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A review by bridge_b00ks
Unlimited Futures: speculative, visionary blak+black fiction by Rafeif Ismail, Ellen van Neerven
challenging
medium-paced
A challenging read in a largely good way and only a tiny bit of a bad way. Some of the stories were really beautiful and creative, others didn’t appeal to me as much, and some made me uncomfortable. Some of my favourites were Fifteen Days On Mars, Bridge, The Debt, History Repeating and Mami Wata.
I noticed that I assumed every author/narrator was a woman unless I felt something in the text suggested otherwise. Interesting, huh.
Because our current global and domestic political climate feels really bleak, some of the near-future speculative futures, while they sounded awesome, didn’t feel very realistic. Which they’re probably not supposed to be?
The Prime Minister was interesting for a few reasons. Firstly, it was cool to read an Aboriginal speculative work written around the time of the stolen generation. For what he likely experienced, his outlook for the future of Australia, especially Queensland was very positive. I’m glad to know that UQ had an important role to play in expansion of earth’s civilisation to space. But, some of the tech, like the mirrors on the poles, knowing what we do now about climate change, would obviously not work. It was strange to read about polar ice melting as a good thing.
I noticed that I assumed every author/narrator was a woman unless I felt something in the text suggested otherwise. Interesting, huh.
Because our current global and domestic political climate feels really bleak, some of the near-future speculative futures, while they sounded awesome, didn’t feel very realistic. Which they’re probably not supposed to be?
The Prime Minister was interesting for a few reasons. Firstly, it was cool to read an Aboriginal speculative work written around the time of the stolen generation. For what he likely experienced, his outlook for the future of Australia, especially Queensland was very positive. I’m glad to know that UQ had an important role to play in expansion of earth’s civilisation to space. But, some of the tech, like the mirrors on the poles, knowing what we do now about climate change, would obviously not work. It was strange to read about polar ice melting as a good thing.