Reading Sci-Fi and Fantasy

Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2023

 

Science fiction isn’t usually part of my reading, but I try it occasionally: I read the stories in this annual collection with interest. R.F.Kuang, who made the final selection here is an author I admire, which encouraged me to choose this volume. All of the stories were published in North America in 2022, and all appeared in nationally-available sources, not self-published.

Unexpectedly, I found that many of the stories in this volume have a focus on well-known contemporary issues. The authors use science fiction, fantasy, or a setting in the future to highlight their perspective on a more or less controversial subject. Some of these themes: societies, both real and imagined, where abortion is prohibited and punished; creepy families where ghosts express their view on trans children; unnatural pressure on young women to be beautiful and pleasing; and the uncanny potential of chatbots to threaten individuals and maybe undermine the social order. 

Here’s the final passage from a story called “Rabbit Test” by Samantha Mills, which describes women in desperate search of an abortion throughout history and well into the distant dystopian future. The story also tells the history of the “rabbit test” that was used in the 20th century for early diagnosis of pregnancy:

“It is 2084 and she is crying, ‘Our grandmothers fought so hard for this.’

“It is 2206 and she is crying, ‘Our grandmothers fought so hard for this.’ 

“It is 1878 and Madame Restell is bleeding to death in her bathtub rather than submit to another trial. 

“It is 1821 and Asenath Smith is fleeing town in disgrace. 

“It is 1972 and seven of the women of Jane have just been arrested in a raid. 

“It is 2086 and Grace’s medical record has been officially upgraded to that most precarious of categories: potential to become pregnant. 

“It is 2022 and it isn’t over. 

“It is 2022 and it is never over.” (p. 98)

In the story “White Water, Blue Ocean” by Linda Raquel Nieves Pérez, a young man is tormented by his relatives as he tries to see his perhaps ghostly grandmother who oozes “cursed foam” from her face and eyes. Finally, his mother defends him:

“‘Their name is Gabriel, Lorena,’ said my mother as she passed her the cursed bottle. 

“‘Her name,’ Lorena spat as she stood up, the loud scratch of the chair against the floor adding an out-of-tune cord to the wild beat of my heart, ‘is Patricia, no matter what she’s led your husband and you to believe.’” (p. 130)

Of course these stories also contain other themes, such as the threat of semi-human or robotic dictators in a horrifying, dystopian future on earth or in other planetary systems. Also in the stories: lots of made-up words, names, and places and fanciful “lifeforms.” Some are very intriguing in a good way. Others are kind of silly, and I skimmed them quite quickly. But it’s an amusing anthology.

Review © 2024 mae sander