Both superstar and up-and-coming YA authors tackle the themes of apocalypse and dystopia in 19 short stories and poems. Nearly every story provides a first-person adolescent protagonist, with male and female viewpoints equally represented, some with explicit GLBT orientation. The scenarios they narrate vary widely--from ecological catastrophes to alien invasion, political revolutions to supernatural uprisings, religious tyranny to socioeconomic collapse--but with less emphasis on the mechanics of the disaster than on coping with the aftermath. Graphic violence and destruction are avoided in favor of pointed allusions and carefully selected images; although many are creepy or even nightmarish, most conclude on a note of hope. Yet the relentless succession of bleak circumstances and failure eventually blurs the individual voices into an indistinguishable grimness. Indeed, the concluding bibliographical essay by the editors is in many ways the highlight of the volume, succinctly tracing the history, appeal and best current examples of the genre. A fine selection for new readers looking to sample this type of fiction or for dedicated fans seeking fresh voices. (Science fiction/short stories. 12 & up)
After (Nineteen Stories of Apocalypse and Dystopia)
The publication of dystopian fiction for young adults has abounded over recent years and After brings together nineteen stories of apocalypse and dystopia by an impressive ensemble of authors including heavyweights such as Gregory Maguire, Garth Nix and Jane Yolen. The stories explore a range of scenarios concerning the end of the world and the last vestiges of humanity including war, plagues and flooding. What binds the story is strong characterisation, their ideas-led plots and the indomitable sense of the need to find ways to survive in extremes of emotion and experience. The form enables focus on exploration of preoccupations and fears of society.
Like Asaro, Celia C. Peters believes that we are living in an exciting period of human history. Science fiction is increasingly relevant because technology is taking us further into the cosmos than ever before. Virtual gaming is becoming our reality, and we are interacting with more advanced artificial intelligences on a daily basis. The more prominent technology becomes, the more fascinating and important sf becomes. With all of the wonderful things that are happening to the genre, Peters feels strongly that it must evolve. It must come to terms with the multi-ethnic, multi-racial, and multi-gendered world around us. It is not the domain of the young white male. Women and people of color are underrepresented as the drivers of stories in films, particularly in sf films. Peters believes that they should be telling their own stories through the lens of their own experience, and these stories are for everyone to enjoy, not just for those like them. The multitude of previously unrepresented perspectives can only enrich the genre. She shared clips from her films Godspeed, which explores questions about our place in the universe at a time when science and technology are bringing us closer to finding answers, and Roxë15, a dystopian short film set in New York City in 2051 which tells the story of a black female character named Roxë.
The Tin Roof Blowdown shows us New Orleans, and the surrounding areas the days after Katrina raged havoc. Taking into account the lives that have been traumatized as crime and murders increased nine-fold. Detective David Robicheaux of Iberia Parish finds himself in the midst of a murder in an old-time neighborhood, as he tries to figure out if the murder of a local black boy during a robbery was racially motivated or not. The details and stories of this horrific tragedy show the bleakness of the aftermath and that not only did many reach their deaths, but how many who survived died also. No order exists as Robicheaux tries to unravel his latest mystery.
Mieville suggests utopalypse (the coinage I'll use henceforth) is becoming the only way to imagine a better world because the apocalypse of climate change is now unavoidable. It would be unrealistic to cling to hope and ignore the very real despair resulting from accelerating environmental collapse. Just as important, this environmental apocalypse stems from the dystopian system of neoliberal capitalism. But Mieville contends that it is possible--even preferable--to hope and despair at the same time.
This article looks at The Back of the Turtle (2014) by Thomas King (Cherokee and Canadian-American), a dystopian speculative fiction (sf) novel in the growing genre of sf known as Indigenous Futurisms. (1) If, for Indigenous peoples, a better world can only be thought of in the context of an apocalypse that has already happened (in the sense that 1492 marks the beginning of Indigenous apocalypse) and is still in process of happening, then "utopalypse" is the only kind of better world possible in Indigenous sf. Grace Dillon explains that "Native Apocalypse," a sort of subgenre in Indigenous Futurism, is conceived as a state of imbalance, and says that 2ff7e9595c
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