There are certain collections of speculative fiction that are tattooed on my brain. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison, and Futures on Fire, edited by Orson Scott Card, in particular.This one now joins that gallery of mind-bending, imagination-stretching stories, but there's something soul-soothing about these tales as well. Something sublime, yet hopeful.My favorites were the stories by N.K. Jemisin, Ashok Banker, and Charlie Jane Anders. Full disclosure: I have a story in here too, bu...

Overall rating: 3.5This anthology takes its title from Howard Zinn ‘s famous A Peoples’ History of the United States, a history written from the viewpoint of those forgotten by history:women, laborers, people of color, etc.The collection features short work by some emerging voices in science fiction. I knew of John Joseph Adams, one of the two editors, from listening to his intriguing science fiction and fantasy podcast some years ago.I can’t comment on the audio readers as it’s unclear which r...

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...

A collection of near future visions about the future of the American experience. It was a thought exercise in which La Valle asks authors to extrapolate from today. Where do we go from here? I bought this book on sale with the intent to read it in 2020 (or later), but something compelled me to read the introduction. La Valle's introduction is one of my favorite stories in the book. He discusses how he came up with the concept for the book by reminiscing about an encounter with his father and ste...

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 ang...

I got into this book with the expectation that at least some of the stories by these well-known writers would be hopeful or optimistic in the face of obvious injustice. After all, the whole collection IS a tribute to Howard Zinn's classic, A People's History of the United States. So of course, an SF future treatment of the same would probably be about resistance and standing up for what we believe.In actual fact, quite a few do follow that idea, but more of them felt like truly dark futures with...

I really enjoyed this stunning speculative fiction anthology, created in the wake of our current political climate. I usually find short story collections uneven, but in this case I liked all except for 2-3 of the 25 stories. Standouts for me were N.K. Jemisin’s Give Me Cornbread or Give Me Death, Kai Cheng Thom’s What You Sow, Ashok K. Banker’s By His Bootstraps, and Maria Dahvana Headley’s Read After Burning. All of the stories coalesced well around the central theme of the book.

“This book is dedicated to the folks who would not be erased”25 authors, 25 speculative stories — all of which challenge the oppression of today and dare to dream of the vision of tomorrow. Like just how AWESOME does this sound?! And the title!! A People’s FUTURE of the United States!!I went in with high hopes buuuuut I found this anthology to be just a bit uneven. You’d have stories that were absolutely fantastic, but they’d be followed by stories that fell a bit flat. Now can we really expect

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 unimaginative single-issue dystopias. And though repetitive, those are preferable to the ones that try to be 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 Book...

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight 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,...

9+ I was delibrating whether to give this four or five stars, but my intuition said to err on the side of excellence, as a four star rating would not really fit. Giving star ratings is a gut decision anyway, at least for me. And I must say I really enjoyed this collection. Even more than I thought going in. I thought I would meet a lot of grim dystopia's and leave the collection feeling depressed about the state of the world, but that's not the case. Even though most future scenario's here, near...

A collection of short SF stories from authors with a politically left bent. Some of these stories will really push some peoples buttons!I finished this about a month ago, so have forgotten most of it and will only rate the stories that made a strong enough impression to stick in my mind.One of the highlights is the introduction by Victor LaValle where he discusses the complicated racial dynamics in his own family. (His father and half-brother cheer along with Rush Limbaugh complaining about immi...

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 oppress...