Dawn of the Algorithm

By Yann Rousselot

1) OUR OBSESSION WITH THE APOCALYPSE: We cultivate a morbid fascination for the Apocalypse, the foretold End of All Things. The very notion is a vector for self-analysis—a snap judgment of humankind by projecting into the future. What form will it take? Natural selection or pure self-destruction? Which sin of man will cause the downfall of mankind? Who, or what, will survive?

2) GIANTS, ROBOTS, ALIENS OH MY!: Dawn of the Algorithm includes illustrated poems about giants, robots, aliens and dinosaurs; disasters, catastrophes and spectacular cataclysms. By analogy, it is also about rupture: the micro-apocalypses that spark when you throw together love, longing, friendship and loss—what some might call The Dark Side of the human experience.

3) PARISIAN POETRY SCENE: Rousselot is heavily involved with two poetry organizations in Paris: SpokenWord, one of the oldest and most popular english speaking open mic night and writers’ community in Paris, and Paris Lit Up, another poetry community which reads at a bar called Culture Rapide (often called the first Slam poetry bar in Paris).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Inkshares
• Release date: May 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781941758076

Yann Rousselot

Yann Rousselot is a translator, writer, and poet. He grew up in airport lounges and diplomatic enclaves with his brothers, his sister, and countless cheap suitcases, raised across the globe by humanitarian parents. He has been published in Paris Lit Up Magazine, The Bastille, AUP’s Paris/Atlantic Magazine, Thought Catalog, and the Belleville Park Pages. He lives, writes, and performs spoken word poetry in his adoptive city of Paris.

Book preview

THE ART OF DESTRUCTION

the human billboard

The end is nigh, the facts don’t lie,

but fools only ever look up when it rains.

Hark! You there, in the suit and tie,

read my board, eat my words

before they snag in this barbwire beard,

clash on this black bucktooth.

I was there in Pompeii when Vesuvius spoke.

My third eye is a flying saucer—I see the truth!

Yet those fools called me a mad scientist,

a false prophet of doom,

laughed at my electroshock of hair.

I told them like I’m telling you:

before and after, I was there!

I saw the mountain shake them off

like fleas from a dog, I saw the angels fall!

The mountain never dies, it sleeps

and sometimes sleepwalks—hark!

Hear the clatter of my sandwich board!

I smell the iodine spray of tsunami,

I sense the super-quake,

I spell out the looming robopocalypse,

the insect wars and the Ebola monkey

behind door number three—fools!

Such fools, good sirs and madams, please

spare a dime and heed my words.

Snap out, awaken, smell the smoke

under my whiskey breath: the city,

it burns.

a thousand disaster movies

from all the disaster movies, I know

the end of the world will feature the city of Paris,

so in my head the only destruction I see

is that of the Eiffel Tower

over and over again in super slow-mo,

it begins with a swarm of semi-invisible nanobots

coalescing to weaken a sequence of stress-points,

I’m telling you this rusty metal groan

will reverberate like a death knell

down the boulevards, across École Militaire,

Les Invalides and all the marbled avenues,

a whale song of doom that will keep children awake for years,

the volume of the event will render

only static and noise in the HD camera mic

as supersonic guided missiles

trail chalk-white smoke across the skyscape,

people will point and shout mutely

from their Haussmann apartment balconies,

camera shutters will shut,

human hands cover mouths in disbelief,

the missiles strike,

minuscule flaming oranges bloom in stop-motion,

the steel latticework shuddering with revulsion,

and eyes will watch as the Tower leans lazily into the Seine,

and I look forward to the visually stunning videos

that will appear on YouTube in 1080p,

from my vantage

Reviews for Dawn of the Algorithm

[kristymk18-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Satirical. Quick paced. Funny. Thought provoking. Slightly disturbing but fascinating look at technology, science, and our modern culture.

[octoberdad · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Have you ever pondered the existential depression of Kitt a couple decades after Michael Knight's death? Or wondered how post-apocalyptic updates from the International Space Station might look as loosely formed haikus? If so – or if you now want to – this book is for you.

Rousselot's "Dawn of the Algorithm" is a clever blend of pop-culture references and science fiction innovation presented as freeform poetry. Even in places where the form is a bit too loose for my liking, it's nonetheless oddly compelling: I daresay you will not find a poem with "sternocleidomastoid" in any other book (unless "Headmovies" is anthologized), so I will not quibble if it doesn't quite fit any particular meter. In fact, science-fictional poetry is far too lacking in the world overall to be extremely critical.

In addition to providing a stream of allusions to childhood and, um, less-childhood entertainments, "Dawn of the Algorithm" presents a host of thematic overtures. For example, "The Right Stuff" is an anthem of Campbellian exclamation, with lines like:

I am Ender, I am Luke, I am the chosen one!

Meanwhile, "Welcome to the Doctor Moreau Zoo" offers common-sensible advice:

Never look a hypnotoad in the eye
unless you want to mutate
into a Cronenbergian horsefly.

And lest you think that the book is merely the ravings of a mad science-fictionist — I mean, it is that, but it's also more than that — you should know that it is backed up by hard data, such as:

I get along with at least 83%
of the people I meet—I’m an affable guy—
but less than 1% will let me lick them.

All in all, "Dawn of the Algorithm" is an enjoyable read for anyone who ever loved a speculative story of any kind. I mean, how can you not read a book that has a poem with a title like "The Metaphysical Implications of Left 4 Dead 2 Online Multiplayer"?

Edit: I should note that I probably would've given this 3.5 stars, but Goodreads doesn't do half-stars.