New Scientist - 26.10.2019

32 | New Scientist | 26 October 2019

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THERE is nothing like an

anthology for taking the pulse

of new science fiction. One of the

latest and best is The New Voices

of Science Fiction, which includes

many new writers who have

received or been shortlisted

for the Nebula or Hugo awards.

Editors Hannu Rajaniemi and

Jacob Weisman promise a “tonal

freshness”. So while the collection

features mostly US authors, it does

seem refreshingly diverse, with

widely divergent glimpses of the

future from the likes of Sam

J. Miller, Rebecca Roanhorse,

Kelly Robson and E. Lily Yu.

The short story is an ideal form

for sci-fi: a premise can be tested,

its ramifications developed and

radical consequences presented.

Such anthologies are important

for providing a snapshot of the

field and its future trajectory.

So where do the new writers’

concerns cohere? Time travel is

a recurrent trope. Alice Sola Kim

offers the tale of a scientist who

rescues her 9-year-old self from

bullying to change the harmful

patterns of her older iteration.

Likewise, in Amal El-Mohtar’s

poignant “Madeleine”, a young

woman compares her drug-

induced jaunts through time

to her mother’s Alzheimer’s.

Many stories are suffused with

dystopian threads: fraying social

bonds, environmental disruption

and widening inequality. All have

effects on the most vulnerable.

Miller’s “Calved”^ follows a refugee

from drowned Brooklyn living in

a near-future, post-Arctic Sweden.

A long-haul ice fisherman with

few prospects, he struggles to

connect with his adaptable

son, who sees him as a relic.

Bucking the dystopian trend

is Yu’s “The Doing and Undoing of

Jacob E. Mwangi”. It imagines how

a scarcity-riven society might

create “a deep immune response

in the human psyche” to the

onslaught of inequality and

rage. A massive redistribution

Building worlds From alienated life in post-Arctic Sweden to saving your future

self and failing to engage with tech’s new intimacies, an excellent new sci-fi

anthology offers diverse glimpses into the future, says Helen Marshall

“ Space exploration is

limited to resource

extraction, with the

greatest changes

happening at home”

Book

The New Voices of

Science Fiction

Hannu Rajaniemi and

Jacob Weisman (editors)

Tachyon Publications

Helen also

recommends...

Books

Stillicide

Cynan Jones

Granta Books

Twelve sparely written but

moving tales of near-future

water shortages and

overpopulation.

Interference

Sue Burke

Tor Books

A sequel to Burke’s Locus

Award-nominated debut

Semiosis, this is a riveting

exploration of the dangerous

misunderstandings that

arise when humans

encounter radical new

forms of sentient life.

of wealth has strengthened global

institutions. But the introduction

of Dream Seeds – a universal basic

income in Kenya – leads to a divide

between Doers and Don’ts, those

who choose to make, build or

learn and those who want only

to be entertained.

The growth of entertainment

platforms, whether in virtual

reality or on social media, is a

distinctive trend. “Openness”

by Alexander Weinstein explores

relationships that fail to cope with

the intimacy offered by new tech.

One stand-out story, “Utopia, LOL?”

by Jamie Wahls, is stylistically

gutsy. Here, humanity’s future

after the singularity looks strange,

with consciousness shifting easily

between trillions of realities,

from a knock-off Middle Earth to

FloTiSim – a floor-tile simulator.

Not surprisingly, the near-future

tales stick closest to extrapolation,

with new economies for

counterfeit meat in Vina Jie-Min

Prasad’s “A Series of Steaks” and

unusual cultural encounters in

Roanhorse’s “Welcome to Your

Authentic Indian Experience™”.

These stories attend as much to

world-building as to the lived

experience of those brutalised

by capitalism’s retrenchment.

In this superb collection, the

radical freedom of the digital

typically contrasts with resource-

depleted physical landscapes.

Space exploration is limited to

resource extraction, with the

greatest changes happening at

home. Reinventions of the body

meet backlashes and resistance

as often as love. Ultimately, these

new writers have very human

stories to tell, necessarily

complicated by compromises

and failures as much as heroics.  ❚

GAVIN HELLIER /ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Time travel is a major

theme in a collection of

up-and-coming writers

The science fiction column

Helen Marshall is an editor,

award-winning writer

and senior lecturer at the

University of Queensland,

Australia. Follow her on

Twitter @manuscriptgal