Terraform Watch / worlds / burn

Review by Booklist Review

This compilation of sf short stories envisions a not-so-distant future where humanity's present trajectory progresses into otherworldly, bleak, and at times catastrophic realities. The anthology is divided in three volumes with three underlying themes: surveillance, alternate dimensions, and global/climate upheaval. Each section reflects on civilization's potential outcomes, including worlds where drones evolve into sentient beings, capitalism interferes in eradicating zombies, people can hire professionals to sleep for them, and patients can opt to have their brains uploaded in a new version of themselves. Each theme is evocatively presented by a lineup of well-known authors (such as Cory Doctorow, Sarah Gailey, Jeff Vandermeer, E. Lily Yu, and Tochi Onyebuchi) and rising new names in the genre. The 50 or so brief stories vary in style and tone yet blend into a well-crafted cautionary tale depicting what awaits planet Earth if current pressing issues continue evolving without change or intervention. Fans of sf, dystopian fiction, and climate fiction will appreciate the collection of prominent and promising voices.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Merchant and Evans, the editors of Vice's science fiction vertical, Terraform, whose mandate is to publish work at "the front lines of tomorrow," bring 52 Terraform stories to print for the first time in this impressive anthology. They collect plausible scenarios like Laurie Penny's bitterly clever "Blue Monday," in which a worker at an animal-video content factory hatches a plan to rescue her stolen cat, and E. Lily Yu's "The Wretched and the Beautiful," about the all too real fate of a ship of alien refugees that crash-lands at an expensive beach resort. Alongside these are larger leaps ahead, such as Marlee Jane Ward's heartbreaking "Who's a Good Boy," in which dogs can be upgraded to full humanlike consciousness, and far-future tales that merely glance at the present, like Tlotlo Tsamaase's "Virtual Snapshots," where a woman travels from her life support facility to visit her sick mother. While the tone throughout tends toward the bleak and searing, hope shines through in Sarah Gailey's welcoming "Drones to Ploughshares," about agricultural robots starting new lives, and Shannon Chamberlain's "Reunion," in which a Mexican adoptee finds an unexpected friend in a transport drone. This showcase of today's leading imaginations offers enough vivid cautionary tales to make even the most optimistic tech utopian hesitate. (Aug.)

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

Dispatches from the hyperconnected, hypersurveilled future. The editors of this SF anthology bill it as a "full, visceral, and vital portrait of a world in rapid evolution," and in many ways the collection delivers on that promise. Like all the best science fiction, these stories look at our present through the lens of some possible futures. Key themes emerge, including surveillance capitalism, artificial intelligence, and climate change. The world we see here is hyperconnected and yet uber-alienating, full of potential for ever shinier tech but lacking much opportunity for genuine, joyful humanity to thrive. There are some brilliant, haunting stories--a gonzo sendup of corporate culture ("Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company" by Kevin Nguyen), a minithriller about a smart-home assistant with a mind of its own ("Warning Signs" by Emily J. Smith), a time-travel tale about the gentrification of the past ("Trojan Horses" by Jess Zimmerman), a too-close-to-home parable about aliens who arrive on Earth as refugees ("The Wretched and the Beautiful" by E. Lily Yu). There's also some invigorating experimentation with form, including fiction in the form of operating instructions ("Hysteria" by Meg Elison), school paperwork ("Exemption Packet" by Rose Eveleth), text messages ("U Wont Remember Dying" by Russell Nichols), and a simple list ("An Incomplete Timeline of What We Tried" by Debbie Urbanski). The dystopian realities of social media and late-stage capitalism are everywhere, with a ghost becoming a backdrop for selfies ("Ernest" by Geoff Manaugh), soldiers livestreaming from the front lines ("Headshot" by Julian Mortimer Smith), thousands of people lining up to toil meaninglessly in "entropy mills" ("Busy" by Omar El Akkad), and financial advisers pitching the zombie apocalypse as an investing opportunity ("Zombie Capitalism" by Tobias Buckell). Overall, this collection presents a sort of paranoid/defiant vision of the future in which everything and everyone is for sale but almost everything of value has been lost. Don't look here for (much) hope, but do read these short, biting, vibrant stories for their wit, inventiveness, and verve. These dark, witty, and occasionally mournful stories will thoroughly satisfy readers looking for creative new dystopias. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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