2012; 189 pages. New Author? : Yes. Full Title: The Future,
Imperfect: Six Dystopian Short Stories. Genre : Short Stories; Anthology; Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction. Overall Rating : 6*/10.
I
have seen the future, and the future is bleak. Epidemics and pandemics have decimated the
world populations. Governments, both
local and national, have collapsed, allowing plagues and pollution to spread
unchecked, further diminishing the number of humans, plants, and animals, around the
globe.
Yet all is not lost. Money talks,
and private corporations have assumed the role of government. For those who are rich enough, havens are available in “corporate zones”: walled communities with powerful mercenary
security forces to keep the riffraff out.
For the poor, the only option is the “burbs”, where disease, radiation,
crime, and the lack of clean food and water significantly combine to shorten one’s
lifespan.
The only good news is that there are a number
of corporations out there, each vying with the others for more power and
profits. The more corporate zones a
company has, the more power, people, and money it commands. That means they are willing to buy up some of the
burbs, make improvements by cleaning up contaminants and providing security, as long as they
can recoup their investment.
There is one additional asset that every corporation covets: Technology.
Particularly in virtual and electronic forms, and particularly technology that other
corporations have developed. Any means
of acquiring it is okay. Including
industrial espionage, stealing, and kidnapping.
Even murder.
What’s To Like...
The Future, Imperfect is comprised of six short
stories, five of which were published previously in various Sci-Fi/Fantasy
magazines. All but one of them is
set along the US west coast, where, according to Wikipedia, the author was
born and raised, although she now lives in Germany. The six stories are:
01. A Handful of
Dust (@ 01%)
Published in “Forgotten Worlds” in 2006.
02. Latency Time (@ 19%)
Published in “Asimov’s Science Fiction” in 2001.
03. Shadow Memory (@ 32%)
Published in “Marsdust” in 2004.
04. Exit Without Saving
(@ 50%)
Published in “Futurismic” in 2006.
05. Killfile (@ 60%)
ANAICT, not previously published.
06. The Other Side of Silence (@ 78%)
Published in “Futurismic” in 2006.
All
of them appear to be set in the post-apocalyptic world described above, with some
minor tweaks. My favorites were 02 and 06; yours will
most likely be different.
I
was impressed with the world-building despite the fact that Ruth Nestvold is
constrained by the shortness of each story.
Corporations replacing governments is an innovative-yet-plausible twist to
a post-apocalyptic world. I chuckled at newspapers
and used-book stores being viewed as old-fashioned, then sadly realized that’s
already come true.
The technological advances that
really drew me in. You can “become”
someone else via morphing into a sim (aka “morph units”) and genetic modifications
have been taken to a whole new level (aka “genmods”). These leaps in technology can be used both for entertainment (for example: find out how
you’d like being the opposite gender), or for espionage, where
descriptions of suspects is pretty much irrelevant, since they can morph their appearance at will.
The Future, Imperfect is an incredibly
short read. Amazon says it’s 189 pages
long, but that seems to be a stretch (pun intended). If you have a book report due tomorrow, and
you haven’t even started reading anything, this may be the answer to your procrastination.
I
enjoyed the literary nod to Fahrenheit 451
and The Scarlet Pimpernel (Story 5). The “Purists” (Story 1) can easily arise in the future, but so can the “holo-porn”
(Story 6). I can’t think of any
other story set in Montenegro (where?), as in Story 2. There’s a bit of cussing, some references to
adult situations, and the hint of sexual molestation. Little Timmy and Susie should probably not
read this book. Stories by Ruth Nestvold have been short-listed for the Tiptree Award
(best sci-fi
or fantasy novel, 2004), and nominated for the Nebula Award
(2008), but neither of these are
included in this anthology. Both are available at Amazon, though.
Kindle Details...
The Future, Imperfect presently sells for $0.99
at Amazon. Ruth Nestvold has another dozen-plus
e-books available for the Kindle, ranging in price from Free
to $6.99,
and in length from short stories, to novellas, to full-length novels.
Excerpts...
He led her into
the town center of Pljevlja, halting in front of an astonishingly beautiful
house, deserted now. Despite the
destruction of the roof and the corner of one wall, it was an impressive sight,
the front wall covered in calligraphic inscriptions, still discernable.
“Turkish,”
Mihailo said.
“What a shame
that it hasn’t been repaired,” Alis murmured.
The wonders Mihailo found for her no longer surprised her. He was selling his country, after all –
trying to persuade the representative of a big corporation that it was worth
saving. While she understood his
motives, she wondered how he would like it once Montenegro was turned into a
Disneyland attraction. (loc.
547)
Mercedes stepped
behind the counter, slipping out of the fitted wool jacket she’d bought at a
local thrift shop. Bonnie turned a page
of the newspaper. A color photo in the
top left-hand corner caught Mercedes’s eye.
(…)
“You want a
section?” Bonnie asked.
She wished she
could snatch the paper out of her boss’s hands, but she played nonchalant. “I prefer a screen and some action rather
than just words,” Mercedes said, bringing up the monitor on the right end of
the tabletop. “Not as boring.” (loc. 1721)
Suddenly, a fluorescent rabbit didn’t seem quite as horrible as it
had minutes before. (loc.
2149)
Some of the stories have unfinished endings, and others have unfinished
romances. There are also repeating
themes of having second thoughts about the ethics of the corporations and some “Big Brother is
watching” angst, but such repetition is probably inherent to a bundle of short stories written by a single author and within a single genre.
Overall, The Future, Imperfect has a
feel of being the author’s collection of short stories thrown together for an
e-book offering. Which, of course, is exactly
what this is.
My
least favorite story was the first one, and I almost stopped reading after
finishing it. Fortunately, I
changed my mind, and enjoyed all of the other stories, to the point of where I became
fascinated by Ruth Nestvold’s futuristic world.
Maybe I was just slow in getting acclimated.
But
I pick at nits. I’d love to see these
six tales woven into, or used as a basis for, a full-length novel. Better yet, develop it into a series. I don’t think any of the author’s other
e-books use this setting; instead she seems to have switched over to writing fantasy novels
with strong female protagonists. I can’t
argue with that choice, but being proficient in two genres might reach an even
wider audience.
6 Stars. I’m not a big fan of anthologies and short
stories; so add 1 star
if you are. OTOH, I am a big fan of
post-apocalyptic sci-fi, so subtract
1 star if you’re not.
No comments:
Post a Comment