The Future is Queer: A Science Fiction Anthology [Paperback]

Richard Labonte (Editor), Lawrence Schimel (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2006

In a world increasingly complicated by questionable technologies and factional poli-tics, what does the future hold for gays, lesbians, and transgenders? In this anthology, the first of its kind in over ten years, provocative stories and comics posit a queer future of limitless possibilities, covering issues like cloning, gene manipulation, and gender assignment. It includes contributions from best-selling author and comic book creator Neil Gaiman (Anansi Boys, The Sandman), World Fantasy Award-winner Rachel Pollack, and cult UK comic artist Bryan Talbot.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The prose is literate and incisive, the politics of gay liberation is subjected to intelligent and sympathetic scrutiny, and the devices of SF are made to amplify, shrewedly, the concerns of the GLBT community.
—LOCUS (LOCUS 20080601)

Unusually fine introductions precede this handful of provocative stories by some of our best writers. In these tales the queer future is surely different, yet resonant with legacies from the past.
—Katherine V. Forrest (Katherine V. Forrest Katherine V. Forrest )

A fascinating collection with futures as diverse as the community itself—a pleasure to read.
—Melissa Scott (Melissa Scott Melissa Scott )

This anthology is a perfect example of why Labonté and Schimel are the best anthologists being published today. Diverse voices and stories make this the perfect book for a lazy Saturday afternoon.
—Greg Herron (Greg Herron Greg Herron )

Vancouver's Arsenal Pulp Press, the Little Press That Could, has hit another home run.... This well-edited anthology of science fiction and fantasy stories offers an amazing selection of talent.... The editors have done a wonderful job. The futuristic genre is perfect for giving us perspective on the present world...
—Jim Deva, Publishers Weekly (Jim Deva Publishers Weekly )

A provocative, unusual anthology on an under-explored theme, gender and sexuality in the future.... Standouts include Candas Jane Dorsey's melancholy meditation on pagan sexuality, Rachel Pollack's experimental tale of transcendent transgenderism, and newcomer Diana Churchill's brief reunion of star-crossed lovers.
—Books to Watch out For (Books to Watch out For )

As a reader, my imagination was piqued, and that is what sci-fi is supposed to do. This anthology does it quite queerly..... [Rachel Pollack's "The Beatrix Gates"] is a marvelous example of how schi-fi can remythologize the terms of common experience to elucidate and give new and deeper meaning.
—Lambda Book Report (Lambda Bk Rep )

An admirable and necessary collection that spares no political, religious or ideological commentary about an often dark future.
—Matrix magazine (Matrix Magazine )

A satisfying and intriguing look at what is possible for the GLBT community of tomorrow.... Editors Richard Labonte and Lawrence Schimel show a clear respect for the genre and for the talent they pulled together for this one-of-a-kind anthology.
—X Factor (X Factor quote )

By encompassing a variety of forms and styles, this collection offers a tantalizing peek into science fiction from a queer perspective.
—Canadian Book Review Annual (Canadian Book Review Annual )

From the Publisher

Wildly imaginative stories that depict the future from queer perspectives.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press (November 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1551522098
• ISBN-13: 978-1551522098
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #519,680 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars No space operas, June 7, 2008

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This review is from: The Future is Queer: A Science Fiction Anthology (Paperback)

This anthology offers 7 stories on 187 pages, as well as a four page comic strip. To start with it, the comic strip is an embarrassment. Its blaring message is how poor the world would be artistically and intellectually without all the queer people that have been around (you know, the Greek and Spartans, Leonardo da Vinci, Oscar Wilde, Edmund White, yawn, yawn). It's the sort of thing that may get (just barely) accepted in a GLM student magazine and probably the only reason it got included here was the now big name of one of its authors (text: Neil Gaiman). So don't expect a gay story by Neil Gaiman, it's just not in here (I was fuming when I realized I had been misled into buying this volume for this very expectation). The other stories are a mixed bag: L. Timmel Duchamp writes about the emotional needs of (male) clones; Joy Parks writes about a lesbian who is sort of homesick for oppression in a world where gender change is ubiquitous; Caro Soles writes about a U.S. military where "don't ask, don't tell" is history (gays are just the prime pick for cannon fodder instead); Diana Churchill tells the story of a lesbian couple that, by an appalling intervention of the authorities, got divided in the 90s over parental rights (it is a bitter, wonderfully written piece, but hardly SF), Hiromi Goto tells a Kafkaesque story about an insomniac lesbian whose past selves somehow regain outside lives of their own; and Rachel Pollack tells how transsexuals (who are viewed as being superior to other people) came to rule the world with the help of nano technology. To me, the most touching, poetic story was by Candas Jane Dorsey, telling of a traditional, old religion that worships the celestial movements, surviving in modern times as an underground movement (sexuality is not the point of this story, though there is bisexuality in it). Because of this story, and maybe Duchamp's, I would not say that I regret buying the volume. However, the label "A Science Fiction Anthology" is misleading. Don't expect space operas, extraterrestrical life forms, breakthroughs in information or bio technology: the "S" element is just lacking in all of these stories. And don't expect romantic or sexual encounters, they are also not there. These stories are essentially literary ambitious texts with homeopathic doses of both, the future and the queer.