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A review by ladypalutena
Biketopia: Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories in Extreme Futures by Elly Blue
4.0
Where do I even begin with this one? Honestly, though. I haven't reviewed a short story collection on here before, and I'm not sure where to start.
How about some backstory?
Biketopia: Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories in Extreme Futures seems, at first glance, an incredibly niche genre to be writing for. In some ways, that's true. Who else would think of dealing solely with bicycles in dystopian futures?
I won this book from a GoodReads contest (the first one I entered, actually!), and was super excited to get it in the mail. The book came packaged with a short comic about the history of the publisher, Microcosm Press, and how it's flourished over the years, despite big publishers attempting to shut down indie publishers. I thought it was a very neat comic, and also a very neat way to distribute the press's catalogue of items.
Upon researching Biketopia further, found that it was started on Kickstarter! I'm glad they met their crowdfunding goals. This is also the third short story collection about bicycles in space that the publisher has published, so kudos to them for finding enough people that enjoy bicycles this much!
Now on to the actual review. This volume is very small, and regulates an average of eight pages per short story. Some are shorter, and some are much longer, but the average number of pages seems to be about eight. There are eleven short stories in this book. As with most short story collections, some are great, some are meh, and one are two are just...bad.
I am not going to call out specific stories for what they are, because I believe a collection like this needs to be experienced in its entirety. I will say the book suffers from being rushed. A lot of the stories have the potential to be really great, but they're strangled by the page or word limits that were imposed on them. Many of these could have been full-length novels by themselves. Eight pages (or even twelve pages) is not enough room for the majority of people to set up a dystopian society, explain the rules of the society, and explain why people are rebelling against it. I mean, The Hunger Games took three books to do so. The Uglies series has four (really long) books involved in overthrowing the seeming utopia.
I will say I've never read a collection of short stories centered around bicycles. I'll also that for at least two of these stories, the bicycles seemed to be an afterthought. "Oh, wait, I've gotta put a bicycle in here somewhere!" Luckily, that's not the case for the majority of them.
I think my favorite story in this book is the last story, "Maaike's Aquatic Center for Bicycles Raised by Fishes." It's got a unique premise behind it, and the way it's written makes me wish it was longer. It's one of the shorter stories in the book at around four pages or so.
The most surprising thing to me is that reviews of other books as well as television shows at the end of the collection (all of which contain bicycles, of course). It doesn't feel like an afterthought, which is nice.
If you're looking to purchase this book, go to Microcosm's page. I'm all about supporting small, indie presses. I'm probably going to end up buying several other books from Microcosm, because they seemed really interesting in the catalogue I received with my book shipment.
In short, I'd give this collection a 3.5/5 stars. If you're really into dystopian fiction, and/or if you're a lover of bicycles, then this is the short story collection for you. I don't know how much the word "feminist" in the title plays in, because while there is some empowerment throughout a few of the stories, at some points it seems to be just shoved in randomly as well.
If you're into the genre, don't pass it up. Otherwise, I'd say rent this one from the library.
Series: Bikes in Space
Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: Elly Blue Publishing (August 8, 2017)
ISBN-13: 978-1621062066
As always, keep reading.
How about some backstory?
Biketopia: Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories in Extreme Futures seems, at first glance, an incredibly niche genre to be writing for. In some ways, that's true. Who else would think of dealing solely with bicycles in dystopian futures?
I won this book from a GoodReads contest (the first one I entered, actually!), and was super excited to get it in the mail. The book came packaged with a short comic about the history of the publisher, Microcosm Press, and how it's flourished over the years, despite big publishers attempting to shut down indie publishers. I thought it was a very neat comic, and also a very neat way to distribute the press's catalogue of items.
Upon researching Biketopia further, found that it was started on Kickstarter! I'm glad they met their crowdfunding goals. This is also the third short story collection about bicycles in space that the publisher has published, so kudos to them for finding enough people that enjoy bicycles this much!
Now on to the actual review. This volume is very small, and regulates an average of eight pages per short story. Some are shorter, and some are much longer, but the average number of pages seems to be about eight. There are eleven short stories in this book. As with most short story collections, some are great, some are meh, and one are two are just...bad.
I am not going to call out specific stories for what they are, because I believe a collection like this needs to be experienced in its entirety. I will say the book suffers from being rushed. A lot of the stories have the potential to be really great, but they're strangled by the page or word limits that were imposed on them. Many of these could have been full-length novels by themselves. Eight pages (or even twelve pages) is not enough room for the majority of people to set up a dystopian society, explain the rules of the society, and explain why people are rebelling against it. I mean, The Hunger Games took three books to do so. The Uglies series has four (really long) books involved in overthrowing the seeming utopia.
I will say I've never read a collection of short stories centered around bicycles. I'll also that for at least two of these stories, the bicycles seemed to be an afterthought. "Oh, wait, I've gotta put a bicycle in here somewhere!" Luckily, that's not the case for the majority of them.
I think my favorite story in this book is the last story, "Maaike's Aquatic Center for Bicycles Raised by Fishes." It's got a unique premise behind it, and the way it's written makes me wish it was longer. It's one of the shorter stories in the book at around four pages or so.
The most surprising thing to me is that reviews of other books as well as television shows at the end of the collection (all of which contain bicycles, of course). It doesn't feel like an afterthought, which is nice.
If you're looking to purchase this book, go to Microcosm's page. I'm all about supporting small, indie presses. I'm probably going to end up buying several other books from Microcosm, because they seemed really interesting in the catalogue I received with my book shipment.
In short, I'd give this collection a 3.5/5 stars. If you're really into dystopian fiction, and/or if you're a lover of bicycles, then this is the short story collection for you. I don't know how much the word "feminist" in the title plays in, because while there is some empowerment throughout a few of the stories, at some points it seems to be just shoved in randomly as well.
If you're into the genre, don't pass it up. Otherwise, I'd say rent this one from the library.
Series: Bikes in Space
Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: Elly Blue Publishing (August 8, 2017)
ISBN-13: 978-1621062066
As always, keep reading.