As a writer, I know well the value of feedback. That said, it can be very difficult to hear. Despite several years of experience, I can still have a negative response to other people’s thoughts on my work – akin to
A Novice Writer by Howard Ellison
Offering up my first-ever short story to Twisted 50 was a challenge, but eased along by the kind practical advice of other far more experienced writers and by its being autobiographical. There was little need for imagination: ‘Charcoal Granny’ had evidently lurked in my head for six decades, and alarmed me when it sprang forth!
A few thoughts from writers in the Singularity 50 process
Now we are underway with the reading of The Singularity stories I thought I would share a few comments from writers that I have had via email… ‘I loved the process of Singularity 50! So far as I am aware it is unique in that others give feedback so subsequent drafts that can be refined
The Singularity50... A Create50 Project
Singularity50 is part of the creative writing and filmmaking community at www.Create50.com.
Collectively we write books, scripts and make movies. The idea is to platform the talent of tomorrow by uniting our collective resources, creativity and talent to breakout 50 new creatives at a time.
If you want to get involved and perhaps write your own story for Singularity50, head over to www.Create50.com and join the thousands of other people like you making it happen. It’s free to join us and immensely rewarding.
‘Create50 has been an excellent bit of innovation and terrific value for money. I can’t remember the last time I so immersed myself in writing – this last weekend was worth every penny, regardless of what happens next. A big thank you to you and your team for making it happen.’
Chris Stanley, Writer
‘Being part of the like minded community helped me push even harder towards achieving excellence in my own writing, but just as importantly allows me to contribute towards helping others do the same for themselves, so we all share in a combined excellence’.
Dee Chilton, Writer
‘Excellent and varied feedback enabled me to step back from the story for a few weeks and come back to it afresh, changing the pacing and altering the ending to make it better.’
Steve Ince, Writer