Cover Image: A People's Future of the United States

A People's Future of the United States

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for my honest review.

This anthology is a who's who in current science fiction and fantasy writing. The stories are varied and all well written with various takes on the future of American culture and society. There are stories about everything from a book store that stands firmly on the dividing line between The United States and the country of California, to one about a world where contraception is outlawed, and feminists are considered terrorists. Even amid the various stories, there seems to be a thread of hope: hope for a better future, a dream of escape from the horrible now, hope at love, or a world that understands us. That is important in a collection such as this because without hope a collection of stories about the vagaries of the human condition could be depressing. This book isn't. Standout must-reads for this collection are "The Book Store at the End of America" by Charlie Jane Anders. A story about what divides us can ultimately bring us together and "The Synapse will Free Us From Ourselves" by Violet Allen. Allen's story is about high tech gay conversion therapy. It is sad, scary, and poignant. Check out this collection, you will be happy you did.

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In a beautiful intro, editor Victor LaValle describes the origin of the idea for A People’s Future of the United States – speculative fiction that derives in theme from Howard Zinn’s much beloved People’s History of the United States.

While I have not read the entirety of Zinn’s comprehensive history, I am familiar with much of the middle – as my wife and I listened to it a bit on our road trip to Utah this past spring. I would consider myself familiar enough to understand that Zinn truly focused on the people of the United States, the average person and the stories often swept under the rug.

This collection of 25 stories cover the gamut of speculative fiction and not only represent authors that I hope are the future of this genre, but authors who are incredibly skilled at demonstrating what speculative fiction is and could be...

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ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All of my opinions are my own, and are in no way affected by the exchange.

70 ☆/25 = 2.8 avg ☆ rating

1) The Bookstore at the End of America- Charlie Jane Anders 2/5☆
2) Our Aim is Not to Die- A. Merc Rustad 3/5☆
3) The Wall- Lizz Huerta 1/5 ☆
4) Read After Burning- Maria Davhana Headley 2/5☆
5) Disruption and Continuity [exerpt]- Malka Older 3/5☆
6) It Was Saturday Night and I Guess it Makes it All Right- Sam J Miller 3/5☆
7) Attachment Disorder- Tananarive Due 3/5☆
8) By His Bootstraps- Ashok K Baker 2/5☆
9) Riverbed- Omar El Akkad 2/5☆
10) What Maya Found There- Daniel Jose Older 3/5☆
11) The Referendem- Lesley Nneka Arimah 3/5☆
12) Calendar Girls- Justina Ireland 5/5☆ 😊
13) The Synap Will Free Us from Ourselves- Violet Allen 2/5☆
14) O.1- Gabby Rivera 1/5☆
15) The Blindfold- Tobias S. Bickell 3/5☆
16) No Algorithims in the Real World- Hugh Howey 3/5☆
17) Esperanto- Jaime Ford 4/5☆
18) Rome- G. Willow Wilson 2/5☆
19) Give Me Cornbread or Give Me Death- N. K. Jemison 5/5☆ 😊
20) Good News, Bad News- Charles Yu 3/5☆
21) What You Sow- Kai Cheng Thom 2/5☆
22) A History of Barbed Wire- Daniel H Wilson 2/5☆
23) The Sun in Exile- Catherynne M. Valente 3/5☆
24) Harmony-Seanan McGuire 5/5☆ 😊
25) Now Wait for This Week- Alice Sola Kim 3/5☆

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This anthology has many authors from all walks of American life answer the question of "so, what if, and what's next" in this time time of political turmoil. From weaponized seasoned food to a queer separatist commune to every variation on walls to keep people in and out, these stories imagine America as worse, better, and deeply human from the margins in.

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I was excited to read this book, and think it would be a great read for those who enjoy Black Mirror and other forms of speculative fiction. Victor LaValle and John Joseph Adams put together a compendium of pieces that make you think about the future of the United States and your role as a citizen.

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I really enjoyed this book. Judging on just the title of the book, you might think it would be some sort of political look at the future, but it was really just a bunch of interesting stories, talking about possible futures. Some of the stories were a bit out there and sci fi, but some of the stories were actually quite believable looks at the future. All the stories were interesting reads and well written. This whole speculative fiction collection is enough to make the reader think about what's going on in the world. I sort of hope that another collection comes out like this.

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This anthology boasts of some amazing authors and I just couldn't resist from requesting it as soon as I heard about it the first time. And what a thought provoking, sometimes infuriating and sometimes hopeful collection of stories this is. Right from the Foreword by Victor LaValle, we get an insight into how powerful representation is, how important it is to fight for the rights of the marginalized and and resistance can start from even just one person. These stories will move you, make you angry and tear up, will terrify you and will probably light a fire under all of us to fight for everyone's rights in our own way so that we don't let many of these dystopian futures become possible.

As with any short story anthology, there are some brilliant tales here and some which I didn't understand, but someone else might find them relevant. The book didn't start off strong for me, but the middle portion has some of my favorites including the ones by Ashok Banker, Omar El Akkad, Justina Ireland, Gabby Rivera and a few others. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone, this is an important book and I promise that you will find something in it that will resonate with you.

Below are my reviews for the individual stories:

The Bookstore at the end of America - Charlie Jane Anders

This story features an America where California is now a separate country with the former being a very religious, probably fascist place while the latter feels like a technocracy. During the time when wars break out for the sake of water resources, Molly still tries to maintain her bookstore at the border catering to both regions, and trying very hard to toe the middle ground for the sake of her daughter. This is a story about the power of books (both good ones and the propaganda) and how a good discussion about books might just quiet a heated argument between angry people on both sides.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Our Aim is Not to Die - A. Merc Rustad

This world scared the hell out of me because anyone who is not the “Ideal” (straight, white, male) is discriminated against or being autistic and non-binary like our MC is literally illegal and people have to perform daily approved actions to prove their patriotism. Sua’s horrible predicament is captured so realistically that it terrified me too and the worst part is that this world seemed entirely plausible.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Wall - Lizz Huerta

This story feels like a metaphor to the wall that our politicians so want to build at the southern border and what consequences it might lead to. Although I’m not sure I understood the world here.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5

Read after Burning - Maria Dahvana Headley

Another story about the power of words and books but I think it was too meta for me to understand.

Rating: ⭐️

Disruption and Continuity - Malka Older

This is sort of like a report written in the future about activism and it’s affect on society, especially after it’s realized that the political system is ineffective. I thought the format this is written in was inventive, but I was also slightly confused.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5

It was Saturday Night, I Guess that Makes it Alright - Sam J. Miller

This is a story about powerlessness and trying to free ourselves from it and desiring to do more, to resist, to take back some power.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Attachment Disorder - Tananarive Due

A story about a mother wanting to protect her child, while trying to remain unattached. It’s heartbreaking to see a mother having to choose between life in a cage but with protection vs freedom that might not keep them alive long. I thought this struggle was depicted in a very gut wrenching manner.

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

By his Bootstraps - Ashok K. Banker

This story is pure wish fulfillment for every single person who is fed up with the current government’s preposterous antics. I won’t say anything except just go and read this one.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Riverbed - Omar El Akkad

A woman returns to the US almost half a century later after she suffered through imprisonment in Muslim internment camps. This story realistically depicts how survivors must actually feel when they see monuments and memorials erected at the places where they suffered so much injustices, while the attitudes of the people haven’t changed much. This is another story where the world seemed entirely plausible and too damn scary.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What Maya Found There - Daniel José Older

I was surprised to see the current administration referenced here. The story of a future where bioengineering projects are being used for create the President’s private army and how some scientists are trying to stop them. Definitely depicts the dichotomy of a government that only believes in the science that’s useful for their purposes.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Referendum - Lesley Nneka Arimah

Another scary world where all Black people have been designated wards of state, millions deported and a referendum on the ballot to reestablish slavery. And the small steps that led to this state are described which seem quite possible in our near future and it terrified me. However, there is Black Resistance and that means, there is hope. Very well written from the perspective of a mother and wife, struggling with her choices and trying to do her part.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Calendar Girls - Justina Ireland

A Handmaid’s Tale-esque America where abortion/contraception is outlawed, marriage age is as low as 12 for girls and women’s rights activists are considered terrorists. In a very unlikely turn of events, the senator responsible for all the “moral” laws needs a contraband contraceptive selling woman to help his teenage daughter get an abortion. It just shows that just like the present day, men who make laws to police women’s bodies never want the same to be applied to their own.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Synapse Will Free Us From Ourselves - Violet Allen

This story features a very high tech version of a gay conversion therapy institute, where the subjects are made to feel shame and hate themselves without knowing why, so that they will stop living out and proud. The way it’s described is chilling because it’s quite similar to the rhetoric we hear even now - “we don’t have a problem with gay people, just their lifestyle choices.” - and it just shows however much support people show outside, changing discriminatory attitudes is not easy.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

O.1 - Gabby Rivera

The plague called Imbalance wiped out more than 40% of the population and made many others infertile - but this bacterium only affected those people full of white supremacist and capitalist greed. This story follows a queer couple of color, one of them non binary, on their journey to give birth to the first child in a decade - away from the eyes of the Federation and all the people who believe they owe this child to everyone. It’s really a beautifully written story of love and compassion.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Blindfold - Tobias S. Buckell

This story had some amazing commentary on the privilege of being white passing, the still existing racial prejudices in this particular future (however much people try to deny it) and how steps are being taken to try to ensure a fair judicial process for people of all races and ethnicities. It’s written in second person but was quite easy to read and is definitely a very important tale to tell.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

No Algorithms in the World - Hugh Howey

A fascinating story about a world that mostly runs on automation and people have universal basic income to survive. This clearly depicts the generational struggle between a father and son, the older not ready to accept the new reality and the younger wanting the chance to explore. I loved how this mirrors our present conflicts with our parents and elders.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Esperanto - Jamie Ford

A story of how people who live in a technologically altered reality will react when all their alterations are stripped away and they are given a glimpse into their true reality. It’s a wonderful tale which tells us that diversity is beautiful.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

ROME - G. Willow Wilson

This story takes place in a future Seattle where there is no infrastructure anymore due to tax abolition, and a group of students have no choice but to write their midterms even when there is a fire breakout nearby and no firefighters. I’m not sure I fully understood the point of this story, maybe that sometimes the choices that we think are best in the short term could have long term disastrous consequences.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Give me Cornbread, or Give me Death - N. K. Jemisin

What imagination Jemisin has. A story about the government trying to recreate the ten plagues to destroy the population of color, the second one of which utilizes dragons. And the resistance tries to win over the dragons by stealthily feeding them tasty spicy food. I was both horrified at the tyranny of the oppressors and delighted at the ingenuity of the women in the resistance. A brave tale of fighting back in any way possible.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Good News Bad News - Charles Yu

Taking place in the next millennium, this story is told through various news stories detailing the technological breakthroughs and challenges of the day - from racist robots to refugee resettlement on the moon to bots voting on legislations to pharma companies trying to make pills to reduce intolerance and mansplaining - I thought the was a very hilarious and imaginative read. However, even in this world which has finally reached 100% income equality for women and females outnumber males in executive positions, women are still harassed at the workplace by male subordinates. Some things never change.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What You Sow - Kai Cheng Thom

I can’t really explain this story but I think it’s a mirror to a woman’s struggle to always remain calm and composed and non confrontational, to keep the peace, until she realizes she has other options and she should take back her voice and power.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

A History of Barbed Wire - Daniel H. Wilson

Cherokee Nation is a separate country, divided by a wall in this story. However, the land outside the wall has become corrupt and greedy and people ready to give up everything to illegally enter the Indian country. It just shows that sometimes what we wish for won’t turn out the exact way.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Sun in Exile - Catherynne M. Valente

An extreme example of what a cult leader can do - convince the adoring masses of the exact opposite of reality. The people are so utterly devoted to their leader that they believe they are in an ice age when they are actually dying of an extreme heat wave. Another story that veers too close to our own reality. Excellent writing!!!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Harmony - Seanan McGuire

The author correctly says in the story that tolerance can be demanded and legislated but not guaranteed because haters are always gonna hate. This is the story of a bisexual/lesbian couple figuring out that their actual dream for life is different from the one they have been told to have, and they decide to take matters into their own hands and create a home for everyone, however different they maybe from the norm.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Now Wait for This Week - Alice Sola Kim

This story could be a metaphor to women being violated in various forms by men all the time, but their voices are never heard and the men are never punished and the cycle continues. However, the story did confuse me a lot and it’s too long and I can’t be sure that I understood it correctly.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5

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These collection of stories reminded me quite closely to something you'd watch on Black Mirror. Each story captures the a blended reality of the current zeitgeist and Utopian societies where many of our dreams linger towards. Many of the stories I can only describe as "mind-bending" and hauntingly realistic. "Read after Burning" by Headley was a favorite of mine in the collection. To imagine the many forms of ink and the magic behind it through a dystopian lens was incredible. The ending felt like something we could see in our near future. And then again with "It was Saturday Night, I Guess That Makes it All Right" by Miller. This story was racy and raunchy but captures the politics of sexuality in a profoundly dark way. What makes this collection so good is that each story has it's own flavor or reality, or our future, of ourselves. I found myself seeing the future play out in many of these stories, more now than ever... Absolutely Recommend.

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These essays were not only enjoyable to read, they were also well written. I loved how different authors wrote them but stuck to the central theme of the book..

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A great collection of essays by a variety of intelligent authors. I'll definitely recommend this one to our patrons.

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A great collection of short stories that speculate on the future of the United States...or whatever it becomes. The stories by Charlie Jane Anders, Tananarive Due, N. K. Jemisin, Seanan McGuire, Daniel José Older, and G. Willow Wilson show why these authors had and deserve large audiences and followings. All of the stories feature "badass" characters, as requested by the editors, and they all do deliver, from people who keep information free and available to those who physically protect others. This will make a great gift for readers who want tightly written dystopic fiction in which there are still threads of hope.

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There are people that will be angry about this book, and fuck 'em. This collection details a United States that could be- one that often times seems frighteningly real, given the current political climate.

Some of the best science fiction writers today are gathered in one place, presenting stories never before been told. Sometimes they can be a bit obvious- but that's obvious to me, a woman who lives near San Francisco, safely ensconced in a fairly liberal bubble and with a comfortable degree of privilege. They are important tales none the less, and each one is entertaining as hell. Rare for a collection, there's no single weak point, no story that shines less than the rest. I don't even want to call out any strong points, because they were all so good that I think they all deserve a read.

This book should absolutely be required reading. It teaches empathy and understanding. It shows what can happen to marginalized communities should the worst come to pass- and sometimes what can still happen even when things go well.

There was, however, one glaring omission- none of the stories tackle a future for those with physical disabilities. For a volume that otherwise manages to hit so many other intersections, it's particularly blatant- these possible tomorrows are just as scary for us as they are for anyone else in the volume. Hopefully there will be a volume two, and hopefully this will be corrected in the future.

None the less, you should pick this book up. You should give it to your teenagers, your undecided voters, even your 'woke' friends. This is a book that should be taught in schools and given out at polling places. It's by far one of the best that I've read this year, and come 2019 it's truly going to make a splash.

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The intro sets this up as a left-wing sci-fi attack on Donald Trump, so that's an immediate turn-off for me. The first story, though, was really good. Charlie Jane Anders tells of a bookstore in a future America located on the Nevada-California line. California has split off as its own country and it is the same stereotypical collection of fruits and nuts you'd expect. What's left of America is a dogmatic religious community seen as backwards by those in CA. It's all done with love and humor and - most importantly - Anders knows we need to work with both sides to make anything work in our political system. He doesn't show one side better or worse than the other, and the bookstore is the nexus of where they might be able to come together. The editor did well to place this story first, despite his off-putting comments in the intro.

The rest of the collection tended to take sides, and the sides were those of the editor. No surprise there, so if that's what you're after you might like it.

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From even the introduction, I was hooked... and hooking from the intro is hard! Each story in this anthology presents a different view of life in the future of the US, from a (literally) divided country to a country where people have to bury themselves behind masks and lie every day. This book's stories stretch your boundaries and tug your comfort zones, so if you like staying in your box and dislike seeing things through the eyes of someone unlike you, this is not your type of book! I thoroughly enjoyed the variety of perspectives this book offered on different people's viewpoints on the direction our country is taking.

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This is a phenomenal anthology which taps into the current zeitgeist of resistance, comprised of 25 stories which tackle topics (in a multitude of ways) such as racial and ethnic discrimination, transgender discrimination, government surveillance, etc., written by a wonderfully diverse and extremely talented set of authors. As speculative fiction, these stories explore what the (somewhat) near future could look like, if certain trends continue on a slippery slope, or if certain technologies existed, or if certain changes happened in our society.

If that description doesn't sound appealing to you, this may not be the anthology for you.

I'm normally somewhat ambivalent about the short story form, as I generally prefer reading novels. I find short stories pretty hit or miss, and as such, I usually find anthologies to be a bit of a mixed bag. Out of 25 stories, there were only about 3 I disliked, which is an impressive ratio. (I don't think these stories were bad; they're just not at all the type of story I like to read.) All in all, I found this anthology to be fascinating, devastating, and inspiring, and exactly the kind of thing I needed to read right now.

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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. Thanks Netgalley.

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There was much to discover in this anthology. My first visit was to Daniel H. Wilson’s cultural vision of the future, but there were many other places I stopped.

A. Merc Rustad displays a power of description in “Our Aim Is Not to Die.” Maria Dahvana Headley is clever and creative with “Read After Burning.” Kai Cheng Thom explores and mystifies in “What You Sow.”

These are just a few offerings in a book this is well supplied with thought-provoking images of the future and vibrant possibilities.

Highly recommended.

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