[GAD]∎ [PDF] Gratis A People Future of the United States Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers Charlie Jane Anders Lesley Nneka Arimah Charles Yu Victor LaValle John Joseph Adams 9780525508809 Books

A People Future of the United States Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers Charlie Jane Anders Lesley Nneka Arimah Charles Yu Victor LaValle John Joseph Adams 9780525508809 Books

Download As PDF : A People Future of the United States Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers Charlie Jane Anders Lesley Nneka Arimah Charles Yu Victor LaValle John Joseph Adams 9780525508809 Books

A People Future of the United States Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers Charlie Jane Anders Lesley Nneka Arimah Charles Yu Victor LaValle John Joseph Adams 9780525508809 Books

I'm not a fan of short story collections, and I never read them. The title of this anthology caught my attention, and as I read the synopsis, I knew I had to try this one. I'm glad I did because this is an amazing collection of stories by some of the best authors. All 25 stories are speculative fiction exploring the future of the United States. They run the spectrum from women's rights, race, to plague, robotic takeover, brainwashing and government control. Some are more plausible than others. It's frightening, however, to realize every story is possible on some level. Some are bleak. Some are hopeful. Just like reality. If you are hesitant about reading this collection, don't be. It's well written and worth the time. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.


Tags : A People's Future of the United States: Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers [Charlie Jane Anders, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Charles Yu, Victor LaValle, John Joseph Adams] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <b>A glittering landscape of twenty-five speculative stories that challenge oppression and <b>envision </b>new futures for America—from N. K. Jemisin,Charlie Jane Anders, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Charles Yu, Victor LaValle, John Joseph Adams,A People's Future of the United States: Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers,One World,0525508805,Science fiction,Science fiction, American.,Short stories,Short stories, American.,United States,United States;Fiction.,FICTION Anthologies (multiple authors),FICTION Literary,FICTION Science Fiction Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic,Fiction,Fiction-Short Stories (multiple authors),FictionLiterary,FictionScience Fiction - Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic,GENERAL,General Adult,Justina Ireland;Lesley Nneka Arimah;Catherynne Valente;sci fi books;justice;freedom;Jamie Ford;omar el akkad;Charlie Jane Anders;speculative realism;short stories;stories;Nalo Hopkinson;short story anthology;futuristic science fiction;Daniel H. Wilson;Daniel Jose Older;Seanan McGuire;N. K. Jemisin;Hugh Howey;science fiction books;speculative science fiction;speculative fiction;futuristic;science fiction short stories;science fiction anthology;science fiction;short story collection;anthology,ReadingsAnthologiesCollected Works,SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY,short stories; stories; Nalo Hopkinson; short story anthology; futuristic science fiction; Daniel H. Wilson; Daniel Jose Older; Seanan McGuire; N. K. Jemisin; Hugh Howey; science fiction books; speculative science fiction; speculative fiction; futuristic; science fiction short stories; science fiction anthology; science fiction; short story collection; anthology; speculative realism; Catherynne Valente; sci fi books; justice; freedom; Jamie Ford; omar el akkad; Charlie Jane Anders; Justina Ireland; Lesley Nneka Arimah

A People Future of the United States Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers Charlie Jane Anders Lesley Nneka Arimah Charles Yu Victor LaValle John Joseph Adams 9780525508809 Books Reviews

October usually calls for scary reads. And, as if reading news alone wasn’t doing the trick, somehow I managed to read not one but two dystopian anthologies inspired by the news. First one was Welcome to Dystopia and objectively this one is a considerably superior of the two. Wherein the first was a sort of knee jerk reaction, lacking maturity and subtlety, this one mostly (mostly) does have that much needed maturity and subtlety. Partially because it was edited by two experts (with a very good foreword by LaValle), partially because of a terrific author line up. In fact, interestingly enough since I read a lot of anthologies and surprisingly this isn’t always the case, here the rule of thumb was the more known the author, the more enjoyable the story. Without exceptions. So it started off very nicely, then got dragged down into that overtly sincere all for the cause territory, then upgraded with some recognizable names and genuinely interesting takes on the possible futures, then got really good toward the end and then stayed one story too long. Over the course of this book I was able to revisit some of the previously enjoyed author, try out some of the ones I knew of and haven’t read yet and…let’s say sit through some of the unknown ones. It appears that the editors’ intent was to be as inclusive as possible both with the author and themes, so this book offers a veritable cornucopia of nonbinary, nontraditional, multiracial, convention free characters and all the strange new worlds their creators throw them in. Actually this might be the first time I’ve read about persons using them pronoun in fiction and this is definitely going to take some getting used to. Obviously the need to self identify in a manner that’s most befitting is important, but it reads confusingly, because as a pronoun it has been used to denote plurality for so long and now it is made to work for both many and individual alike and that might be too much work for one small pronoun. In one story there’s actually a new pronoun used, nir, strange and new but at least easier to read. But anyway, back to the book…I actually think the all inclusive, something for everyone line up might have been a detractor, because it led to a sort of quantity over quality thing going on. This was almost like two books merged into one. So if you’re buying it, you’ll get your money’s worth, but reading it as a free ARC it kind of dragged and took much too long to get through. The good, the really good stories, very interspersed with mediocre ones. And while reading anthologies is usually a reliable source of discovering new authors, this one was more along the lines of reminding the reader while sometimes it’s good to stick with what you know, in this instance going for recognizable names. Although it’s entirely possible that reading two such similar books in the same month wasn’t a great idea, too many stories too close to reality, too depressing altogether. And I do read the news daily, which sort of takes care of feeding that pessimistic attitude, so with fiction I want more, it doesn’t have to be all glitter and rainbows, but it has to elevate reality to other, more interesting and original levels that mere imagination can. So in conclusion…there are some great, engaging and original stories here and some good ones and some that are just ok. This collection might have been improved with some tighter editing, but if it’s a variety you’re after for your dystopian bleakness, this would certainly work.
** Trigger warning for violence against a variety of marginalized groups. **

You are the amen of my family, and I am the in the beginning of yours. This story is the prayer, or one of them. This story says you can live through anything and that when it is time to go, when the entire world goes dark, then you go together, holding on to one another’s hands, and you whisper the memory of birds and bees and the names of those you loved. When it is not time to go, though, this story says you rise.
– “Read After Burning” by Maria Dahvana Headley

Wall to keep the empire safe strrrrrong empire, empire with mightiest military in the world, empire made of blood and theft, human and land. Before the wall was even finished the empire began to strip rights, silence certain people, keep others sparking in their skins of distrust. But most of the inhabitants paid attention to other things, shiny things, scandals. It would pass, hadn’t it always? White folks had short memories.
– “The Wall” by Lizz Huerta

Y’all, the first baby born to the Federation of Free Peoples was gonna be one incredible brown-*ss baby.
– “O.1” by Gabby Rivera

— 4.5 stars —

Seanan McGuire is an insta-read for me – but, even without her name attached to this project, A PEOPLE’S FUTURE OF THE UNITED STATES is still a book I would have pounced on. With its riff on Howard Zinn’s A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, plethora of diverse contributors, and focus on futures that might be – at a time when the present is so darn depressing – there’s no way I could pass it up. And, rather than offer an escape from the now, the stories here challenge the reader to follow this thread to its possible conclusions; to imagine what this world could become, for better or worse; and to rise up, resist, and perhaps steer it to a better, more humane place.

My main issue with anthologies is that they tend to be uneven – but A PEOPLE’S FUTURE OF THE UNITED STATES is as close to uniformly awesome as you can get without being pure perfection. There are a few stories that I just found okay, and one that I skipped altogether. But most of the rest? Took my breath away.

For whatever reason (the first bit of the synopsis maybe?), I came to the table expecting visions of future utopias suggestions for how we can fix this broken planet we call home. And while there are a few budding socialist Edens to be found here – Hugh Howey’s “No Algorithms in the World” springs to mind – most are of the dystopian variety. And that’s both okay and, let’s be honest, totally realistic. The good thing is that, within every story lurks a glimmer of hope. Sometimes it’s tenuous and fragile, but it’s there, waiting to be nurtured into fruition. My heart, you guys? Swelled so much that it felt fit to burst clear out of my chest. Some of these yarns are that darn shiny.
There are way too many to discuss them all, but here goes.

“Read After Burning” by Maria Dahvana Headley is as strange as it is lovely. Half the time I was not entirely sure what I was reading, but I was sure I wanted more. In this far-off future dystopia, words are power (though “Knowledge [isn’t] enough.”), a power that’s been chained by the powers that be. Paper is outlawed, so Librarians like the Needle tattoo the stories of the world on their very skin “manuscripts from authors like Octavia the Empress and Ursula Major.” (Tell me you didn’t feel those chills.) In the end – or the beginning, rather – these stories become a superpower of sorts, smoke let loose on the battleground. The first of many revolutions.

Sam J. Miller explores “the place of sex in a broader strategy of political resistance” in “It Was Saturday Night, I Guess That Makes It All Right.” Forced to seek anonymous, illicit sex in back alleys and swampy underpasses (Homosexuality? Illegal. Along with a laundry list of other identities and interests.), Caul finds himself in a parallel world at the moment of orgasm “A place where what we do matters.” And so this tool of the state – he who installs phone cloners up and down the streets of NY, to help the government better surveil its residents – comes to realize that he can be used to dismantle it. (And tell me your heart didn’t sink down into the depths of your belly the day that Prince became contraband.)

In “Riverbed,” Omar El Akkad revisits the site of a mass human rights abuse on its fiftieth anniversary. After a group of suicide bombers attacked a US sporting event with massive casualties, Khadija Singh’s family was rounded up and taken to a detention center, ‘for their own protection.’ (Never mind that they are Sikh, and not Muslim. In her father’s words, Americans are “brittle with privilege.”) It was only after he escaped that her brother was murdered. On the eve of the unveiling of a gaudy new museum to ‘commemorate’ the tragedy, Dr. Singh returns to the property to retrieve her brother’s meager belongings, so that no part of him might remain in the place of his captivity.

Justina Ireland’s “Calendar Girls” is a biting look at a world in which contraception, made illegal (while boner pills thrive!), is dealt on street corners like cocaine or heroin. After being orphaned by a forced pregnancy that killed her mom, Alyssa goes to work for the Matriarchs, selling condoms to young women and her local patrolman (already father of nine) alike. There’s an arrest, and a shakedown involving a hypocritical Senator (founder of the Abstinence League!) who wants an abortion for his pregnant, unwed teen daughter (See ‘The only moral abortion is my abortion.’), and a double-cross to save the day.

Also nestled under the “utopia” umbrella is “O.1” by Gabby Rivera, in which a plague called IMBALANCE (“a sentient bacterium that preyed on white-supremacist greed”) killed the 1% and left most of the rest of the population sterile. That is, until a couple named Mala and Orion Lafayette-Santana manage to conceive Baby 0.1 – and the personal quickly becomes the object of public consumption as the the Federation of Free Peoples rallies around this new life. When Mala, Orion, and their birth worker Deviana Ortiz go missing from their home in North Philly, panic – and a massive manhunt – ensues. Told from their alternating perspectives, “O.1” is a story of hope and resilience. This might be the only time I’ve wished for biological warfare, okay. Team Imbalance all the way.

N. K. Jemisin’s “Give Me Cornbread or Give Me Death” is simply brilliant I mean, drug-sniffing, made-that-way racist dragons, sated with collard greens and hot sauce, domesticated with love and affection, and then turned against their (common) oppressors? What’s not to love about that?

Ditto the aforementioned “No Algorithms in the World,” in which Hugh Howey imagines what society with a guaranteed basic income might look like, from both sides of the generational divide.

In “The Referendum,” Lesley Nneka Arimah reminds us why we should always listen to black women.

And Tananarive Due’s “Attachment Disorder” is an epic tale distilled into short story form that will leave you wanting more.

I’m certain I’m overlooking a few favorites, but this is a pretty good start. If you like smart speculative fiction, told by a diverse group of voices, with a strong foundation in the here and now, A PEOPLE’S FUTURE OF THE UNITED STATES is a slam dunk.

CONTENTS
Introduction by Victor LaValle
The Bookstore at the End of America, by Charlie Jane Anders
Our Aim Is Not to Die, by A. Merc Rustad
The Wall, by Lizz Huerta
Read After Burning, by Maria Dahvana Headley
Chapter 5 Disruption and Continuity [excerpted], by Malka Older
It Was Saturday Night, I Guess That Makes It All Right, by Sam J. Miller
Attachment Disorder, by Tananarive Due
By His Bootstraps, by Ashok K. Banker
Riverbed, by Omar El Akkad
What Maya Found There, by Daniel José Older
The Referendum, by Lesley Nneka Arimah
Calendar Girls, by Justina Ireland
The Synapse Will Free Us from Ourselves, by Violet Allen
O.1, by Gabby Rivera
The Blindfold, by Tobias S. Buckell
No Algorithms in the World, by Hugh Howey
Esperanto, by Jamie Ford
ROME, by G. Willow Wilson
Give Me Cornbread or Give Me Death, by N. K. Jemisin
Good News Bad News, by Charles Yu
What You Sow, by Kai Cheng Thom
A History of Barbed Wire, by Daniel H. Wilson
The Sun in Exile, by Catherynne M. Valente
Harmony, by Seanan McGuire
Now Wait for This Week, by Alice Sola Kim
I'm not a fan of short story collections, and I never read them. The title of this anthology caught my attention, and as I read the synopsis, I knew I had to try this one. I'm glad I did because this is an amazing collection of stories by some of the best authors. All 25 stories are speculative fiction exploring the future of the United States. They run the spectrum from women's rights, race, to plague, robotic takeover, brainwashing and government control. Some are more plausible than others. It's frightening, however, to realize every story is possible on some level. Some are bleak. Some are hopeful. Just like reality. If you are hesitant about reading this collection, don't be. It's well written and worth the time. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.