A People's Future of the United States
This book is in a Controlled Release!
1 journaler for this copy...
This was a great collection of futuristic stories that almost might be called dystopian, except for a constant undercurrent of rebellion, hope, and dissatisfaction with the status quo. Most of the futures here seem pretty bleak, in a lot of different ways, yet the characters thrive, demonstrating human resourcefulness and independence. The characters are generally the strong points of the stories, pushing some classic scenarios in new directions. It also features more gender, sexual, and racial diversity than even many collections targeted around that concept, so I was pleased by that too. Some of the stories could get repetitive, featuring similar concepts, but I read them while alternating other books, so it didn't bother me much except when flipping back through, trying to find a tale again.
Choosing favorites is difficult, because the quality of these stories is high, and there wasn't a single one that I skimmed or felt disappointed in. Instead, here are some of the stories that stuck with me the most, and made me think the hardest.
"The Referendum" by Lesley Nneka Arimah definitely wins that category, making me run through scenarios in my head while I was trying to fall asleep. The horror of a slow, legislative creep back into a re-labeled slavery feels terribly possible at times, and, as a white person, made me contemplate my own role if things got that bad.
"0.1" by Gabby Rivera takes a reproductive crisis, a media circus, and expected gender roles, and combines them to great success with some vividly descriptive scenes.
"Attachment Disorder" by Tananarive Due features a memorable main character who has seen the end of one world, and is prepared to fight again, but the complexities of raising a child and managing human relationships in a survival situation take things in some unexpected directions.
"The Blindfold" by Tobias S Buckell is a cyberpunk tale from a different angle than most of the political hackers we see, and contains some biting commentary on our justice system at the same time.
Choosing favorites is difficult, because the quality of these stories is high, and there wasn't a single one that I skimmed or felt disappointed in. Instead, here are some of the stories that stuck with me the most, and made me think the hardest.
"The Referendum" by Lesley Nneka Arimah definitely wins that category, making me run through scenarios in my head while I was trying to fall asleep. The horror of a slow, legislative creep back into a re-labeled slavery feels terribly possible at times, and, as a white person, made me contemplate my own role if things got that bad.
"0.1" by Gabby Rivera takes a reproductive crisis, a media circus, and expected gender roles, and combines them to great success with some vividly descriptive scenes.
"Attachment Disorder" by Tananarive Due features a memorable main character who has seen the end of one world, and is prepared to fight again, but the complexities of raising a child and managing human relationships in a survival situation take things in some unexpected directions.
"The Blindfold" by Tobias S Buckell is a cyberpunk tale from a different angle than most of the political hackers we see, and contains some biting commentary on our justice system at the same time.
Added to the sci-fi bookbox
