(This review also appears on the Lesbrary.)
Bottom line: A collection of mostly solid, satisfying queer short stories, though several never live up to the anthology's promise to go "beyond binary."
How does it treat women/same-sex relationships? The worlds of the stories all differ, from present-day Western European/North American countries to pure SF/F settings. In some stories, sexism and anti-queer sentiments are at present-day or greater levels; in some, they are below present-day levels. In most stories, the queer characters reach a hopeful resolution in which their sexual orientation and gender identities are accepted by those who matter to them. However, in several stories, queer characters' futures are left in doubt and their identities remain uneasily accepted by their societies.
Does it have explicit sex scenes?: Yes, several stories have explicit sex scenes, including group sex scenes with members of both genders, f/f and m/m sex scenes, and consensual underage sex scenes.
Would I read it again? Yes. Several of the short stories were clever, sharp, strong, thoughtful and/or sexy, with two standouts that I would gladly read many times over. If I read this collection over again, though, there are stories I would skip.
Would I publish it? No, not as it stands. I would weed out several of the stories that don't push gender identity beyond male/female or sexuality beyond gay/straight and hunt down stories that challenge binary conceptions in stronger ways.
Read Beyond Binary. It fails, as an anthology, to go very far beyond male/female straight/gay conceptions of gender identity and sexual orientation. It fails to showcase worlds and characters that universally accept identities and orientations that lie beyond expected binary norms. Some of its stories are weak and ambiguous; some end with characters in situations where doubt and rejection plague their lives.
But read it anyway, for the handful of sharp, strong, thoughtful, sexy stories that ground this anthology-stories where the writers and characters question and reshape identity in new ways and with sure, steady voices.
Read it for Kelley Eskridge's novella "Eye of the Storm," a story so clever you might not even notice the sleight-of-hand at work-you'll be too busy wrapping yourself up in the story of a survivor, very literally, fighting for love (and sex).
Read it for Delia Sherman's "The Faery Cony-Catcher," in which nothing unpredictable happens in an unpredictable way.
Read it for Liu Wen Zhuang's "The Metamorphosis Bud," a tie with "Eye of the Storm" for my favorite in the collection. In "Bud," you'll meet an old woman who takes waking up with a penis in contemplative, practical, non-sexual stride.
Read it also for the stories that you'll like but not love (mine would be Keyan Bowes's "Spoiling Veena," Catherynne M. Valente's "Palimpsest," Tansy Rayner Roberts's "Prosperine When It Sizzles," and Nalo Hopkinson's "Fisherman"). Read it for the stories you'll have doubts about (I thought Keffy R.M. Kehrli's "Bonehouse" and Katherine Sparrow's "Pirate Solutions" were unconvincing and underdeveloped, and still don't see how Richard Larson's lesbian-coming-out "The Ghost Party" goes beyond binary). Read all of these stories (and seven more that I haven't mentioned), and come away thinking. What does go beyond the binary? Which of these stories have pushed past it? Which haven't? And which ones tell a good (or bad) story, either way?
SPOILER WARNING
Content warnings (may contain spoilers): Vary by story. Stories include drug abuse (or a futuristic equivalent), shaming for gender identity, death of parent, date abuse (m/f, including drugging a drink), domestic abuse, rape by enemy during war (in backstory, one main character is the result of war rape), hate killing, unintended pregnancy (and resulting fear and uncertainty, with abandonment by partner), attempted suicide, brutal war situations (being under bombardment at sea during WWII), death of lovers/friends, kidnapping and sexual abuse of teenager, sexual harassment by employer...and I'm sure I've forgotten some warnings.
SPOILER WARNING