by Ian McDonald
First published 2024
A childless woman receives an extraordinary child to nurture in Charlie Jane Anders' "A Soul in the World." An elderly pair survives alone on an island during an epidemic in Cécile Cristofari's tale. Rich tourists don protective gear to visit poverty-stricken nations in Rich Larson's story. Reality shifts as individuals become collections of borrowed existences in Karin Lowachee's narrative. Bolivian miners blame female researchers for their misfortune in Lucie Lukačovičová's piece. A war veteran recovers in Thames marshlands damaged by climate change in Paul McAuley's story. London theater performers continue their show after a solar storm destroys the power grid in Ian McDonald's tale. A family retreats to a traditional Indian inn to escape modern life in Anil Menon's story. An Australian truck driver faces job elimination by automated vehicles in T. R. Napper's piece. A woman with MS experiences behavioral changes from a new infection in Peter Watts' story. Children harvest addictive dreamberries in harsh desert conditions in Dean Whitlock's tale. These eleven stories examine how technology and environmental crisis reshape human experience on Earth.
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia, 21st-century, climate-change
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, social-commentary
Setting: Australia, Bolivia, India, London, Thames Marshlands
Period: 21st Century
275 pages · Paperback · Infinivox