Brave New Worlds: An Anthology of Dystopian Fiction – review

Attention short story admirers and science fiction lovers of all ages; have I got a book for you. Before I get to the details however, I think I should take a moment to illuminate the uniting thread between all the marvelous shorts, bound together in the pages of Brave New Worlds: An Anthology of Dystopian Fiction from Night Shade Books and editor John Joseph Adams. Did you guess what that golden thread might be? Yep, they are all gems in the realm of dystopian lit.

Dystopian is a genre that is very hot right now. With The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins sweeping up more and more fans every day, especially thanks to the news of the film adaptation being planned now, a whole new generation (that trilogy is geared toward a YA audience) is learning of the beauty and despair the future may hold.

Still, stories that take place far in the future and foretell of foreboding circumstances are by no means new. In fact, my favorite aspect of this anthology is the way it delivers fresh stories of today side by side with earlier works by legends in science fiction. There are 33 stories in the book, all pertaining to some dark aspect of the future. A few of the authors represented are Paolo Bacigalupi, Ray Bradbury, Orson Scott Card, Philip K. Dick, Neil Gaiman, Ursula K. Le Guin, Carrie Vaughn, and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Allow me to touch on a few of the shorts I enjoyed most.

“Red Card” is a short story by S.L. Gilbow. It is set in the near future. In many ways nothing much has changed. There even continue to exist nostalgic small towns where everybody knows your name. The significant difference between then and now is the government’s advent of the red card system. At random the red cards are issued into the populous and finding you are issued one gives you the free pass of a lifetime. A red card holder can murder anyone and at anytime for any reason and never be prosecuted. Wouldn’t we all be on our best behavior in a society where the slightest grievance could get you killed by the secret carrier of a red card? Perhaps not…

“The Pedestrian” is by the literary giant Ray Bradbury. Few genre writers are so elegant with their phrasing and word choice as Mr. Bradbury. His story is short, sweet, and altogether haunting. In a cold, steel future, patrolled by robot police cards, where human beings have become recluses, glued, zombie-like to their TV sets, one man takes a walk. Could such a mundane activity get him locked up?

“The Minority Report” is a short story by author Philip K. Dick, whose novels and shorts have been adapted into many Hollywood films. One has become a Tom Cruise flick of the same title. For this reason, I was excited to read the original piece. You might feel the same.

Lastly, if you enjoyed The Hunger Games, you may fancy “Amaryllis” by Carrie Vaughn. In a rough and tumble distant future, a team of young fishermen (and women) struggle with government quotas on their livelihood. One of their number dreams of one day becoming a mother. Too bad getting pregnant is outlawed…

Brave New Worlds is a worthwhile collection and I was happy to add it to my library.