REVIEW: The Stories of Ibis - Hiroshi Yamamoto

• Year first released:  2006 (Japan), 2010 (US)
• ISBN of the edition I read:  9781421534404
• Publisher of the edition I read:  Haikasoru
• My rating (out of 5): 4

When Ray Bradbury decided to pool a bunch of his already-published short stories together to give us a compilation, he picked 20-something of his stories that take place on Mars, gave them just a hint of an overarching story, and called it The Martian Chronicles. The problem with Chronicles is that it felt like exactly what it is: a bunch of disparate, older stories which Bradbury tried to tie together in a cohesive way. The stories are all good. The binding of them – the new frame story – was a mess, and didn't actually bring the pieces together in a meaningful way. 

The Stories of Ibis follows a similar structure: seven stories total, five of which were already published (two written newly for this book), with a narrative thread in between each that ties them all together.

Unlike The Martian Chronicles, though, Ibis comes together brilliantly. Reading through each of the stories, we can easily believe that each of them belongs in this collection, and that each of them actually holds weight in the frame story. Yamamoto accomplishes this through a deceptively simple means: rather that trying to pretend that each of the short stories is a literal, historical story for this universe, they are pieces of fiction which one character - an android named Ibis - tells to a human wanderer. Then, in between each telling, Ibis and the wanderer discuss the stories - their themes, their implications, how they would work (or not work) in their current reality. 

Is it cheating for Yamamoto to have approached it this way? Maybe. But it absolutely works. 

Each of the seven short stories – as well as the overarching thread – deals extensively with the theme of Artificial Intelligence: What is it really? Is it even worthwhile? Will we ever be able to create it? If so, will it be our undoing?

Yes, the topic of AI is one of the most oft-tread grounds in sci-fi. Despite this, Yamamoto’s humanistic approach and broad-reaching empathy give us a fresh perspective on the matter, with a plethora of insights - sometimes wonderful, sometimes tragic - along the way. 

Of course, as with any short story collection, some of the stories hold up better than others.

• The first story in the collection, The Universe In My Hands, is an intriguing beginning to Ibis' nights of storytelling, with a fun, meta- setup. 
• In its pure form, Black Hole Diver is probably my favorite of the collection, considering its beautiful imagery and philosophical depth. 
• The Day Shion Came (one of the two new stories) unfolds the most slowly, but about halfway through we realize that it's one of the most important pieces of the collection. 
• And, as might be expected, the final story, AI's Story (the other of the two new stories), displays the heaviest implications of the collection, tying all the pieces together in a moving, meaningful - and surprisingly optimistic - way.

Though I'm not often a fan of sci-fi, Ibis hit all the right notes for me. It is sci-fi in its most ideal form: here are stories with a purpose that wrestle with ideas beyond mere alien invasions and laser swords. Yamamoto has given me much to think about - more so than most other books I've read recently.