Out There
Into the Queer New Yonder
By Saundra Mitchell

A Review by Jamilla (LandsAwayBooks @Wordpress)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Inkyard Press for this eARC in exchange for a honest review!

I used to devour short stories, but it’s been a while! Having Out There be my reintroduction to the storytelling form was amazing! I’ve been craving sci-fi a lot recently and these captivating stories about places far, far away and the pervasive humanness of it all, was a delight to read. Seventeen queer sci-if stories, spanning from going down a wormhole, being trapped in a time loop, loving a beautiful alien you met on a SM site and Tchaikovsky’s Concerto in D Major.

Some of the standouts of this anthology are below!

Doublers by Alex London, with that poignant use of repetition was a stunning opener! And a short story that left you satisfied with just a bit of yearning for more.

Home by K Ancrum, to be honest, Ancrum is just a bloody good writer! And I find her work to be so delightfully experimental and unique! Her author’s voice is distinctive but also very fluid, and I love the way she builds a story! Home was no different! Brilliant and lost. A bit like horror? Very love at the end of the world....in this case moon.

Fractal Eyes by Ugochi M. Agoawike, so strange, so charming. I can not say that I understand what the heck this story was about, but I was captivated, from beginning to end, much like Chi is, of this bizarre and maybe a bit familiar Essence.

Concerto by Abdi Nazemian, a love that reaches out through time. This is ROMANCE, okay? Yearning and angst, and losing each other and meeting again and being entangled, like the roots of trees. Bittersweet.

The Rift by Claire Kann, this one stopped very abruptly I thought initially, but I really enjoyed the MC, she was super badass, and sometimes I feel the exact same way, let’s open a rift and travel to a world that can love us.

The Department of Homegoing Affairs by Kaylyn Barron, ghosts, a train ticket and a grandma not ready to let go. Really enjoyed this very emotional story about death and grief.

All in all, a fun, queer af, ‘out there’ anthology that was throughly enjoyable! It’s very cool that there are two more of these out already I can dive right into!

Out There was a wonderful conclusion to Saundra Mitchell's queer YA anthologies! It's always a delight getting to read new stories from my favorite authors and discover more authors to love. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for sci-fi stories about queer kids finding joy and love (sometimes even during the apocalypse).

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
(Spoiler-free)

A very fun anthology of queer short stories! I'm really a sucker for short story collections and I just knew I had to go for this one, and for the most part it didn't disappoint. I kicked my feet, blushed, got choked up, etc. but there were some stories that I found myself wishing would end.

As with most anthologies, it's hit or miss, but this is a really great collection for the most part, and I recommend it!

Third in a trilogy of queer YA anthologies, the sci-fi collection Out There features a broad range of takes on familiar sci-fi tropes from a queer (and largely trans) perspective. With an emphasis on worldbuilding and intersectional identities, themes across the collection include exceptionalism, coming out, bigoted authority figures in both official and parental form, and of course coming to terms with identity. While there are a fair number of cliffhangers that left me wishing for a less ambiguous ending, I enjoyed this sampling of stories that go far beyond the representation available in my own queer teenage years.

There is certainly something to appreciate in the queer penchant for mystery and leaving things up for the imagination, and while that’s not always my preference a few of the authors handle it masterfully. The portrayal of queerness varies from a central plot point to a characterization like any other. There’s a range of gender expression without any noticeable skew, and many characters of color. There are also at least a couple of characters on the asexual spectrum, which I appreciated. I would’ve liked to have seen disability featured, though, since I always get a little nervous about whether authors are assuming it doesn’t exist in the future, and I didn’t notice any explicitly polyamorous characters.

The writing quality is for the most part quite high, with only one story I actively disliked, mainly due to personal preference against the kind of “talking like we’re British royals” written dialect that’s occasionally used in speculative fiction. Philosophical questions play a major role as in any good sci-fi collection. More than one story grapples with the acceptable cost of gender transition, and tense interactions with police and surveillance technology are often featured. Political references to our current situation in general abound, as do considerations of privilege and what that might afford you in the future.

Of course we get a lot of stories of love unrequited, lost, found, or simply enjoyed. The approaches to romance itself aren’t particularly transgressive or unique, but for a YA collection published in 2022 I appreciate the need to just see happy queer kids in love! The romantic in me was especially charmed by Abdi Nazemian’s “Concerto,” a beautiful tale that includes an unlikely digression on trees: “It’s about how trees—well they’re connected underground. We don’t think about that because we’re more interested in how they soar to the sky. Human beings have always been more interested in what’s above them than what’s below. We don’t pay attention to what grounds us. Maybe that’s been our worst mistake.” As a change doula who works heavily with natural metaphors, I couldn’t agree more.

Human relationships in general get a complex treatment in some of the stories. In Naomi Kanakia’s “Nick and Bodhi,” for example, privilege is not what it seems, even if the villain is pretty dang awful. In “Nobody Cares Who We Kiss at the End of the World,” Leah Johnson explores a choice between romantic satisfaction and community with a little nod to queer communal living. There’s even one story with a mass disappearance that spares queers for some reason, which kind of takes care of homophobia all in one fell swoop!

Some of the tales are pretty dark and grim, but you also get fun plots including a story that is basically trans Captain America and Bucky Barnes. I am never not going to be here for that. References to escape rooms and Ouija boards, and even an entire story set in an airport, give these futuristic worlds connections to our own.

One of my all time favorite anthologies now! I have really enjoyed this series and the line up of authors they have in each book.
With most anthologies I feel like I find myself DNFing more stories than not, but with this one I only felt the need to DNF two. Most of the stories were super intriguing and I loved all the unique world building explored here and they were several I even ended up rereading!
My personal faves were:
Doublers by Alex London (gay, mlm)
Like Sunshine, Like Concrete by ZR Ellor (trans ftm, mlm)
Reshadow by Adam Saass (gay, mlm)
The Department of Homegoing Affairs by Kaylyn Barron (wlw, sapphic)
Home by K. Ancrum (intersex)

OUT THERE Into the Queer New Yonder edited by Saundra Mitchell is a fun conclusion to the trio of anthologies written by queer YA authors. That this third anthology is more focused on speculative fiction is a great addition to the stories already published. Many of my students have enjoyed the historical and contemporary pieces, but have wanted something speculative since that's what they write. One aspect I really enjoyed in OUT THERE is authors writing things outside of their "usual" genres, like Abdi Nazemian writing something a bit more sci-fi than contemporary. What a great way for me to encourage my own creative writing students to try something new. I'm thrilled to share all three of these OUT anthologies with my Rainbow Room writing students in June!

I did not finish reading this anthology. However, what I did read was good and I look forward to finishing the rest. If you enjoy anthologies or are looking to try one, I recommend giving this a try.

I really liked this collection of short stories. It didn't quite outdo the first collection I read. All Out, but it was close. Most of tge stories were strong and only a few left md either bored or ready to skip them. A very unusual thing for a short story collection for me.

(I gave this 3 stars, but I feel like it's more like a 3.5 stars, curse you goodreads for not letting us to half stars).

I find anthologies hard to review because every story is so new. I will say, overall, I enjoyed every story. Obviously, some were better than others (Concerto was probably my favourite of all of them), but there was something to enjoy about each one. The one thing I will say, is I personally found the anthology hard to read, particularly the stories in the middle. A lot of them talk about how the earth is dying, or dead, and try to take a queer love spin on the end of the world - which, while very appreciated, reading over and over again how the world is dying is upsetting, particularly in this political climate. If you're someone who over-empathizes or gets overwhelmed with the reality of climate change and how we're killing our earth, I would recommend taking each story slowly - but I would still recommend the book overall.

As with most anthologies, this one was hit or miss, but definitely more hits. With seventeen stories, all featuring queer characters in a scifi setting, and from a diverse group of authors, there's really something for everyone. My favourites were The Rift by Claire Kann (please make this a whole book, please); Beauty Sleep by Alechia Dow; Home by K. Ancrum; and Nobody Cares Who We Kiss at the End of the World by Leah Johnson. I'm excited to share this with my customers!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this early for an honest review.

I’m really not a huge fan of time travel, futuristic, or dystopian stories. They usually feel unrealistic or they make me cry because the hope in them is so pure. I did enjoy All Out, the 2018 anthology, so I had some hope for this one as well.

I didn’t really love any of the stories, and a few did make me cry. (H O M E and Concerto) So congrats writers?

Also, in my reading habits, I’m starting to gravitate to books with Happy Endings (or at least upbeat resolved endings) and these felt very Twilight Zone, no defined ending, and that also didn’t sit well with me. But maybe it will with you?

Out There: Into the Queer New Yonder is an anthology of short stories that take place in the future edited by Saundra Mitchell. Each story features queer characters and each story is written by authors who identify as queer. The featured authors are: Ugochi M. Agoawike, K. Ancrum, Kalynn Bayron, Z Brewer, Mason Deaver, Alechia Dow, Z. R. Ellor, Leah Johnson, Naomi Kanakia, Claire Kann, Alex London, Jim McCarthy, Abdi Nazemian, Emma K. Ohland, Adam Sass, Mato J. Steger, and Nita Tyndall.

I enjoyed the queer representation in this book. This book is a celebration of love in all its forms. The futuristic setting is very unique. I especially enjoyed Kalynn Bayron’s and Mason Deaver’s stories.

This is a solid anthology. The premise is amazing, and I love the 'trilogy' of sorts that it completes. However, the stories themselves were somewhat uneven in terms of how much each appealed to me (which is pretty normal for an anthology of this scope, so there's certainly that). Some were huge standouts, but others really fell flat. Overall, though, there were more hits than misses.

Thank you, Inkyard Press, for allowing me to read Out There early!

I love anthologies so much because they offer you the chance to savour multiple voices and at the same time give you numerous narratives. Out There, edited by the incredible Saundra Mitchell collected stories from some of my favorite authors ever and made me discover some new voices I can't wait to read in longer format!

Anthologies are always a toss up since you're bound to like some of the stories and dislike others, which makes reviewing them really hard. Some of these stories I really enjoyed, and other felt kinda pointless, convoluted, and non-compelling. The stories I enjoyed the most were by Mason Deaver, Kalynn Bayron, and Abdi Nazemian!

Overall, it's hard to say if I would recommend this to others, as it was such a mixed bag for me. Probably would recommend for sci-fi/dystopian lovers, maybe others should just get it from the library!

I received this copy of Out There on Netgalley as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This is build as a young adult science fiction and fantasy anthology and is the third in a series. The full disclosure I have not read the first two, but because this is a serial anthology, it can be read as a standalone and will be judged on its own merit. Because it is an anthology I won't be judging each story individually but will be judging them all together.

The first story in this anthology was really a powerhouse for me, but I would say that the quality definitely varied amongst the stories. I would not say that any of them were weak, but just because there is such a wide breadth of authors and stories in this anthology that maybe they just weren't to my taste and that somebody else might read those same stories and love them even more than I did. I felt that the flow between stories could be a little still to that times because there isn't really like a theme per se. But if you judge each story on their own merit, it's definitely worth reading. There is a lot of quality representation in this book. Everything from a romantic to a sexual characters, trans, sapphic, Achillean, non-binary characters you name it. There's also if we were amount of different cultural representation in this book.


If I could only give one criticism, it might be that the arrangement of the stories the order could be tweaked a little bit to have a better literary flow, but I feel like that's a mild criticism. I would give this a solid four stars. It's a great wreck and I would definitely recommend it for anyone. I'm not really sure what qualifies as young adult. I feel like some of the themes and depictions of violence or sex may not be graphic or direct, but it might still be a bit much for a younger teen, so just keep that in mind while reading. I would say that most of these stories have what I would deem as positive or satisfying endings, but due to the subject matter, this can be a heavier read and may not be like a sunny day read. I would definitely recommend this for any fans of qualitative diversity, young adult science fiction, or people that just want to spruce up their collections. I will definitely be looking for more from these authors individually as well

I appreciate the sentiment, the book was missing some great summaries that would help me find the short stories that I really wanted to read. I also wondered if all the stories LGBTQ-ness actually made some of the tales more convoluted rather than complex.

I was given an ARC of this from NetGalley in exchange for a review.
Although the stories were varied and very diverse, which I loved. I found that most of the stories were very sad. Centering around dealing with transphobia, homophobia etc, although I can see why it is important to showcase overcoming them, these stories took place in the distant future yet only a few had societies where these weren't problems.

Regardless I did enjoy most of the stories.

It's always hard to rate anthologies because of how different each individual story is, but I really enjoyed this one! There was only two or three stories that I didn't really vibe with and the rest I had a lot of fun with. I loved the other two anthologies in this series and Out There was a perfect way to wrap the trilogy up in my opinion. It's been really lovely to read about queer teens existing in a myriad of places in the past and present, and it was really nice to read about them still existing and thriving in the future. I'd definitely recommend this one!

I loved the diversity in this! Sci-fi short stories I think are hard to do well because you have to establish the world and the characters in a short amount of time. Some stories I wanted so much more from, some weren't as compelling.