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Clade — A Post-Self Anthology
Clade (n) – /kleɪd/ – post-self theory
A group of individuals patterned off a single root consciousness, formed through branching expansion of the forking of its constituent members.
— The System Central Library Encyclopedia
To split oneself among however many individuals, to let the mind drift and diverge, to feel the world from points of view not your own, and then let those memories crash down into you…well, it inspires a feeling best described as ‘heady’, to say the least.
A group of individuals patterned off a single root consciousness, formed through branching expansion of the forking of its constituent members.
— The System Central Library Encyclopedia
To split oneself among however many individuals, to let the mind drift and diverge, to feel the world from points of view not your own, and then let those memories crash down into you…well, it inspires a feeling best described as ‘heady’, to say the least.
288 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2023
2 people want to read
About the author
Madison Scott-Clary
17 books62 followersMadison Rye Progress, also writing under the name Madison Scott-Clary, is an author of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry living in the Pacific Northwest. Her interests lie in the realms of furry fiction and non-fiction, collaborative fiction, and hypertextual writing. She is a member of the Furry Writers' Guild, and editor for several projects, fiction and non-fiction. She holds an MFA from Cornell College where she studied the lyric essay and teaching creative writing in fandom- and subculture-specific spaces.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 22, 2023
*Full disclosure that I have a story published in this anthology titled "Support Group for Anomalies in Forking"*
I enjoyed this anthology a lot! I was very excited to see the author's takes on the Post-Self universe and the concepts of forking and living on the system. If you enjoyed the other books in the series that this setting is based on by Madison Scott-Clary, I would recommend picking it up. There's a good mix of story styles and tones from the philosophical to comedic to horror within. There's a good chance that if you enjoy sci-fi or furry fiction in some form there will be a story you love in here.
Sufficiently Advanced: I'm a big fan of using forking to have a conversation with yourself to try and settle an argument. Especially as the character is a philosophy professor, I would imagine that would be a great boon to their body of work. It feels like it slots in perfectly into the Post-Self setting and was very fun to read through. The back and forth debate felt believable and had a rhythm to it that kept me hooked until the end. I just also really enjoyed the outcome of the debate (which I won't spoil here) due to my own personal proclivities.
Genre Clade: This was a fun story and one that I feel was heavily inspired by events in the author's own life. The character progression of Dante figuring out what he wants to do with his life now that he has the time and freedom to do so felt relatable. Having that space to experiment and find a new passion in life is something that I think a lot of us strive for.
Apes un reve: A haunting look at the process of uploading to the System and the motivations that could drive someone to try and be with their lover. Short and bittersweet, this story packs a heck of a punch. My favorite part of the whole story was the way in which the author described the posters hanging in the clinic as shouting. What an apt description of a very specific type of marketing.
Support Group for Anomalies in Forking: I had a Reuben sandwich in Ernie's honor the other day at a local diner and it was delicious. I know that reuben's are made with saurkraut, missed that in edits. Maybe reuben's are made with coleslaw in the future. Not much to say about my own story other than I loved writing all the support group characters and hope you like them too!
Cowboy: I really enjoyed this story as a deeper delve into the concepts of plurality. I feel like I learned a lot about the plural experience through reading about Evi and her system. I also enjoyed the breakdown of In All Ways of the ode clade and how that was described. My biggest complaint is that I felt as though the story could have been a bit shorter. There's a few passages that felt like they were re-treading ground that had already been covered.
True Love Lies Within and Without: Caspar's anxiety around dating was uncomfortably relatable for me and for that reason, this story was a delight for me. Being able to fork off a copy of yourself to act as your wingman is such a cool idea and one that I believe Thomas has fleshed out well. There's also just a bunch of cute moments throughout the story as Caspar and his fork get Caspar ready to ask his crush out on a date.
The Big O: Walter's quest to break free of Wallace's ingrained routines and the optimal way of living felt less triumphant than I initially thought it would be. This story took the logical extreme of the approach where someone who is obsessed with min-maxing their time is given all the time in the world to do just that. It's an odd feeling story to read, but that could be the disconnect I have with the notion of maximizing your productivity.
She Who Haunts The Storm: This story is my favorite in the anthology. The skin crawling sensations I had reading bits of this story were amazing. J.S. Hawthorne found a deep dark crevice of the System and has presented a wonderfully thrilling horror story. There's a line in here that just thinking about it gives me chills still!
Earthbound: A heartbreaking tale of the people who try to keep a long distance relationship up across the Earth and the System. There's a lot of emotions wrapped up in how you let go of a relationship that has meant so much to you, even if you're not yet ready for it to be over. Kergiby does a great job at navigating the conflicting tensions John has while trying to hang onto the scraps of Liam he can still recognize. I am grateful this story was written as it shows the other side of that bargain the System makes when you upload. What happens when one of you wants to stay?
Cascade Failure: Gregory's studies into the ecology of animals felt like a natural thing for a scientist to study in the time period the story is set in. It makes sense that a researcher in the System would want to figure out how the ecosystems of Earth had collapsed over the years after all. While I won't spoil the twist of this story, I did have a lot of fun with the build up and reveal of it. Some of the more creative uses of the sims as a space and how instances react to each other that I've seen yet in this setting.
I enjoyed this anthology a lot! I was very excited to see the author's takes on the Post-Self universe and the concepts of forking and living on the system. If you enjoyed the other books in the series that this setting is based on by Madison Scott-Clary, I would recommend picking it up. There's a good mix of story styles and tones from the philosophical to comedic to horror within. There's a good chance that if you enjoy sci-fi or furry fiction in some form there will be a story you love in here.
Sufficiently Advanced: I'm a big fan of using forking to have a conversation with yourself to try and settle an argument. Especially as the character is a philosophy professor, I would imagine that would be a great boon to their body of work. It feels like it slots in perfectly into the Post-Self setting and was very fun to read through. The back and forth debate felt believable and had a rhythm to it that kept me hooked until the end. I just also really enjoyed the outcome of the debate (which I won't spoil here) due to my own personal proclivities.
Genre Clade: This was a fun story and one that I feel was heavily inspired by events in the author's own life. The character progression of Dante figuring out what he wants to do with his life now that he has the time and freedom to do so felt relatable. Having that space to experiment and find a new passion in life is something that I think a lot of us strive for.
Apes un reve: A haunting look at the process of uploading to the System and the motivations that could drive someone to try and be with their lover. Short and bittersweet, this story packs a heck of a punch. My favorite part of the whole story was the way in which the author described the posters hanging in the clinic as shouting. What an apt description of a very specific type of marketing.
Support Group for Anomalies in Forking: I had a Reuben sandwich in Ernie's honor the other day at a local diner and it was delicious. I know that reuben's are made with saurkraut, missed that in edits. Maybe reuben's are made with coleslaw in the future. Not much to say about my own story other than I loved writing all the support group characters and hope you like them too!
Cowboy: I really enjoyed this story as a deeper delve into the concepts of plurality. I feel like I learned a lot about the plural experience through reading about Evi and her system. I also enjoyed the breakdown of In All Ways of the ode clade and how that was described. My biggest complaint is that I felt as though the story could have been a bit shorter. There's a few passages that felt like they were re-treading ground that had already been covered.
True Love Lies Within and Without: Caspar's anxiety around dating was uncomfortably relatable for me and for that reason, this story was a delight for me. Being able to fork off a copy of yourself to act as your wingman is such a cool idea and one that I believe Thomas has fleshed out well. There's also just a bunch of cute moments throughout the story as Caspar and his fork get Caspar ready to ask his crush out on a date.
The Big O: Walter's quest to break free of Wallace's ingrained routines and the optimal way of living felt less triumphant than I initially thought it would be. This story took the logical extreme of the approach where someone who is obsessed with min-maxing their time is given all the time in the world to do just that. It's an odd feeling story to read, but that could be the disconnect I have with the notion of maximizing your productivity.
She Who Haunts The Storm: This story is my favorite in the anthology. The skin crawling sensations I had reading bits of this story were amazing. J.S. Hawthorne found a deep dark crevice of the System and has presented a wonderfully thrilling horror story. There's a line in here that just thinking about it gives me chills still!
Earthbound: A heartbreaking tale of the people who try to keep a long distance relationship up across the Earth and the System. There's a lot of emotions wrapped up in how you let go of a relationship that has meant so much to you, even if you're not yet ready for it to be over. Kergiby does a great job at navigating the conflicting tensions John has while trying to hang onto the scraps of Liam he can still recognize. I am grateful this story was written as it shows the other side of that bargain the System makes when you upload. What happens when one of you wants to stay?
Cascade Failure: Gregory's studies into the ecology of animals felt like a natural thing for a scientist to study in the time period the story is set in. It makes sense that a researcher in the System would want to figure out how the ecosystems of Earth had collapsed over the years after all. While I won't spoil the twist of this story, I did have a lot of fun with the build up and reveal of it. Some of the more creative uses of the sims as a space and how instances react to each other that I've seen yet in this setting.
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