The Creature from Cleveland Depths

CREEPY!

(5 stars)

Pyrodin123321

I marvel at the predictive insights of some scifi stories, this book is conceptually really scary and predictive of what might happen with time. I like the technological and social concepts in this book as well as the dystopic(or realistic!) vision of the future. I wonder if something like "the tickler" will be the cellphone's progeny......good litle book, I can't believe it's from 1962....

(4 stars)

A LibriVox Listener

I'm not oblivious to the irony of having listened to this on my smartphone whilst walking the streets. Thankfully my 'tickler' doesn't weigh 28 pounds. This story kind of seems like a mid twentieth century 'Black Mirror' , some eerie prescience regarding the smartphone like interlinked 'ticklers' ..worth a listen. The ending perhaps tied things up too neatly and briefly.

Decent story, good reading

(3 stars)

notmyname

This science fiction story is quite funny. It struck me as slow and predictable compared to most of the contemporary sci-fi I've read, and a little dated (the use of the word "midget" for example), but still very enjoyable. (And if your Tivo and iPhone apps run your life, it might give you pause.) I think I've listened to some of Gregg Margarite's other recordings. He always gives a solid reading with good sound quality, and this is no exception. I think his voice is quite appropriate to the main character too.

Prescient

(5 stars)

Jimbo

It's crazy to see how similar the tickler is to the smart phone. If I didn't know it was written back in '62, I'd be wondering if it was written in the past five years as a criticism of how we use smart phones in an older style. While not a perfect analog, even the AI is largely analogous until around the last two or three chapters where it becomes pure Sci Fi. I also enjoy how it starts as something simple, and gets blown way out of proportion with new features that gradually make people get dependent on it. In 62, it was a fun SF story. In 2024, it feels like a serious criticism of modern life.

L - E - I - B - E - R

(5 stars)

William Hillmann III

You da' man, Fritz! Always at your best. Nobody will ever forget that night in Reykjavik at The Ice Hotel! And we're so dumb. How did it take us so long to figure out how you always get 5-Star-Ratings, Fritz? Ya coulda just told us lol. Well you finally did tell us that night in Reykjavik but you probably don't remember. It was so easy once you explained it: One Star to match up with each letter in your last name, there's your 5-Star-Rating! You're so clever. I guess that's why you make the BigBucks. Take Care, ;-) Audrey

Neat story

(5 stars)

mikezane

This is almost a precursor to iRobot, IMHO. People are always forgetting things; chores, medicine, when to go to bed. So the Tickler is invented to help people remember. It is so easy to use, just hook it up to your brain and do what it tells you to do. Let's just hope it doesn't become sentient, eh? Well read story, really creepy, neat ending. Enjoy!

Shows hope for humanities future

(4.5 stars)

Bill Cosby

In this story, the global elite have come together to eliminate injustice. They created a simple helpful device, that everyone must wear that keeps people from doing bad things. How great is this? No more raycysm, or heternormativity. We just need to allow our rulers controll all out thoughts with implanted mind control devices. Hoorray for scientifical progress

seems a bit prophetic

(4 stars)

Rick

Libra like all good Sci-Fi writers seems to be a bit of a paranoid prophet. makes you wonder when the Facebook hive mind will try to take over and make us like it. story was well written excellently narrated with a good Pace to it.