“We are used to building ships that are, for lack of a better word, solid.” The Marshal smiled without humor. “Because we are used to ships that have to be run by people. But once your ships can be made of something other than coherent matter, and can support the functioning of an AI captain—”

“At that point is it still a ship?”

so. um. ummmmmmmm. this was...fine. there's just not that much to it. i guess the main takeaway is people...don't want to be soup?? the story covers a very small patch of ground—there's some set-up, during which names and situations and credentials are established and then there's a conversation and an incident and then it's over.

i didn't see it mentioned anywhere that this was part of a larger story or proposed series or anything, so some of the details seem they were summoned into the story for no satisfactory purpose, when you click at a sleeping street cat and they glower up at you before blinking it off with an ear-twitch and going back to sleep and you feel kind of bad for waking them up for no reason. what's going on with maia? why is anna haunted by rabia's girlfriend? IS HER DRAGON-FISH OKAY? they're not huge burning questions (except for fate of dragon-fish, plz), but a short story is kind of a backpack on a hike and you need to streamline your shit down to the absolutely necessary or it's just weight you don't need.

but it has been said that i don't know anything about anything, so i'm probably missing all the significance with my slow doofy brain. i feel okay about it.



read it for yourself here:

https://www.tor.com/2020/05/20/beyond...

come to my blog!free-tor-shorts hey-shorty58 s — Massiel246 1,232

Beyond the Dragon's Gate was an interesting short story. I d how simple everything was, the main character even when there was no description at all of her -I loved it- you can still be emphatic and want to know what is really going on in those little paragraphs. There is not a whole view about how the world building is but it was so damn interesting I wouldn't mind a book with it.

I want to read more of this author so I'll check all his other books and also he kinda loves dragons so much because every book so far has it? I wanna know why.2020 novellas-short-stories read-in-english31 s roma379 102 Read

i'm in awe of this concept of sentient AI's experiencing dysphoria? and a human non binary person slowly getting that? the conflict is resolved pretty quickly since it's a short story but I'd love to read more of this universe queer rep-trans-non-binary sff ...more16 s Trish2,149 3,664

I‘ve read a story by this author before and am pleased to say that the worldbuilding, here, was once again awesome!

We are in a far future where humanity has mastered spaceflight and is at war. They call themselves the Lyons and it‘s unclear if they are just a different faction of humanity or a different species. In the end, it also doesn‘t matter.
Humans, in this world, have to pay back the cost of their birth and upbringing. Some become scientist, others become soldiers.
One such human is Anna Kim, a scientist who can talk to AIs. Which is just what the military leader needs as their newest class of warships / AIs is … not behaving as they should and Anna is tasked with finding out why.

The solution was pretty simple and yet not less meaningful. It‘s one way to examine the age-old question of what an AI would be if it existed, of just how „human“ it would be, what rights it should have.

Sadly, the story itself was just too short. Considering the possibilities opened up by the worldbuilding and all the hints we get from Anna‘s thoughts and flashbacks, there should have been so much more. Which is not to say this story lacked too much, but that the writing made me hungry for more. therefore, the ending was a bit too fast and abrupt and it made me feel as if this should have been a novella, really.

You can judge for yourself by reading it for free here: https://www.tor.com/2020/05/20/beyond...11 s Acqua536 225

One of the things I love most about reading queer SFF is the new perspective it brings, and Beyond the Dragon's Gate is a short story that talks about AIs and their relationship with their hardware in a trans perspective - while also having human trans characters. By the way, no wonder the non-binary marshal manages to feel fascinating despite the very little space they have to shine, it's a Lee story with a lot of typical Lee elements, Extremely Unfriendly Architecture (love it).
I d the way AIs crossing the Turing Threshold was ned to a carp turning into a dragon, it reminded me of one of my favorite short stories (If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again by Zen Cho, which I think is inspired by tales with similar elements - turning into a dragon is ascending to a higher level).
This does kind of feel something that is a part of a bigger story (which I'd love to read, of course), but I also think it worked really well the way it is.aoc db love-cover ...more10 s Peter Tillman3,752 416

Story fragment about a reluctant AI researcher for the military. She's dragooned into investigating problems with newly-upgraded shipminds. Then.... the story just stops. I'd be interested to see where YHL goes with it, but this one really doesn't go anywhere, despite being well-written. Frustrating. I hope they complete the story sometime!

Story link: https://www.tor.com/2020/05/20/beyond...freebies science-fiction short-fiction10 s charlotte,3,425 1,034

Rep: wlw mc, nonbinary characteradult-lit aoc-et-al dystopia-sci-fi ...more9 s Rebecca CrundenAuthor 24 books639 Read

I do not wish to speak with the voice they have given me.

A short, trippy speculative sci-fi story with a twist. I quite d it!lgbt-fiction sci-fi short-stories8 s Justine465 290

A really interesting short story that packs a powerful punch. I'd love to see more from this world in a full length novel or novella.read-in-2020 science-fiction short-stories5 s Kam Yung Soh796 42

A story that feels a fragment of a larger story given the background information in it, it has a academic hustled to a military location to help figure out why 'improved' AI driven battleships are destroying themselves. The reason would have to do with the AI's sense of Self and what it means for an AI to be physically embodied in a ship.sf-and-fantasy4 s Annikky527 267

Everything Yoon Ha Lee writes I will read. Really d this, despite the rather abrupt ending. 3 s elizabeth jovena258 19

the setup was so cool but had a really sudden ending. i loved the little snippets about dragon-fish and anna‘s research. marshal is another character who is potentially very interesting. i really hope that yoon ha lee will expand this story :)science-fiction short-stories4 s Silvana1,202 1,194

I didn't get it :))freebies poc-diaspora-authors sci-fi ...more4 s Meredith KatzAuthor 16 books195

LOVED this. As with many readers, I wanted more of it, but I don't think that they were loose ends or anything -- it was just... world building, development, Anna existing in a bigger world than just her immediate goal. (I'd still read a whole book of this). I teared up at the end (Anna's wants there are so relatable) and just -- gorgeous. Nonbinary character, discussion of dysphoria, and some really good and beautiful things with developmental AI. (You know I'm a sucker for developmental AI and personhood)4 s Hirondelle1,092 251

with another YHL short fiction I read Extracurricular Activities, I do her universe(s), the scope of it, and her writing and her characters are interesting. But this was much too short, and the plot, the point of the story ends up being kind "What, that was it? None of the thousands of military experts before even considered that hypothesis?". Nice writing, and I will definitely try a full length novel, but as a short story, not much point to this except as a sample of style.sf short-pieces4 s Anomaly523

3.5 Rounded Up

In binging his works - especially short stories - I've come to expect from Yoon Ha Lee a specific quality and set of features. I expect complex lore fed to the reader small, well measured kibbles; characters that are easy to and/or empathize with; clever and beautiful wordsmithing; and the lingering feeling of wanting to read it again or at least get more stories from the same universe. Beyond the Dragon's Gate provides all of these things, and is quite enjoyable, but I don't feel it was paced well. The worldbuilding and leadup are dense in an enjoyable way, but the actual meat of the story comes as part of a rapid and abrupt-feeling conclusion.

I enjoyed the lore and d the main character well enough to round up my rating, but I wish that more time were spent exploring the concept proposed by the ending. I love a good story about the nature of AI and the elements which make them into people (something I suspect may someday expand beyond the realm of science fiction), and this is one... but the most fascinating part rushes past in the blink of an eye.

If there were a full novel based on either the concept - which I can't name without spoiling things - or the universe presented here in general, I would eat it up the good candy on Halloween.age-adult borrowed-from-library genre-science-fiction ...more3 s Suzy216 17

Now that's more it.

I have heard of Yoon Ha Lee, but this was my first foray into his work. I'm definitely encouraged to pick up more from him based on this example; the story was sleek, well realised and demonstrated a wealth of potential within his writing that I hope to see developed further in one of his full length novels.

This short sci-fi story deals with the topic of sentient AI. I found it intriguing and I d Lee's approach. His writing style has a softer touch to it - there's no action in this story (though it doesn't need it), and there is something pensive about the way he chose to frame and deliver the story. It has certainly provoked a few thoughts, and I love when a good story leaves me with something to ponder.

My only criticism was that this read as a perfect pitch for a novel, rather than simply being a perfect novella. The conclusion is slightly open-ended (although it's easy to guess in which direction it goes, thanks to Lee's gentle nudging), but it wasn't just that that left me feeling this way. I think the premise had more to give in terms of its scope than the short story explored, and I would have d to see more from it.

That said, this is a great short story and it earned every one of those four stars. Highly recommend.
3 s mace326 79

I've read one of Lee's books before, and was most impressed with all the creative ideas behind his worldbuilding. That was also the case for this short story. The idea of exploring body dysphoria through AI is something that's really interesting, definitely a concept I'd be interested to see explored further in a longer format.a-adult author-of-color author-trans-nb ...more4 s Kes2,072 48

This is more a vignette than a short story: Anna Kim is called to consult on a problem with the military's AI. The AI live in ships. The denouement is that the military has experimented with shifting the ship's form into something water; the ships (despite initially agreeing) now detest their new form. The realisation is that AIs also have a preference as to their bodily form.

That's it. It's a nice idea, in a nice story, but I think my main summary is that it's nice. fiction read-20202 s Nothing594 38

"She was water and the memory of water, she was dissolving amd disappearing, forever evaporating only to rain down again, sand castles sloughing into nothingness upon an empty shore. And this was it, this was all there was, she could not find boundaries, let alone escape them or transcend them, could not find her way back into her feet, the heft of her bones—"

This was way too short for whatever it was trying to do.2 s juno103 24

as someone who loves using robots and other nonhuman beings as metaphors for my self identity, the idea of an AI experiencing dysphoria isn't one that ever crossed my mind and now that i've read this, i don't think i'll ever stop thinking about it. i wish it were longer, not because i think it was missing something, but i just wanted more of it!its-got-space lgbtq novellas-and-shorts ...more2 s Diz1,708 113

This is an interesting exploration of the connection between mind and body. However, there wasn't much action. It does raise some intriguing possibilities for future development, though.science-fiction3 s RobO14 2

This is not a story, this is a sketch at best. I would not recommend purchasing it because it really is empty of most of the things you're probably looking for. Plus it lasted as long as 1/2 cup of coffee.2 s emma1,086 87

Too short to really grab me, if this was expanded further I think I would have enjoyed it.adult-lit novellas-and-short-stories sci-fi2 s Netanella4,421 12



A short story of intense world-building, about a disgraced AI scientist who is forcibly taken by the military and tasked with communicating with the survivors of a group of sentient military ships. The other AI have committed suicide, and the ones left alive won't speak to their human commanding officers. I've heard of this author before, and have his Ninefox Gambit on my to-read list. I must move it up. This story really touched me. 2020-december-reading-challenges science-fiction short-stories2 s Elena LinvilleAuthor 0 books82

It was okay. I d the main idea that even AIs can get used to the shape we put them in and experience psychological anguish if forced into a shape that is radically different. But other than that, this was just an okay short story that I probably won't remember in a few months.read-2020 short-story-or-novella2 s Dusan Prvacki65 16

Beyond the Dragon's Gate starts in medias res-ish, where we get to know many details about the main character's past with no further explanation nor significance for the current story which made these details completely obsolete. The story is a very thought out trailer for a movie, which must not reveal any significant info, just a few scenes here and there for you to get a general idea, which leaves you with a feeling of emptiness, or maybe a need to see the whole thing if it's your cuppa tea.

The second thing that really frustrated me is the main character referring to another character as "they". I get the whole jumping on the bandwagon and refering to people as "they" if they ask you to, but this character was newly introduced and our main character never got the chance to get to know them, and she started refering to the other character as "they", which created unnecessary confusion and lack of comprehension during reading.

Now I understand this is so called "queer fiction", and I learned about the genre just recently, and I can understand that there's a lot of queer talk involved, especially about the feelings of trans people, their etiquetting by the society and their feelings towards it, but it just didn't work for me. This is just pure bad writing for the reasons mentioned above, in my opinion.

If it's a sloppy intro into a future book, Tor or the author could have said so, but as a standalone this story gets two stars from me - one stars are reserved for DNF's, and if this story were a bit longer and with the same sloppy storytelling, it sure would have ended up as a DNF.

You can read the story here:
https://www.tor.com/2020/05/20/beyond...1 Clara CoulsonAuthor 27 books242

[Cross-posted to Clara Coulson's Reading Corner]

After trying and miserably failing to read Yoon Ha Lee’s Machineries of Empire series—it was way outside my tolerance for hard sci-fi—I saw this new short story floating around recently and decided to give the author a second chance. I was pleasantly surprise to find this story was much easier to understand than Ninefox Gambit, and though it is a pretty short story, I found it pretty enjoyable.

Despite the short length, the author manages to fit in a lot of world-building that makes the setting feel authentic, and at the same time, thoroughly characterizes the protagonist by bringing her tragic backstory full circle in a way that explores the ultimate consequences with her work in artificial intelligence.

I appreciated the story’s lesson—which I can’t touch on too much without spoiling the whole thing—as it touches on some very prescient social issues, and I thought it was presented in a really interesting and unique way.

Though I’ll be the first person to admit that short stories aren’t really my thing, I d this one a lot, and I hope to read more from Yoon Ha Lee in the future.

Rating: 4/5science-fiction2 s Nicole (bookwyrm)1,184 4

I really enjoyed this short story! (Side note, must not delay reading Yoon Ha Lee's work any longer. This was STELLAR.) I get the sense that there's a huge amount of backstory here—backstory which I would love to read more about. I think this short stands alone, but I'll be looking to see if Lee has written anything else in this universe because I really enjoyed it.

The story itself is about a scientist kidnapped by the military in order to figure out what's wrong with their sentient ships, and while it was very short and ended a bit abruptly, it still managed to feel a complete story. (Though as I said before, I'd love to read more in this setting. Including to have this short story expanded upon to make a full-length novel.)i-robot science-fiction1 reign18

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