"A People's Future Of The United States" edited by Victor LaValle and John Joseph Adams
Review via LitReactor.com: https://litreactor.com/reviews/a-peoples-future-of-the-united-states-edited-by-victor-lavalle-and-john-joseph-adams

As is evident by the title of this fantastic (in at least two senses of the word) anthology, this collection of twenty-five new stories took its inspiration from Howard Zinn's seminal "outsider" tome, A People's History of the United States, which tells "America's story from the point of view of—and in the words of—America's women, factory workers, African-Americans, Native Americans, the working poor, and immigrant laborers," according to the book's jacket cover.

Victor LaValle (a name every writer should know) reprints the above description in his introduction to A People's Future, as well as a quote from its author Zinn, concerning the impact of his book: "There is no such thing as impartial history...The chief problem in historical honesty is not outright lying. It is omission or de-emphasis of important data."

LaValle goes on to state that A People's Future is "important speculative data" (emphasis mine), a "portrait of this country as it might become." Elsewhere in this introduction, LaValle describes the stories within the anthology as imagining "the years, decades, even the centuries, to come...told by those, and/or about those, who history often sees fit to forget."

Given all this, one might assume each tale exists as a separate, standalone view into the possible outcome of the United State's current socio-political climate. And indeed, there are no recurring characters or governmental entities found in A People's Future; each entry is an original work from its author, unrelated to its brethren. And yet, despite each writer working independently from one another, there is a sense they were, in fact, working from the same literary equivalent of a show bible, or a predetermined world-building script.

This unintentional interconnectivity is due in part to several of the authors including imagined actualizations of preexisting tech—Tananarive Due's "Attachment Disorder," Violet Allen's "The Synapse Will Free Us From Ourselves," and Hugh Howey's "No Algorithms In The World," for instance, all make heavy use of HoloLens-type technology (holographic text and imagery appearing directly in front of one's vision)—but it is each writer's reliance upon shared themes of dystopia, resistance, and hope that truly unite each story in A People's Future. From the nightmare America that monitors and punishes both homosexuality and neurodivergence in "Our Aim Is Not To Die" by A. Merc Rustad, to the band of freedom fighters supplying the populace with contraceptives while slowly disempowering the hypocritical patriarchy in "Calendar Girls" by Justina Ireland, to a group of minorities forming their own tolerant society in the face of intolerance in "Harmony" by Seanan McGuire, each story presents readers with a society aimed at further disenfranchising an already marginalized people, and what those people do to fight back.

Sometimes the results are bleak—in the aforementioned "Attachment Disorder," for instance, Due gives us characters who would rather face potential death on their own terms than trust a government commonly known to lie and trick people of color; while in "The Sun In Exile," Catherynne M. Valente explores the terrifying nadir of personality cults and blind faith in despots; and in "The Wall," Lizz Huerta states that "hardness runs deep in those who rise up to lead," showing us that, even though the cause may be just, difficult and heartbreaking decisions must sometimes be made. But optimism runs deep throughout most of the stories contained in this volume, and many of them are downright hilarious and/or charming, especially the opening tale, "The Bookstore At The End Of America" by Charlie Jane Anders, "By His Bootstraps" by Ashok K. Banker—the only story to feature a fictionalized Trump—and even Valente's "The Sun In Exile," its dark stinger of an ending notwithstanding.

Adding to A People's Future's sense of unity is the placement of stories. LaValle and co-editor John Joseph Adams (best known for his magazines Lightspeed and Nightmare, as well as numerous other anthologies) do a superb job of varying length, tone, and tempo in a way that is neither jarring nor too safe and predictable. Dark stories seamlessly segue into more hopeful narratives; comedy and drama coexist, sometimes within the same tale. Moreover, while the stories do not unfold in a strictly linear fashion (which would be impossible), we do get a general sense of beginning in the not-too-distant future and traveling further and further into the decades, the millenniums, the eons, giving the anthology a narrative arc closer to a novel than a collection of disparate stories. The final entry, "Now Wait For This Week" by Alice Sola Kim, brings this loose "narrative" back around to the beginning: it could either be set in present day or in the distant future (there are no concrete signifiers one way or another), and it involves a time loop, perfectly encapsulating our current cyclical "bad news cycle" as well as the cyclical nature of history, how history tends to repeat itself. Repetition might be inevitable, Kim seems to argue, but this is only detrimental if we choose not to learn and reinvent the cycles in which we constantly find ourselves.

This is a perfect end to A People's Future, and a testament to its ability to be both timely and timeless. It is a sobering and enlightening glimpse into the tension, division, opposition, and terror characterizing the last few years, the last several years, the last hundreds of years, as well as, most likely, all the years to come (note too the quasi-broken infinity symbols on the cover). As McGuire writes in her not-quite-utopian "Harmony":

Court cases and successful bills and a hundred small victories had come together to usher in a world where hate was no longer acceptable, where sexual orientation wasn't enough to deny a person the right to live their life as they saw fit, where identity was up to the individual and not a government agency. But none of those things could change the nature of the human heart, and it was the nature of humans to be cruel to things they didn't understand, or approve of, or believe in.

The solution to this potential certainty, according to LaValle, Adams, and all the authors presented here, is not apathy, however. Some humans may forever be marred with an inclination toward hate in all its shades, but it is the responsibility of the other side, those who believe in equality, to continue the good fight, in both small and large ways. A People's Future features representations of these myriad means of resistance (as well as, naturally, that other, deeply important form of representation), making it not only an essential read for these current troubled times, but for all those troubled times yet to come.

A People's Future Of The United States is available now through Penguin Random House.

While this compilation of stories from some of the best sci-fi, speculative fiction, and fantasy writers had a lot of promise, it didn't quite live up to the hype.

I am not always a fan of anthologies and don't pick them up - if at all. The only reason I picked up this book was because it included stories from Charlie Jane Anders and N.K. Jemisin - two of my favorite authors. Their stories are great, as always. I don't know if it's because Im tired of the over-saturation of dystopian narratives, but most of these tropes seem overplayed and unimaginative.

Despite my misgivings, I think everyone who enjoys speculative fiction should give this a read.

From its very beginnings, speculative fiction has been used to comment on the world in which we live. Sometimes, it’s a lens that allows closer examination and subsequent extrapolation; other times, it’s a mirror that forces us to look at a potentially unsettling reflection. The very best often does both.

The new collection “A People’s Future of the United States: Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers” – edited by Victor LaValle and John Joseph Adams – offers numerous examples of just how good that very best can be. They are stories that look forward from our current fractured place and project just how our societal journey might progress if we remain on certain paths. There are bleak prophecies and optimistic hopes, tragedies and triumphs – all of them springing from similar starting points.

These tales come to us from the speculative fiction elite, phenomenal talents gifted with both big ideas and stellar storytelling chops. Seriously – look at this list:

Violet Allen; Charlie Jane Anders; Lesley Nneka Arimah; Ashok K. Banker; Tobias S. Buckell; Tananarive Due; Omar El Akkad; Jamie Ford; Maria Dahvana Headley; Hugh Howey; Lizz Huerta; Justina Ireland; N. K. Jemisin; Alice Sola Kim; Seanan McGuire; Sam J. Miller; Daniel José Older; Malka Older; Gabby Rivera; A. Merc Rustad; Kai Cheng Thom; Catherynne M. Valente; Daniel H. Wilson; G. Willow Wilson; and Charles Yu.

This is as wide-ranging a group as you could hope to put together, diverse in gender and race and sexuality and just about every other way in which a group can be diverse. One thing they all have in common, however, is that they are all excellent writers. There might be some names that are more familiar than others, some with more critical acclaim or higher sales, but every single one of them is a top-notch fictioneer.

It’s rare for any collection, let alone one of this size, to be completely devoid of duds; most of these sorts of assemblages have at least a couple of pieces that don’t quite measure up. However, that does not seem to be the case here – editors LaValle and Adams clearly knew both precisely what they wanted and how to convey that precision to the authors with whom they were working. The end result is a rock-solid collection whose quality never wavers – every story is a standalone reward.

Now, that doesn’t mean there won’t be favorites. Here are a few of mine; your mileage may vary.

Maria Dahvana Headley’s “Read After Burning” is a cool, weird riff on the importance of the written word and to what lengths we might go to preserve it in a world where it was verboten. “No Algorithms in the World” by Hugh Howey is an interesting look at how even positive changes might be viewed by those who struggle with any change at all. “Our Aim is Not to Die” by A. Merc Rustad imagines a world where the neuroatypical live in fear of being “reformatted.” A rebellion against government-controlled dragons is fought through the power of soul food in N.K. Jemisin’s “Give Me Cornbread or Give Me Death.” And Omar El Akkad’s “Riverbed” is a haunting tale of what happens when times of displacement and prejudice fade into the past; it might be the best of the bunch.

Also worth noting: the stories that begin and end the book.

We open with “The Bookstore at the End of America” from Charlie Jane Anders. It’s a shattered-society future tale, one in which California has separated from the rest of the country. The titular bookstore rests between the two, with separate entrances for each. It’s a sharp-eyed look at the slippery slope of othering and an exploration of how alike we really are. It sets the tone nicely.

Alice Sola Kim’s “Now Wait For This Week” closes the collection. What starts off as a pretty standard trapped-in-a-time-loop story – cue the inevitable “Groundhog Day” comparisons – turns into an in-depth deconstruction of female friendship and the cultural realities that surround it. It is conceptually and structurally interesting and makes a fine closing note to this symphony.

But in all of these stories, the biggest struggles faced by our society – issues of race and economic class and sexuality – are presented front and center. Sometimes angrily, sometimes satirically, sometimes downright cheekily, but always sincerely and with careful thought.

The truth is that every single one of the 25 tales put forth in “A People’s Future of the United States” deserves your attention. It’s a different kind of American Dreaming being done here. This kind of provocative and passionate writing illustrates just how valuable and powerful speculative fiction can be; these stories help show who we are by looking toward who we might become.

It really hard to put into words how much I loved this book. I've been spending the past month trying to figure out how best to put what when on in my mind on to paper to review it, but there's really not easy way to explain it without experiencing it yourself. If I wanted to boil it down to three words it would be: THIS IS IMPORTANT.

To start out, I have not read The People's History of the United States by Harold Zinn, but from mind understand, The People's Future is similar in a sense that it's told with the same perspective in mind. This collection tells the of possible futures from the people who are too often handed the short end of the stick, the people whose voice often get silenced in this white, rich, heteronormative world.

The People's Future of the United States reminded me a lot of The Handmaid's Tale and The Power. It's scary, in a way, because some of the stories told feel so plausible, so real. I had to take some time after I finished each story to digest what happened, why the author may have explained a future in that particular way. At times I was speechless, heartbroken, inspired, and even angry. The People's Future of the United States is something I believe all of us should take some time to read, even if it's just one of two stories. I think this book is so so so important to what's going on with society and I cannot stress that enough. It sheds light on perspectives many of us have never thought about before.

I apologize for getting political in a book review, but not doing so would not bring this book justice. It's the reason Victor LaValle and a slew of amazing, diverse writers put together this collection. In short, it's a message and a plead that things need to change or we will move backwards.

If you want to read a book that you challenge your thoughts and perhaps stay with you for a long time, pick up The People's Future of the United States. Do it for the authors. Do it for people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, women and please, open your ears and listen to what they are saying.

What an incredible collection! I don't think I've ever read a collection of short stories where EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. hits so hard. A People's Future of the United States pictures a country that looks different - often terrifyingly so - but also one where the heroes look different than what we too often see. These stories are filled with unapologetically queer and diverse protagonists, badass heroes from marginalized communities that are pushing back against oppressive forces. And what an incredible lineup of writers! N.K. Jemisin, Daniel Jose Older, Gabby Rivera, Justina Ireland, Charlie Jane Anders, and more. Truly an incredible group, giving us an unforgettable book.

I read this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for a review.

I found this collection oddly depressing and a little disappointing. So many of the stories hinged on heaping the existing prejudices and unfairness - only MORE - and somehow, instead of translating into angry and bright prose, the result, to me at least, seemed to be of tiredness and certain resignation. Which is not to say any one story was this, exactly, but reading about various ways Otherness could be oppressed, and humans of the future US could be surveilled and oppressed, rendered the resistance and anger offered by these stories insufficient for me.

There were exceptions, of course. Lizz Huerta, Maria Dahvana Headley, Omar El Akkad, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Charles Yu in particular (though I also enjoyed a few more, including Jemisin's story). What is more, the diversity of voices and perspectives was certainly valuable, particularly for readers less familiar with some of the themes the collection showcases. Still, my expectations had been high and this didn't quite work for me as a project, despite its potential.

However, it's entirely possible that I am simply not quite the intended audience, and that American readers will get more out of it, considering the huge shadow the current American president casts over the collection and its direction. Perhaps this is a needed response, and the anger it channels will feel more intense or better directed. Perhaps my wavelength wasn't quite right to receive the transmission.

But I really want to read more of the authors I listed above, and will look out for their writing.

Aww, jeez. I love Victor LaValle and I'm a sucker for John Joseph Adams' themed anthologies, but this collection was almost a total embarrassment.

Given a platform to say their piece about US politics, most of the authors deliver single-issue dystopias that read like clickbait or late night Facebook posts. And though repetitive, those stories are preferable to the ones that try to by humorous. "Good News, Bad News' by Charles Yu and 'By His Bootstraps' by Ashok K. Banker are abominably cringey. And Charlie Jane Anders' opening story, "The Bookstore at the End of America," had me wanting to throw my Kindle against the wall from the get-go.

Fortunately, a handful of authors did bring their A game.. Maria Dahvana Headley and Daniel H. Wilson tease out some unusual and grim futures. Wilson's "A History Of Barbed Wire' in particular feels like what the anthology was probably aiming for. It's inspired by climate crisis and politics, but it's also a detective story. I was also surprised by Hugh Howey's contribution, "No Algorithms in the World," which takes on an entirely different topic-- universal basic income. By that point in the book, it was kind of a shock to see a story take on a topic inspired by something other than anger or fear.

For that, you want "Now Wait For Next Week", Alice Sola Kim's excellent, seething story that puts a sci-fi twist on the #metoo conversation. It's... fucking brilliant, and hell, I could see publishing this whole anthology just to get this story out there. After a book full of warmed-over dystopian tropes, I was completely caught off guard by how creative, angry, and goddamn effective this story was.

Now THAT was what I was looking for when I picked this up.

Both utopian and dystopian futures, and ones in between, are represented here, with stories from N. K. Jemisin, G. Willow Wilson, Charlie Jane Anders, Hugh Howey, Tobias S. Buckell, Tananarive Due, Justina Ireland, Seanan McGuire, Catherynne M. Valente, and others. Omar el Akkad’s story about a former internee returning to the broken-down US and the monument it had made of her internment camp was really good (by contrast, I hated his novel). It was about if-this-goes-on treatment of Muslims and people who kind of looked Muslim to white Christians, and it was brutal. The protagonist describes two words of hateful graffiti scrawled on a house: one was “the only truly American word. And the first word was SAND.” Elsewhere: “This country is a man trying to describe a burning building without using the word fire.” Tobias Buckell’s The Blindfold, about the intersection of (1) racialized law enforcement with (2) technological measures designed to eliminate bias with (3) Russian manipulation of the system in order to further destablize the US, was also excellent, delivering exactly the kinds of clever speculation that make sf a productive lens for thinking about the present. Those were my favorites, but there’s more to be found.

Goodness, where to begin? Okay look. If you plan to read any anthology in your reading lifetime, it should probably be this one. Not necessarily because of all the raucous good times you'll be having, but because of how well done these stories are, and how completely relevant and important they are. Let us discuss why this is fabulous:

•Uh, did you see the author lineup? This is like, some kind of League of Amazing Writers™ or something. Can they team up for regularly scheduled anthologies and call themselves this? Because I am here for that.

•There is truly not a bummer in the bunch. You know how anthologies always have a few stories that leave you a tad underwhelmed? Not so here. Every single story contained at least some kind of worthwhile message. And they were incredibly engaging, well thought out, and yes, entertaining.

•Holy diversity! Just as the author list is gloriously diverse, so too were the stories. Representation of so, so many people, in all sorts of situations, such a win.

•Timely, significant, and powerful. These stories highlight the all-too-plausible future we could be facing, given the current trajectory of society. It's terrifying, but more than that, it's necessary.

My one word of caution: I read these stories back to back, all in a row. And it might not be the best way to do it? They're all fabulous, like I said, but I think they might have more of an impact if you read a couple, then take a breather. They're powerful, and it can be a lot all at once. But worth it, without a doubt.

Bottom Line: Written by what has to be the most incredible group of authors to have ever joined forces, and written well, these stories will leave you deep in thought long after you close the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for a review.

Sci-fi anthologies are tricky to talk about, because they're designed to be a mixed bag - everyone is going to have different preferences in what worked for them and what didn't, what was great and what was merely fine.

The range of authors here is impressive, and each of them takes on the premise of addressing a potential future with aplomb. The stuff that worked for me here, really worked for me, and the stuff that didn't really didn't - there were a few stories that felt like a slog to complete. My favorites were probable Charlie Jane Anders and N.K. Jemisin's contribuitions. Overall, I think this one is worth checking out, but treat it like any other anthology - stick with what works for you and skim what doesn't.

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

A fantastic speculative fiction anthology that is both a response to Trump’s election and the hellscape we are all living in these days, and a fantastic collection of speculative fiction ranging from hard sci-fi to decolonized futures to very deliberate fuck yous to the current political landscape. One of the hardest things to do in an anthology is balance known quantities (authors who will be able to turn in a good short story on time) with the name draws (NK Jemisin, Charlie Jane Anders, G Willow Wilson), and bringing in new discoveries. This is due out February 5th, and you are in for a treat when it comes out.

Filled with peoples, worlds, futures, and acts of rebellion that you won’t soon forget.

** 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.

I received an ARC of this volume via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. At the moment the title of this volume in the Kindle Edition on Goodreads is "Thirty Visionary Stories"; it actually seems to be "Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers", though.

Recently, I have been sporadically listening to a series of lectures by Gary K Wolfe, available from my library via Hoopla, called "How Great Science Fiction Works". In episode five, he discusses utopia and dystopia and offers the following definitions for both, which I found myself reflecting upon as I read this volume:
<blockquote>Dystopia: a society that is, above all, avoidable.
Utopia: a society which, at least in the view of the author who imagined it, is seen as achievable.</blockquote>
Wolfe doesn't present these as <i>absolute</i> definitions but they are interesting ones, and as I read through these twenty five stories, I considered how many of them could comfortably fall into his definition of dystopia. That the future United (or otherwise) States they depict, characterized by oppression and exclusion, might be avoidable if we only take stock and realise that we have to actually <b>do</b> something to avoid them.

This approach isn't the only way to take this volume; indeed despite the title of the volume, like most science fiction, these stories are largely about the <i>present</i> not the future. Stories such as A. Merc Rustard's "Our Aim is Not To Die", Kai Cheng Thom's "What You Sow", and Alice Sola Kim's "Now Wait for This Week" seemed to use science fictional premises to describe their present - which, of course, describes a path that the USA (and the UK, and Canada, etc) are on leading to futures that we would be better avoiding. These stories, and others, describe different perspectives in the present United States that need to be taken into account; that people like me need to recognize and give space to in order to avoid the darker futures on offer.

There was a point in this volume where it seemed like the only futures for the United States were bleak. This is not a bad thing; this volume clearly exists because we need something to change, to avoid possible dystopias. And yet, scattered within there are more hopeful futures, suggested routes to an achievable future that, while not a utopia (does anyone believe in utopia as an ideal any more?), are better, more inclusive versions of the United States. Malka Older, whose fiction is all about imagining different futures, proposes a route to think about in "Chapter 5: Disruption and Continuity [excepted]". Seanan McGuire's "Harmony" suggests that communities can be built outside the status quo, that "acceptance" by the majority might not be the utopia people need. Perhaps the most positive story is Hugh Howey's "No Algorithms in the World", which gives an idea about how a specific policy (universal basic income) might make the future a better place.

But these stories don't - and shouldn't - dominate a volume about where we are, the path we are not yet avoiding. That these twenty five stories have such different perspectives and approaches reminds us of a richness that we are excluding from our culture if we don't embrace them. As with any collected volume, I have my favourites and I have those I didn't like as much, but this one contains so many good-to-excellent stories, so much worth reading, that it doesn't suffer because a few simply weren't to my taste. Those stories might be your favourites. The recommendation is a cautious one, though, because many of these stories are <b>bleak</b>. The United States is in a place where positive takes on the future can be difficult to imagine. If you need those positive stories, this volume may not be what you want.

Based on my individual ratings for each story, the average for the volume was 3.71*. Overall, though, I think it does deserve at least four. I can't recall ever getting so into a short story collection as I did this one.

A People’s Future of the United States gives a glimpse of 25 different futures. The extremely talented cast of writers covers the most pressing topics of our day, looking at women’s rights, racism, homophobia, climate change, robot–human relations — the list goes on. The world is a scary place and stories like these show us what we — as communities, countries and the world — need to do in order to avoid a future straight out of a dystopian novel. It’s a smart collection that will both amuse and terrify you to the core. Pick it up, devour it, and don’t forget that we still have a chance to avoid these futures.

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.

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☆

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.

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