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Maureen McHugh, Mothers and Other Monsters: Sf and fantasy. The sf often involves mental modifications fixing Alzheimer’s, making servants loyal biochemically, etc. And the stories are about mothers or people in mother-roles to greater and lesser degrees. A bit coldblooded for my taste but the unwillingly loyal servants story was very creepy. Available as a free download.
Kelly Link, Magic for Beginners: Absurdist fantasy fiction with a lot of references to classic and other stories. Again, I’m left cold. I like worldbuilding and logical consequences, which means of course that the real world disappoints me a lot, but also that these stories aren’t really for me. Download. Stranger Things Happen is also available.
Lauren Beukes, Moxyland: Hello dystopia! The setting is a South Africa where the security state has merged with the corporate-captured state: you’re required to carry a cellphone to engage at all with the formal economy (building doors won’t open, cabs and public transport won’t let you on, etc. without one) and your cellphone can tase you if a police officer—or a suspicious merchant—doesn’t like what you’re doing. The principals are a corporate programmer who has some unauthorized activities on the side, an artist who’s just accepted corporate sponsorship and extreme body modification, a quasi-journalist/drug addict, and an activist trying to protest everything in Beukes’s worldbuilding. The “if this goes on” elements are well-done and a little bit terrifying, since it’s hard to disagree that states are capable of terrorizing their own populations in this way. An engaging and really depressing read.
Fumi Yoshinaga, Ooku: The Inner Chambers, vol. 4: more backstory of how the shogunate developed as the devastated male/female ratio became normalized. A lot of palace intrigue and bad behavior by the shoguns, exploiting the men they control.
Robert Morales & Kyle Baker: Captain America: Truth: Captain America’s origin story, except that to put it that way is to miss the point: this is the story of African-American soldiers cruelly exploited by the country they were fighting for even when it wasn’t fighting for them, sacrificed to create the serum that would make Captain America but not considered worthy of being Captain America. Heavy-handed and historically accurate racism is mixed with the fantastic elements, creating a lot of uncomfortable moments. At least Steve Rogers understands that this isn’t his story.
Kelly Link, Magic for Beginners: Absurdist fantasy fiction with a lot of references to classic and other stories. Again, I’m left cold. I like worldbuilding and logical consequences, which means of course that the real world disappoints me a lot, but also that these stories aren’t really for me. Download. Stranger Things Happen is also available.
Lauren Beukes, Moxyland: Hello dystopia! The setting is a South Africa where the security state has merged with the corporate-captured state: you’re required to carry a cellphone to engage at all with the formal economy (building doors won’t open, cabs and public transport won’t let you on, etc. without one) and your cellphone can tase you if a police officer—or a suspicious merchant—doesn’t like what you’re doing. The principals are a corporate programmer who has some unauthorized activities on the side, an artist who’s just accepted corporate sponsorship and extreme body modification, a quasi-journalist/drug addict, and an activist trying to protest everything in Beukes’s worldbuilding. The “if this goes on” elements are well-done and a little bit terrifying, since it’s hard to disagree that states are capable of terrorizing their own populations in this way. An engaging and really depressing read.
Fumi Yoshinaga, Ooku: The Inner Chambers, vol. 4: more backstory of how the shogunate developed as the devastated male/female ratio became normalized. A lot of palace intrigue and bad behavior by the shoguns, exploiting the men they control.
Robert Morales & Kyle Baker: Captain America: Truth: Captain America’s origin story, except that to put it that way is to miss the point: this is the story of African-American soldiers cruelly exploited by the country they were fighting for even when it wasn’t fighting for them, sacrificed to create the serum that would make Captain America but not considered worthy of being Captain America. Heavy-handed and historically accurate racism is mixed with the fantastic elements, creating a lot of uncomfortable moments. At least Steve Rogers understands that this isn’t his story.