The New Voices of Science Fiction

What would you do if your collective of tiny bots suddenly decide to mutiny? Would you find bioprinted steak delicious, even after it was signed by the artist? Is an 11 second attention-span long enough to bond with a cryogenically-revived tourist? Would you sell your native language to send your daughter to college?

The avant garde of science fiction has appeared, arriving via time machines and portals that may (or may not) work properly. In this space-age sequel to award-winning anthology, The New Voices of Fantasy, The New Voices of Science Fiction has launched the rising stars of the last five years of science fiction, including Rebecca Roanhorse, Amal El-Mohtar, Alice Sola Kim, Sam J. Miller, E. Lily Yu, Rich Larson, Vina Jie-Min Prasad, Sarah Pinsker, Darcie Little Badger, S. Qiouyi Lu, Kelly Robson, Suzanne Palmer, Nino Cipri, and more. Their wide-ranging tales were hand-selected by cutting-edge author Hannu Rajaniemi (The Quantum Thief) and genre expert Jacob Weisman (Invaders).

So go ahead, join the starship revolution. The new kid’s hotwired the AI.

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[BEFORE I DECIDED to finally give up on New York, I subbed classes at a junior high in Brooklyn – OPENNESS BY ALEXANDER WEINSTEIN]

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(Tachyon Publications, 5 November 2019, 432 pages, ebook, ARC from @TachyonPub and voluntarily reviewed)

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So I don’t read a lot of science fiction. I know. It’s a flaw I have and I’m working on it. I decided to give this a shot because I tend to be impressed by the quality of books from Tachyon Publications so I knew I was in good hands. I also don’t like very hardcore science fiction or too much AI. So, I was a bit nervous about reading this. I needn’t have worried. I was surprised by the excellent quality of the stories. I enjoyed every one. I read a lot of anthologies and the trend seems to be that at least one or two fall short of the mark. That wasn’t the case here. Every story worked and some a bit more than others. My favourites were Openness by Alexander Weinstein, The Shape of My Name by Nino Capri, UTOPIA, LOL by Jamie Wahls, Mother Tongues by S. Qiouyi Lu, In the Sharing Place by David Erik Nelson and Ice by Rich Larson. I enjoyed every story here but these shone a little brighter.