2021 Future Tense Fiction from Slate
2021 FUTURE TENSE FICTION FROM SLATE
RATED 91% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE = 4.09 OF 5
11 STORIES: 3 GREAT / 6 GOOD / 2 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 0 DNF
It wasn’t until I read the mission behind Slate’s Future Tense Fiction, that I really understood why I was so thoroughly enjoying this ‘slate’ of stories. While the tales dealt with the most modern of sci-fi topics, they seems very old-school in their approach.
This is traditional science fiction. Fiction that starts with the question, “What would the future look like?” THEN wraps a story around that idea. The blessing and curse of much modern SF is the emphasis on the quality of the fiction. That occasionally results in excellent prose obscuring sub-par thinking. This batch of stories take the opposite approach and the ideas are what makes them fun.
Slate has embraced one very modern idea. They have released all their stories freely on the internet. Here is the link. For added fun, Slate commissioned experts to write non-fiction essays that comment on each of the stories. Links to those easily found next to the stories at the Slate link.
My Reviews In Order of Appearance:
“Speaker,” by Simon Brown
Great. Technology to communicate with hyenas is put to the test when a small child goes missing and the hyenas must help find it. Sharp and smart with a killer finale.
“The Void,” by Leigh Alexander
Average. A person with mental issues is haunted by a image of a painting from their dreams. Plus some relationship stuff.
“The Trolley Solution,” by Shiv Ramdas
Good. A professor with just got denied tenure must compete against an A.I. who is also teaching the same class.
“Congratulations on Your Loss,” by Catherine Lacey
Good. A woman is tossed in a Kafta-esque situation when the facial recognition cameras keep mistaking someone else for her … and she keeps getting the jay walking fines.
“In the Land of Broken Things,” by Josh Bales
Average. A couple is held hostage and forced to get parts to repair and piece of necessary health-care equipment in a world where no little is left.
“The Skeleton Crew,” by Janelle Shane
Great. State of the art A.I. didn’t actually work, so the A.I. haunted house is run by normal people. People who have to come to the rescue of a celebrity, when her life is threatened.
“Collateral Damage ,” by Justina Ireland
Good. Can soldiers ever work beside autonomous combat robots that are better than they are … and follow the laws of war.
“Beauty Surge,” by Laura Maylene Walter
Good. On campus, all waste products are analyzed for drugs, pregnancy, and more. In order to not lost a sports scholarship, one girl uses a product called BeautyAid that has the side effect of blocking the analysis.
“The Wait,” by Andrea Chapela
Good. A sister waits in Mexico City’s National Institute of Citizen Registration and Geolocation for information on her brother who has disappeared from government tracking.
“Furgen,” by Andrew Silverman
Great. A Furgen is a robot designed to ‘you and your dog live their best lives.” Nothing could possibly go wrong with that. Right?
“Ride,” by Linda Nagata
Good. In post-hurricane Hawaii, transportation is controlled by computer and based on a social credit score. One woman’s life changes forever when she is given a backdoor code to the system.
