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Adventures in Bodily Autonomy: Exploring Reproductive Rights in Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror
The fourteen tales in Adventures in Bodily Autonomy flow across alternate universes and through space and time to consider the issues of reproductive justice through a fresh perspectives. There is an adventure here for everyone.
An astronaut on her way to Mars discovers she’s pregnant — can she keep her baby? Bee-like entities try to force a human to be their queen. In1930s Philly, a vampire offers a novel form of birth control. From a ghost, lessons learned too late. Women who cannot find a comfortable fit in their mythic realities. Future worlds where reproductive choices are different, but individual choice and external battles for that choice are just as real. Adventures in Bodily Autonomy will be released on October 16th, 2023, a date important in the history of women’s healthcare rights. On October 16, 1916, in Brooklyn, New York, Margaret Sanger opened the country’s first birth control clinic. Just nine days later police shut down the clinic, and Sanger served 30 days in prison.
For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels — including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and postpartum care, and paid family leave—for every body. Authors will include Kathleen Alcalá ~ Elizabeth Bear ~ Raven Belasco ~ Tara Campbell ~ Anya De Niro ~ Jaymee Goh ~ Cynthia Gralla ~ K Ibura ~ Ellen Klages Annalee Newitz ~ Nisi Shawl ~ Sonya Taaffe ~ Cecilia Tan ~ Helena María Viramontes
One hundred percent of the royalties of Adventures in Bodily Autonomy are being donated to NARAL Pro-Choice America to help them continue their vital fight for women’s bodily autonomy and basic human rights.
An astronaut on her way to Mars discovers she’s pregnant — can she keep her baby? Bee-like entities try to force a human to be their queen. In1930s Philly, a vampire offers a novel form of birth control. From a ghost, lessons learned too late. Women who cannot find a comfortable fit in their mythic realities. Future worlds where reproductive choices are different, but individual choice and external battles for that choice are just as real. Adventures in Bodily Autonomy will be released on October 16th, 2023, a date important in the history of women’s healthcare rights. On October 16, 1916, in Brooklyn, New York, Margaret Sanger opened the country’s first birth control clinic. Just nine days later police shut down the clinic, and Sanger served 30 days in prison.
For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels — including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and postpartum care, and paid family leave—for every body. Authors will include Kathleen Alcalá ~ Elizabeth Bear ~ Raven Belasco ~ Tara Campbell ~ Anya De Niro ~ Jaymee Goh ~ Cynthia Gralla ~ K Ibura ~ Ellen Klages Annalee Newitz ~ Nisi Shawl ~ Sonya Taaffe ~ Cecilia Tan ~ Helena María Viramontes
One hundred percent of the royalties of Adventures in Bodily Autonomy are being donated to NARAL Pro-Choice America to help them continue their vital fight for women’s bodily autonomy and basic human rights.
308 pages, Paperback
Published October 16, 2023
5 people are currently reading
171 people want to read
About the author
Raven Belasco
10 books30 followersRaven Belasco wanted to be an author since she was a little eight year old bookworm. When she turned seventeen she became chronically ill, and reading and writing “saved” her. After college, she worked as an editor and a myriad of her articles and short stories were published. But she wanted more, and in 2019 her first novel, Blood Ex Libris, was finally published after years of rejection letter after rejection letter.
Belasco’s writing style has been described as both “darkly lyrical” and at the same time “an easy, breezy writing style; a more colloquial and relaxed John Scalzi.” Her influences from a degree in Comparative literature and a lifetime devotion to genre fiction fused this unique style: constructed with the same dedication as literary fiction, yet easily accessible for any reader.
Belasco writes about the complexities of being human as viewed through a dark mirror. She is known for a dedication in keeping the monstrous aspects in vampire fiction, for exploring themes of love and resilience, immersive world-building, nuanced character dynamics, and diverse perspectives.
Raven Belasco is also known for a deep connection with her readers through a very personal newsletter, regularly asking for their input on which characters they want her to write about next. Her Blood & Ancient Scrolls Series has a deeply loyal fan base who are equally enthusiastic about both the characters and their author.
Belasco’s writing style has been described as both “darkly lyrical” and at the same time “an easy, breezy writing style; a more colloquial and relaxed John Scalzi.” Her influences from a degree in Comparative literature and a lifetime devotion to genre fiction fused this unique style: constructed with the same dedication as literary fiction, yet easily accessible for any reader.
Belasco writes about the complexities of being human as viewed through a dark mirror. She is known for a dedication in keeping the monstrous aspects in vampire fiction, for exploring themes of love and resilience, immersive world-building, nuanced character dynamics, and diverse perspectives.
Raven Belasco is also known for a deep connection with her readers through a very personal newsletter, regularly asking for their input on which characters they want her to write about next. Her Blood & Ancient Scrolls Series has a deeply loyal fan base who are equally enthusiastic about both the characters and their author.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 30, 2024
I checked this paperback out of my library because I saw it on the new books shelf.
Brief Summary: A collection of short stories that explores what it means to be a woman deciding to use her right to choose the path of motherhood or not.
Thoughts: This book really takes you on a journey. While there is an overarching theme of the right to choose that ties all of the stories together there is such a wide variation in the stories and their plots.
The most heartbreaking story in this collection for me was Goodnight Moons, which focuses on a woman who finds out she is pregnant while on a space mission to Mars.
The most infuriating story in the book was Welcome to Your Lifting because it had so many parallels to what is actually happening with reproductive freedom in the United States right now.
My two favourite stories in the book were Abyssinia (a story with a vampire plot line) and As the Tide Came Flowing In (a story about a woman who becomes impregnated by her husband under suspicious circumstances).
I honestly liked every story in this book, which can sometimes be unusual in a short story collection with different authors, simply because sometimes not everything resonates. However, this book is a must-read for everyone. It truly makes the reader consider reproductive freedom, gender expectations, monogamy, life, death, and everything in between.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Confinement, Cursing, Abortion, Infertility, Mental illness, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Gun violence and Violence
Minor: Sexual violence and Rape
Brief Summary: A collection of short stories that explores what it means to be a woman deciding to use her right to choose the path of motherhood or not.
Thoughts: This book really takes you on a journey. While there is an overarching theme of the right to choose that ties all of the stories together there is such a wide variation in the stories and their plots.
The most heartbreaking story in this collection for me was Goodnight Moons, which focuses on a woman who finds out she is pregnant while on a space mission to Mars.
The most infuriating story in the book was Welcome to Your Lifting because it had so many parallels to what is actually happening with reproductive freedom in the United States right now.
My two favourite stories in the book were Abyssinia (a story with a vampire plot line) and As the Tide Came Flowing In (a story about a woman who becomes impregnated by her husband under suspicious circumstances).
I honestly liked every story in this book, which can sometimes be unusual in a short story collection with different authors, simply because sometimes not everything resonates. However, this book is a must-read for everyone. It truly makes the reader consider reproductive freedom, gender expectations, monogamy, life, death, and everything in between.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Confinement, Cursing, Abortion, Infertility, Mental illness, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Gun violence and Violence
Minor: Sexual violence and Rape
January 29, 2025
There were probably 3-4 stories in here that really resonated with me, but most of the others were just okay in my opinion. This was a really interesting (and timely) theme for an anthology, and it was a nice way to be introduced to a bunch of different authors.
January 15, 2024
As an author and career communicator, I second Maggie Mayhem’s statement in the introduction to Adventures in Bodily Autonomy that stories have more power than statistics when it comes to provoking thought and instigating change. The stories in this anthology may be mainly fantasy, sci-fi and speculative, but the protagonists could all be women you know, for even futuristic stories can only be seen through our present-day lens of women in an era when an unshattered glass ceiling is merely the tip of the equal rights iceberg. This collection’s exploration of the most fundamental human right—the right to control our own bodies—could of course not be more timely. And all the proceeds are going to Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America).
The anthology, edited by Raven Belasco, applies its themes of reproductive rights and bodily autonomy loosely; some of the 14 stories are more journeys of self-discovery, addressing the need to embrace and assert one’s identity including, in some cases, one’s sexuality.
Goodnight Moons presents a thought-provoking scenario in which an astronaut learns she’s pregnant on her way into space. The safest option is to abort, but her husband has other ideas. He alerts the media and the resulting hype forces NASA’s hand; they declare she will have the baby. That means she can’t return to Earth because a baby gestated, born and raised in outer space won’t survive the gravitational impact of traveling or living on Earth. So Zoë remains in space. Like many of these stories, you can simply enjoy it as a futuristic adventure. Or you can take a minute and ponder. The decision of whether or not to carry her baby to term is taken away first by her husband and then the government, with no consideration of the long-term impacts on the child or the mother. The story is an effective commentary on how reproductive decisions are too often made by policy-makers and society rather than those most affected.
Just Killing Time is more a mother-daughter revenge story than an exploration of bodily autonomy, but it’s a wonderful read. A dying mother transfers her dying daughter’s soul into the body of a recently killed mobster’s girlfriend, but Kari’s memories are lost. Stark dreams plug the necessary pieces of her past life into Kari’s consciousness so she can fulfill her mother’s revenge wish against the man who killed them both.
As the Tide Came Flowing In also bears mentioning because it is a simply beautiful read. This story of a woman whose husband is lost at sea on a whaling expedition is told in embroidered layers of prose that will have you savoring the language as much as the tale.
The Things Melati Learns spirals into horror but—surprise—the true monster isn’t the creature of bizarre form and substance but the cruel, misogynistic and very human husband.
For me, the key takeaway from Adventures in Bodily Autonomy is sobering but necessary to hear: The battle over bodily autonomy will always be with us. The overturning of Row v. Wade “was a process that has been unfolding over time beginning from the moment that ruling was first delivered” as Mayhem also points out. Yes, there was a respite, but we can never be complacent. This anthology succeeds in taking our imagination to places where we can consider from new angles the restrictions on women’s bodies and lives. Sadly, we can see the real results of those restrictions simply by reading the news or talking to our friends. Pick up this book today, to support a good cause and stimulate both your imagination and your resolve.
This review was originally published at Story Circle Book Reviews.
The anthology, edited by Raven Belasco, applies its themes of reproductive rights and bodily autonomy loosely; some of the 14 stories are more journeys of self-discovery, addressing the need to embrace and assert one’s identity including, in some cases, one’s sexuality.
Goodnight Moons presents a thought-provoking scenario in which an astronaut learns she’s pregnant on her way into space. The safest option is to abort, but her husband has other ideas. He alerts the media and the resulting hype forces NASA’s hand; they declare she will have the baby. That means she can’t return to Earth because a baby gestated, born and raised in outer space won’t survive the gravitational impact of traveling or living on Earth. So Zoë remains in space. Like many of these stories, you can simply enjoy it as a futuristic adventure. Or you can take a minute and ponder. The decision of whether or not to carry her baby to term is taken away first by her husband and then the government, with no consideration of the long-term impacts on the child or the mother. The story is an effective commentary on how reproductive decisions are too often made by policy-makers and society rather than those most affected.
Just Killing Time is more a mother-daughter revenge story than an exploration of bodily autonomy, but it’s a wonderful read. A dying mother transfers her dying daughter’s soul into the body of a recently killed mobster’s girlfriend, but Kari’s memories are lost. Stark dreams plug the necessary pieces of her past life into Kari’s consciousness so she can fulfill her mother’s revenge wish against the man who killed them both.
As the Tide Came Flowing In also bears mentioning because it is a simply beautiful read. This story of a woman whose husband is lost at sea on a whaling expedition is told in embroidered layers of prose that will have you savoring the language as much as the tale.
The Things Melati Learns spirals into horror but—surprise—the true monster isn’t the creature of bizarre form and substance but the cruel, misogynistic and very human husband.
For me, the key takeaway from Adventures in Bodily Autonomy is sobering but necessary to hear: The battle over bodily autonomy will always be with us. The overturning of Row v. Wade “was a process that has been unfolding over time beginning from the moment that ruling was first delivered” as Mayhem also points out. Yes, there was a respite, but we can never be complacent. This anthology succeeds in taking our imagination to places where we can consider from new angles the restrictions on women’s bodies and lives. Sadly, we can see the real results of those restrictions simply by reading the news or talking to our friends. Pick up this book today, to support a good cause and stimulate both your imagination and your resolve.
This review was originally published at Story Circle Book Reviews.
October 16, 2023
“May this always remain our choice.”
I think there’s something to be said for the idea that genre fiction — horror, fantasy, science-fiction — is at its most powerful when it’s telling more than one story, operating on more than one level. That’s certainly true of the fourteen tales that Raven Belasco has cultivated for “Adventures in Bodily Autonomy.”
As the title suggests, this is a collection of short stories assembled in the wake of the the overturning of Roe v. Wade, using the fantastic, futuristic, and horrific to explore not only the subject of reproductive rights, choices,and justice, but also the core inequalities at the heart of this basic fight for human rights.
And Belasco really has assembled a stellar collection, with a wonderful variety in style, topic, and voice. Every short story collection is hit or miss, but the final tally here is heavily weighted in favor of the “hits.” I’ll refrain from saying more about the stories that didn’t resonate for me, because I also recognize that as a 52-year-old cis white man, I may not be the target audience for all of these tales. That said, I think there’s something here that should click with everyone, and I think it may be the first short story collection I’ve read where I paused more than once after a story to seek out and order other writing from the respective authors — by the time I finished the book, a novel by Annalee Newitz and a collection of poetry and short fiction by Tara Campbell we’re on deck to read next!
I thoroughly enjoyed almost all of these stories, but a few top highlights (for me) included Campbell’s “Welcome to Your Lifting,” Jaymee Goh’s “The Things Melati Learns,” Elizabeth Bear’s “Bullet Point,” and Ellen Klages’ “Goodnight Moons.” Belasco’s “Abyssinia” provides a strong, emotional finish, and holds a special place as the story that brought a tear to my eye…maybe more than one.
I cannot recommend this book more highly, and I urge you to buy your own copy, since 100% of the royalties for “Adventures in Bodily Autonomy” go to support NARAL Pro-Choice America. It’s an absolutely top-notch book with the added bonus of supporting a vital cause.
I think there’s something to be said for the idea that genre fiction — horror, fantasy, science-fiction — is at its most powerful when it’s telling more than one story, operating on more than one level. That’s certainly true of the fourteen tales that Raven Belasco has cultivated for “Adventures in Bodily Autonomy.”
As the title suggests, this is a collection of short stories assembled in the wake of the the overturning of Roe v. Wade, using the fantastic, futuristic, and horrific to explore not only the subject of reproductive rights, choices,and justice, but also the core inequalities at the heart of this basic fight for human rights.
And Belasco really has assembled a stellar collection, with a wonderful variety in style, topic, and voice. Every short story collection is hit or miss, but the final tally here is heavily weighted in favor of the “hits.” I’ll refrain from saying more about the stories that didn’t resonate for me, because I also recognize that as a 52-year-old cis white man, I may not be the target audience for all of these tales. That said, I think there’s something here that should click with everyone, and I think it may be the first short story collection I’ve read where I paused more than once after a story to seek out and order other writing from the respective authors — by the time I finished the book, a novel by Annalee Newitz and a collection of poetry and short fiction by Tara Campbell we’re on deck to read next!
I thoroughly enjoyed almost all of these stories, but a few top highlights (for me) included Campbell’s “Welcome to Your Lifting,” Jaymee Goh’s “The Things Melati Learns,” Elizabeth Bear’s “Bullet Point,” and Ellen Klages’ “Goodnight Moons.” Belasco’s “Abyssinia” provides a strong, emotional finish, and holds a special place as the story that brought a tear to my eye…maybe more than one.
I cannot recommend this book more highly, and I urge you to buy your own copy, since 100% of the royalties for “Adventures in Bodily Autonomy” go to support NARAL Pro-Choice America. It’s an absolutely top-notch book with the added bonus of supporting a vital cause.
August 30, 2023
This was an amazing collection of stories centered around choice. The choice to be a mother, to not be a mother, to redefine motherhood, to share or not share the choice you have made. Each story has a unique take on something that too many people take for granted, bodily autonomy. As a woman I found myself understanding and identifying with the women in these stories even as they made different choices than I did. And the sci-fi/fancy/horror realm gave a perfect backdrop to explore these themes in fun new ways. In many cases, the women were stretched to their limits to make incredible sacrifices to do as they wished even against the wishes of others.
October 17, 2023
Really good collection of stories. You think you know what they're doing, but then you don't. I really enjoyed Abyssinia. It's a good spin on typical vampire stories. Comparing apples to oranges? More like pomegranates.
Philadelphia as you've never seen it before. Sexuality and the choice of motherhood are such touchy subjects for some, so if you're not open minded, you won't enjoy this series. Overall, I really enjoyed the characters not giving typical make you roll your eyes responses and the ending is where it needed to be.
Philadelphia as you've never seen it before. Sexuality and the choice of motherhood are such touchy subjects for some, so if you're not open minded, you won't enjoy this series. Overall, I really enjoyed the characters not giving typical make you roll your eyes responses and the ending is where it needed to be.
October 24, 2023
I #read Adventures in Bodily Autonomy, edited by Raven Belasco. This collection of 14 short stories “explor[es] reproductive rights in fantasy, science fiction & horror”. My favorites were Pod Rendezvous by K Ibura, Bullet Point by Elizabeth Bear, and Abyssinia by Raven Belasco. I like that the stories spanned a wide range of issues related to bodily autonomy, and didn’t focus solely on reproduction or abortion. I personally struggle with the horror genre, but it wasn’t TOO creepy. The royalties from this book support NARAL, which has recently been renamed Reproductive Freedom for All.
October 16, 2023
This collection couldn't have been more timely. As we in the US fight for our own bodily autonomy, this collection voyages deeply into what such autonomy means, both for the individual and often the species as a whole. There's so much to love about these stories. Poignant, thought-provoking, haunting--this collection will stay with you long after you've closed the book.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews