David Wailing

This is the second (long awaited and much anticipated) book in David's Auto series. It's a scarily feasible look at the way our current technology is moving. 

Auto 2

Amazon.com

My review -

Reading anything labelled '2' generally means you've read the first book and I really enjoyed Auto. This has bells on - and icing and sprinkles. I received an ARC for an honest review and, honestly, it's fantastic. They say 'be careful what you wish for'. This scarily close future sees us all with our autos (like super-smart phones) running our lives and making decisions for us and people love it. They can't imagine managing without. There's even an online church and because hosting space for the autos of the dead is expensive, this cyber-church can offer free immortality in the EternalCloud. We come across characters we've met in Auto and some of them are up against the police and the church.

Auto brought together a group of speculative stories in an amazing manner, crafting a whole from what appeared to be disparate parts. Auto 2 is a more coherent story with the various individual parts acting more like traditional chapters. I read this in a couple of days because it was so unputdownable. It's full of little twists and turns, links to the earlier book and clever speculation on what our addiction to the internet could lead us to. Read this!

David Wailing

This is the collected Auto stories with 3 added - and I'm guilty of thinking it would just be more of the same. I'm glad to be so wrong!

Auto (Auto Series)

Amazon.com  Auto (Auto Series)

My review - 

I wondered what I would be getting with this book, having already read all those short stories published individually. Three extra stories, yes, but what did they add to the mix but more of the same? Well, now I know. Strangely these three, one at the beginning, one somewhere in amongst, and one at the end, set the other stories in a context. Each story stood alone and gave considerable food for thought, but when connected, they make a whole which really asks some questions. It doesn't give all the answers though, and leaves us with the knowledge that there will be more.  I do find myself thinking that this must read rather differently if you come to it all here for the first time.  For me it both linked earlier stories and drew out a meaning from them which wasn’t obvious previously.  I would urge people who think of skipping the stories they’ve already read, not to do so.  Read this in its entirety. 

David Wailing has shown us a future which some might find exciting, but he fills in the gaps and gives us the down-side of a society where it's no longer possible to be secretive. These stories and their characters connect to make an excellent whole.

David Wailing

This is the latest in David's 'Auto Series'.  It's a cracker!

Copy

Amazon.com  Copy

My review -

This is the fifth book in David Wailing's series of longish shorts (Bermuda shorts?) known collectively as The Auto Series. They are set 10 years from the present and are centred around the Auto - a sort of on-line digital assistant which understands its owner's tastes and interest and can even converse on the owner's behalf. Our protagonist Derek is listening to a broadcast of a book launch as the story opens. After a gap of 5 years when the author was reported as dead, 6 new books in the series have been issued. There's an interview with the reclusive author but only Derek has noticed that the new books seem to be rehashed stories, even rehashed descriptions, from the earlier books. 

David Wailing can take a science-fiction story, of the Auto which runs your life, and can push the boundaries of his own theory. It's a great skill. Would you trust a device to buy things for you? To organise your social calendar? If you give a machine such power, what happens when you no longer own it? I have enjoyed all the Auto stories which have been funny, thought-provoking and often a little worrying. This is the darkest of them by far and is an absolutely gripping read. The old saying 'For heaven's sake don't let them make any more progress!' springs readily to mind. I find myself wondering if the author can push his own theory any further? If he does - I want to be there reading it!

David Wailing

This is another in the popular Auto series of short stories.  I love these and hope there will be an Auto Anthology in the future.

Backup

Amazon.com Backup

My review -

This is another story in the Auto series by David Wailing. He has created a not-too-distant future in which people allow their 'electronic assistants' - think smart phones with knobs on - to organise their lives, including their interpersonal relationships. If your auto isn't turned off when you die, it's still interacting with you, with others.

David Wailing's books are always cleverly written. He also has a skill in anticipating the way current trends could come to fruition. Strange fruit indeed! How would you feel if you could go to a parent's grave and feel you could share a conversation? Comforted? How about if you could enter a virtual room and meet your dead family and friends and take part in conversation they are having with other dead people? Spooked? Scared? Horrified? You'll have to read the story and find out! Brilliant, as usual.

David Wailing

This short book of two stories and a few 'Drabbles' - ultra shorts, has rather a different feel.  The two main stories are told by youngsters - and very convincingly too!

Fifth Season

Amazon.com   Fifth Season

My review -

This is a short book comprised of two (longish) short stories and a few ‘Drabbles’ – one hundred word super-shorts. Fifth Season is the first of these longer stories and is set a little way into the future. It begins with a near-global panic and we follow it through the eyes and the understanding of a 9 year old boy – one with a particular interest and intelligence. Nineteen Seventy-Steve is set in the past. Mostly! Those of us who remember the 1970s will find a sudden smile twitching our faces as we recall television programmes, adverts and the like. The drabbles are especially intriguing. It’s quite a feat getting a ‘story’ into 100 words.

David’s writing is usually unfussy, modern, I might almost say suave. Here it is very different. He accurately speaks in a young boy's voice and persuades us to believe it’s a child telling us the stories. Have you ever listened to a youngster telling you something s/he’s excited about and said ‘Slow down, take a deep breath and tell me again.’? It’s a bit like that. The story comes excitedly, phrases trying to leapfrog over one another, in a convincingly child-like way. All in all, it’s very well done. 

David Wailing

David Wailing writes modern fiction and deals with relationships in an unusual way.

Relationship Status

Amazon.com  Relationship Status

My review -

This short story (6,000 words or so) makes a great quick read for in between the longer books. It proposes that our technology will have grown so fast in the next 10 years that we can have an 'organiser' that learns our likes and dislikes (Google, Amazon, I see where he's coming from!).

I have not read much of David Wailing's work but enough to know that he has a clear and readable writing style and can certainly get to the heart of a story. I enjoyed this very much and now I REALLY must read one of his full length novels. It's a shame to know a talented author only by his shorts!

Timeline

Amazon.com  Timeline

My review -

This is another short story set in the same imagined future as Relationship Status. Technology is managing people's lives to such an extent that their 'autos' or on-line assistants can take care of all daily needs including making and updating friendships. I enjoyed both these stories for the way they make me think about our current penchant for sharing our lives through digital media. Some of David's ideas seem wonderful and some absolutely monstrous! I wonder how far we will go in ten years? Currently certain on-line retailers cannot reliably predict which books I would like to read!

David Wailing's writing is clear, light hearted and modern in style and he tackles some unusual subjects and does it in depth. I like his style!

Fake Kate

Amazon.com  Fake Kate

My review -

In this exciting story by David Wailing, Belinda impersonates her sister Kate in an attempt to discover why she has suddenly disappeared. She attends 8 meetings her sister has set up on an internet dating site. At each she learns more about her sister, much more than she bargained for. The story ducks and weaves as we follow Belinda's efforts to appear and act more like her sister.

David Wailing takes an ordinary relationship and asks us, `How well do you know anyone? How well do you know yourself?' His writing style is well suited to following the trivialities of the lives of clubbers and DJs and then finding the deeper levels. He is a thoughtful writer and sets the reader challenges. There is often more to his characters than at first appears. This is the case here and our preconceptions are knocked down time and again. The ending of this book seems to have divided readers. You can count me firmly in the positive camp. I love it when an author leaves me something to think about. This is a great story, well told.

Friend Request

Amazon.com  Friend Request

My review -

This short story is yet another little gem set in David Wailing's near future world. This will make you want to switch off your phone! It's set in a time not too far away when we all have electronic 'autos', effectively personal assistants, to which we confide our deepest secrets. What if your secrets came to light? What if the autos talk to one another and spill the beans?

This is funny, thought provoking and also rather horrific! Is there any one of us without some little bit of information we wouldn't like spread abroad? As always, David's writing is clear and unfussy, with a modern feel. He can get technical about the computery stuff without losing me - quite a feat. This is a very enjoyable read which gives you something to mull over - what more do you want from a book?