Title: Super-Toys Last All Summer Long

Author: Brian W. Aldiss

Date of First Publication: 1969

Place of Publication: Harper’s Bazaar

Type: Short story

Characters: No Character

Themes: ANDROID; RACE/POLITICS; POSTHUMAN; SYMPATHETIC MONSTER

Critical Summary: Brian Aldiss depicts a future in which populations must be strictly controlled, and couples may not get the opportunity to have biological children, they can buy artificial children who are programmed to love them. The story begins with Mrs. Swinton feeling disconnected from her child, David, who wonders why his mother doesn’t love him. An uncanny animated Teddy Bear tries to negotiate between them. Eventually, the reader figures out that David isn’t real—although he asks what is real, and his pain at being shunned feels real to the reader. The Swinton’s get a lucky opportunity to have a biological child, and David runs away.

Aldiss’s story is a powerful mix of Frankenstein and Pinocchio. The story explores the uncanny valley between the artificial and our feelings, casting, like Shelley’s novel, a critical eye on our humanity itself and its shortcomings.

Administrative Notes: Dr. David Sandner