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Binge-Worthy Reads: Future Fiction, A Collection of the Finest Sci-Fi From Around the World

If you like thought-provoking science fiction hand-picked from all around the world, then this collection of short stories is for you.

Future Fiction is an Italian house that picks out authors and translates their stories in English. We’ve posted about them before and we will do so again, because it seems they’re here to stay and we really like what they’re bringing to the international scene.

Tor called these: 

(…)thirteen incredible tales from all around the globe that will not only introduce you to worlds you may not be familiar with but also expand your horizons and the horizons of the science fiction field itself.

Strange Horizons has a thorough review if you want to read an analysis of the stories. Here are some snippets:

Future Fiction: New Dimensions in International Fiction. Edited by Rosarium’s Bill Campbell and Future Fiction‘s Francesco Verso, this collection brings together speculative fiction that was originally published by Verso’s Italian press. Represented here are India, Greece, Zimbabwe, China, Italy, the US, Canada, the UK, Russia, Mexico, Nigeria, and Cuba. Of these twelve stories, four are translations: “Creative Surgery” by Clelia Farris (translated from the Italian by Jennifer Delare), “The Quantum Mommy” by Michalis Manolios (translated from the Greek by Manolis Vamvounis), “Tongtong’s Summer” by Xia Jia (translated from the Chinese by Ken Liu), and “Grey Noise” by Pepe Rojo (translated from the Spanish by Andrea Bell).

There’s speculative fiction, and then there’s speculative fiction that’s been kicked up several levels. You’ll find the latter when you read stories like James Patrick Kelly’s “Bernardo’s House,” Farris’s “Creative Surgery,” Tendai Huchu’s “Hostbods,” and Efe Tokunbo’s absolutely brilliant “Proposition 23.”

Some of the stories, including Kelly’s “Bernardo’s House,” Carlos Hernandez’s “The International Studbook of the Giant Panda,” Manolios’s “The Quantum Mommy,” Huchu’s “Hostbods,” Rojo’s “Grey Noise,” and Tokunbo’s “Proposition 23,” focus on the complex and often troubling intersection of humans and machines.

Here’s a shot of a very happy Michalis Manolios only moments after he got the book in his hands for the first time.

The book is available in both paperback and ebook version. Shelf it on Goodreads.

Get Future Fiction on Amazon US Get Future Fiction on Amazon UK Get it on Amazon IT Get it on Kobo Get it on Barnes and Noble Get it on Google Play Books
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Mythographers we Love: Netflix

Netflix’s marketing has been a blast. From Bright’s Orc auditions, to blending reality with Black Mirror episodes, to the upcoming Altered Carbon series with a real booth at CES promoting the fictional company’s services, they’re spinning their stories and firmly lodging them into everyone’s minds.

Netflix is doing exactly what we predict future corporations will do, meaning blend their own narrative into the real world and in the end it will become indistinguishable from reality. Of course, these are all PR stunts and viral tricks for now, but it won’t be long before these are used as real-world propaganda by more nefarious corps.

Happy New Year with Black Mirror

Orcs auditioning for Bright sequel

Psychasec Booth at CES

Image credit: Mat Smith at Engadget

Read the article.

When they ventured inside, an army of slightly too pretty attendants, dressed-in-white offered vague sci-fi responses to questions (“It’s about transferring your conscious to a new, better body”), while screens all around scrolled through the benefits of replacing your body for a new (sexy, stronger, smarter) model. The aforementioned staff clutched tablets to take email addresses with promises of more information come February 2nd. Plenty took the bait, genuinely curious of where this company was based and whether this was all even possible.

The twist, if you can call it that, happens once you turn a corner, and you’re confronted with a vacuum-sealed human. This is another mannequin, although with some carefully-placed condensation inside the bag, made it rather unsettling. Naturally, I had to poke the “person” in a bag. Morbid fascination.

Needless to say that, at this point we frickin’ love Netflix.

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Binge-Worthy Reads: Feed – A Dystopian Collision With Reality TV

Start reading the Fooko series today for free. Feed 1 is a dystopian collision with reality TV. Don’t miss it!

I Wanna Get Dystopian

Seven years after the nanocameras switched on and the feeds began, nanoengineer Samuel Ramone becomes the subject of an addictive reality feed. As his heart sinks further into the crush he’s been nursing, his popularity rises. He is a married man, after all.

When it comes to the new world of the feeds, Enforcers are nothing but a rumor. But the Editors . . . they’re real. With every human monitored endlessly, Ramone hasn’t had anything to fear in a long time, except seeing himself in a feed. Or worse, seeing his wife in one. With another man.

That’s why he’s never looked. If you can’t see something, it’s not there.

But when Ramone finally plans a way to hide from the unceasing surveillance–disguised as entertainment, monitored and enhanced by those all-seeing Editors–he learns that his viewership is endangering his attempts escape the feeds, and soon the people he loves most.

Now he is hunted by an Enforcer. Running is pointless. But staying in one place means learning the rumors aren’t just rumors.

If you enjoy 1984, Black Mirror, and other dystopians about surveillance, Feed 1 is right for you.

Start reading Feed book 1 for free on Amazon

“Ms Grotepas has written a novel that has made me care about characters again. The intriguing subject and a look into the not so distant future are at once frightening and believable.” — Rita Kaye, Amazon reviewer

 

“This book is really, really good. It does not bog itself down trying to explain the science behind everything but is so descriptive in its simplicity that you don’t notice right away. It feels like a mix of Harry Harrison and Robert Heinlein.” — Joshua Allen, Goodreads reviewer

 

“Each of the characters is unique and interesting in their own way and watching the interaction and development of relationships between the characters kept me turning the pages.” — William Hall, Amazon reviewer

 

“This book drew me in immediately . . . Was so engrossed, I immediately ordered Feed 2 – at 11:15 PM – ready to read all night!” — Passing Pilgrim, Amazon reviewer

 

“The writing is polished, and the characters well developed. The world the author has created is believable and terrifying at the same time.” — Marcus, Amazon reviewer

 

“Not that far from the world we live in now with reality TV the opioid for the masses. She created great characters with intense passions and frustrations. Four stars for this one. Give me more.” — Dolly, Goodreads reviewer

 

I Wanna Read Feed for Free on Amazon

UPDATE

The boxset is available, check it out for an easy-to-get binge.

Get the Boxset on Amazon US

Get the Boxset on Amazon UK