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Devouring Tomorrow: Fiction from the Future of Food
An anthology of speculative short fiction imagining the possibilities of our food-insecure future.
Our lives, our culture, our community all start with and revolve around food and eating. Sharing meals with family and friends has been a hallmark of human society from our earliest beginnings. But we are entering an era of unprecedented change. Climate, technology, the global spread of crop diseases, droughts, and the loss of pollinators threaten to change not only how much food we eat, but what we eat and how we eat it.
Devouring Tomorrow explores this strange new menu through the eyes and palates of some of Canada’s most exciting authors. See a world with no bees left to pollinate our crops. Encounter lab-grown meat so advanced that it becomes sentient. Visit a land where diseases wipe out a common fruit and the society of a nation changes around its loss. This is not the world of the distant future ― this is tomorrow.
Featuring stories from:
Sifton Tracey Anipare • Carleigh Baker • Gary Barwin • Chris Benjamin • Eddy Boudel Tan • Catherine Bush • Jowita Bydlowska • Lisa de Nikolits • Dina Del Bucchia • Terri Favro • Elan Mastai • Mark Sampson • Ji Hong Sayo • Jacqueline Valencia • Anuja Varghese • A.G.A. Wilmot
Our lives, our culture, our community all start with and revolve around food and eating. Sharing meals with family and friends has been a hallmark of human society from our earliest beginnings. But we are entering an era of unprecedented change. Climate, technology, the global spread of crop diseases, droughts, and the loss of pollinators threaten to change not only how much food we eat, but what we eat and how we eat it.
Devouring Tomorrow explores this strange new menu through the eyes and palates of some of Canada’s most exciting authors. See a world with no bees left to pollinate our crops. Encounter lab-grown meat so advanced that it becomes sentient. Visit a land where diseases wipe out a common fruit and the society of a nation changes around its loss. This is not the world of the distant future ― this is tomorrow.
Featuring stories from:
Sifton Tracey Anipare • Carleigh Baker • Gary Barwin • Chris Benjamin • Eddy Boudel Tan • Catherine Bush • Jowita Bydlowska • Lisa de Nikolits • Dina Del Bucchia • Terri Favro • Elan Mastai • Mark Sampson • Ji Hong Sayo • Jacqueline Valencia • Anuja Varghese • A.G.A. Wilmot
240 pages, Paperback
Published April 22, 2025
4 people are currently reading
199 people want to read
About the author
J.J. Dupuis
22 books39 followersLibrarian Note: Also writes under the pen name Jeff Dupuis.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
October 4, 2024
Wow, what can I even say about this collection of speculative/futuristic fiction… many of the tales are indescribable, they need to be read for anyone to fully process and digest the thoughts and messages. Some were totally bizarre, yet all were truly thought provoking.
While I feel a mixture of fear and disgust (and maybe even some hope 🦋) for the future, it was actually really nice to submerge myself in prose that engaged me as a reader. I found myself actively questioning each story and comparing it to the path of the world around me. Frighteningly and honestly, a lot of these Canadian authors write “fiction” that doesn’t seem so far from potentially “non fiction” in today’s world.
I really enjoyed this anthology, many of the authors were new to me, but it was great to discover some voices that I really resonated with.
Thank you to NetGalley, the editors, the authors, and Dundurn Press/ Rare Machines for a copy!
While I feel a mixture of fear and disgust (and maybe even some hope 🦋) for the future, it was actually really nice to submerge myself in prose that engaged me as a reader. I found myself actively questioning each story and comparing it to the path of the world around me. Frighteningly and honestly, a lot of these Canadian authors write “fiction” that doesn’t seem so far from potentially “non fiction” in today’s world.
I really enjoyed this anthology, many of the authors were new to me, but it was great to discover some voices that I really resonated with.
Thank you to NetGalley, the editors, the authors, and Dundurn Press/ Rare Machines for a copy!
April 30, 2025
This was a unique collection of fiction stories all about the future of our food, and what that might look like. Often leaning into sci-fi/speculative and dystopian territory, many stories here give the reader a lot to think about. From stories discussing the lost art of agriculture, to a world where eating lab-grown "celebrity meat" is the norm, I mostly enjoyed my time with this one. As with all short story collections, some fell below average for me, but my personal favorites were:
-Marianne is Not Hungry by Jowita Bydlowska which touches on eating disorders, relationships (with humans, and with food) and is told from the perspective of food itself. (5 stars)
-I Want Candy by Dina Del Bucchia which is told through excerpts from a reviewing platform where two reviewers get into a tense back-and-forth dialogue. This one had themes of privilege, classism, and was perfectly satirical. (4.5 Stars)
-Just A Taste by AGA Wilmot in which our character is sent on a search for someone with existing memories of having eaten a real burger. (4 Stars)
My calculated average rating for this collection is 3.1.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for providing me with an electronic copy of this book to review.
-Marianne is Not Hungry by Jowita Bydlowska which touches on eating disorders, relationships (with humans, and with food) and is told from the perspective of food itself. (5 stars)
-I Want Candy by Dina Del Bucchia which is told through excerpts from a reviewing platform where two reviewers get into a tense back-and-forth dialogue. This one had themes of privilege, classism, and was perfectly satirical. (4.5 Stars)
-Just A Taste by AGA Wilmot in which our character is sent on a search for someone with existing memories of having eaten a real burger. (4 Stars)
My calculated average rating for this collection is 3.1.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for providing me with an electronic copy of this book to review.
May 23, 2025
So I MIGHT be biased (because I happen to have a story in this collection!) - but what a treat to finally read all the other stories in this anthology! Funny, raw, weird, and wildly imaginative - every writer included brings a unique take on the theme of food and the future. A delicious book to sink your teeth into from beginning to end!
October 9, 2024
I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of Devouring Tomorrow from NetGalley.
Devouring Tomorrow is a collection of short stories centered around food in the future, specifically in Canada. It was an interesting read—some stories I "devoured," while others I didn't enjoy as much. But that problem is okay with me when it comes to anthologies from different authors.
One thing that always happens with short stories is that I end up wanting more (I'm looking at you, "Just a Taste" and "Rubber Road"). I wished they were longer so I could spend more time with the characters.
Overall, the writers did a great job, and if you're looking for a collection of short stories, pick this one up!
Devouring Tomorrow is a collection of short stories centered around food in the future, specifically in Canada. It was an interesting read—some stories I "devoured," while others I didn't enjoy as much. But that problem is okay with me when it comes to anthologies from different authors.
One thing that always happens with short stories is that I end up wanting more (I'm looking at you, "Just a Taste" and "Rubber Road"). I wished they were longer so I could spend more time with the characters.
Overall, the writers did a great job, and if you're looking for a collection of short stories, pick this one up!
November 29, 2024
[NetGalley Read #18]
4.25 ⭐
Weird. Disturbing. Bleak. A bit hopeful.
An eclectic mix of stories with food (not always, but in some little way) as the center of the narrative. Plot-driven stories. Character-driven stories. Sometimes, a bit of both. And then some that don't follow the conventions of either.
- Pleased to Meet You:
This really sets the tone for the rest of the book.
About sentient lab grown meat (possibly having an existential crisis). It's also introducing itself to the reader.
- I Want Candy:
Set in 2182. Written in the form of online reviews on a platform called Screech. Basically online rants and reviews which reveal that the class divide has only worsened over time. The poor eat shit and the rich eat weird shit.
Weird dates, though. After November 30, 2182, the reviews have a date of November 3, 2182. And the fire at the complex... does it mean one of the characters (Nic B.) is dead? Or is this not important? Is the main focus of the story just the commentary on weird foods and class divide? Because I definitely would have liked to read more. This is too short.
Jenny F. (who lives in Coal Harbour, Vancouver, BC) leaves glowing reviews for these absurd cafes and eateries that have floating tables (or beds instead of tables) and serve weird kinds of foods and drinks with names such as: "Rosemary Honeysuckle Spider Slow Release Soothers with the Web Cream Earl Grey Vape" and "Falmingo Ringo Dingo vape cartridge".
Nic B. (with no know address) is a jobless person who leaves one-star reviews on every restaurant and cafe or whatever bozo place there is in this future and hates Jenny F. and people like her who can waste their time and money on these places while he has to live in a shipping container "condo" with his friend, share a bathroom with 15 people and eat food/rations provided by the government that taste like shit.
- Succulent:
Written entirley in the form of a dialogue between three people who are deciding what to eat. A world where people eat celebrity flesh-flavored dishes. Celebrities who license their genes for the protein synthesizers get paid handsomely for it. Celebrities exist only as an uploaded consciousness for digital performance capture.
Very disturbing.
- Pollinators: Bees have disappeared from the world. Lydia Doss is a scientist working on attracting Tricorn moths (these are night pollinators) to the gherkin fields. There is a fear of world ending in five years. People are panicked and against the scientists who experiment at night and use enough energy for their experiments to cause blackouts in the city.
Also California has got robot bees thanks to some Silicon Valley investors who are going to claim the benefits of their work.
Again, a story with an interesting premise (and a normal human character) that seemed too short and seemed to end rather abruptly.
- Time to fly: Favourite story of the bunch.
A very touching story with a lot of heart set in a bleak world.
Lady Oceanos. A cruise ship with more than 2000 people on board. These people are the few survivors of the Third World War (the superpowers bombed each other with Hydrogen bombs). A 75 year old Elizabeth/Erzsébet reminisces about the past, tries to relive it, and learns to move on.
- A View Worth All the Aqua in the World:
There is dystopian and then there is... whatever the fuck this is. Haunting. Disturbing. Bleak (with, maybe, a tinge of hope). A world you don't want to live in. A desecration of everything beautiful about this beautiful planet of ours. The story is quite good.
Bee discovers an artifact of a civilization long forgotten and hopes to sell it to get some Aqua for herself and her son Gator (Aqua is currency).
There are holographic trees in this world. The story is set sometime after 2425. Cherry Blossoms have gone extinct (in 2425). People consider trees, lakes, and animals a myth. There has been a WW12. Most of the surviving information about pre-WW12 civilizations has been taken Off-World.
People eat something called VN and AquaSub, which have become the world's source of food.
- You Need a Licence for That:
Confusing. Frustratingly confusing.
- Novel Suggestions for Social Occasions:
Action-packed short story with (a sort of) unclear setting (is it a dystopian future or a medieval setting?) and food as surprisingly both a central and unimportant part (or maybe I missed the point). It is a well-written story. Again, too short.
- Just a Taste: Another favourite.
A story of lies, deceit, power, corruption, and murder over... a burger.
So far, this is the story with the most substance. It is not too short, it doesn't overstay it's welcome. It's in that perfect balance where you are satisfied with the one story that is told and interested in knowing more of the world.
A world that is detailed and interesting. A world with themes that are similar to the other stories in this collection, yet just different enough to stand out on it's own and distinguish itself from the other stories.
- Rubber Road:
A post apocalyptic survival of the fittest story with good character focused writing. Also, I've never read such descriptions of the sky before: colour of lemon tea, shade of cat piss and colour of an old bruise.
- Unlimited Dream:
Inception-like concept of dreams mixed with hunger, desire, a want for better life and the lies we tell ourselves to get there. A very good story.
- Marianne is Not Hungry:
Horror. Not the jump-scare kind. But a sort of body horror. Excellent story. Also, I think this does a better job with the narration than the first story (Pleased to Meet You) about sentient meat.
- Lorenzo and The Last Fig:
A good sad/happy story with beautiful prose style.
- Food Fight:
This is one fever dream of a story. Very character-driven, not much plot.
- The Crane:
A story that captures anxiety and overthinking perfectly. Also, one of the few (or maybe the only one) stories in this collection that benefits from being shorter in length than an average short story (it's only 5 pages long) and it works splendidly for the overcrowding thoughts of our main (and only) character.
- Recipe from the Future:
What the fuck was that? Madness. Sheer madness is what this story is. Madness from the lack of food. A fever dream of a story (or more of a rambling, really).
______________________________________________
Author(s):
Jeff Dupuis (Editor)
A. G. Pasquella (Editor)
1. Catherine Bush (Pleased to Meet You)
2. Dina Del Bucchia (I Want Candy)
3. Elan Mastai (Succulent)
4. Carleigh Baker (Pollinators)
5. Lisa de Nikolits (Time to Fly)
6. Anuja Varghese (A View Worth All the Aqua in the World)
7. Sifton Tracey Anipare (You Need a Licence for That)
8. Ji Hong Sayo (Novel Suggestions for Social Occasions)
9. A. G. A. Wilmot (Just a Taste)
10. Terri Favro (Rubber Road)
11. Mark Sampson (Unlimited Dream)
12. Jowita Bydlowska (Marianne is Not Hungry)
13. Eddy Boudel Tan (Lorenzo and The Last Fig)
14. Chris Benjamin (Food Fight)
15. Jacqueline Valencia (The Crane)
16. Gary Barwin (Recipe from the Future)
______________________________________________
Publisher: Dundurn Press
Publication Date: April 22, 2025.
4.25 ⭐
Weird. Disturbing. Bleak. A bit hopeful.
An eclectic mix of stories with food (not always, but in some little way) as the center of the narrative. Plot-driven stories. Character-driven stories. Sometimes, a bit of both. And then some that don't follow the conventions of either.
- Pleased to Meet You:
This really sets the tone for the rest of the book.
About sentient lab grown meat (possibly having an existential crisis). It's also introducing itself to the reader.
- I Want Candy:
Set in 2182. Written in the form of online reviews on a platform called Screech. Basically online rants and reviews which reveal that the class divide has only worsened over time. The poor eat shit and the rich eat weird shit.
Weird dates, though. After November 30, 2182, the reviews have a date of November 3, 2182. And the fire at the complex... does it mean one of the characters (Nic B.) is dead? Or is this not important? Is the main focus of the story just the commentary on weird foods and class divide? Because I definitely would have liked to read more. This is too short.
Jenny F. (who lives in Coal Harbour, Vancouver, BC) leaves glowing reviews for these absurd cafes and eateries that have floating tables (or beds instead of tables) and serve weird kinds of foods and drinks with names such as: "Rosemary Honeysuckle Spider Slow Release Soothers with the Web Cream Earl Grey Vape" and "Falmingo Ringo Dingo vape cartridge".
Nic B. (with no know address) is a jobless person who leaves one-star reviews on every restaurant and cafe or whatever bozo place there is in this future and hates Jenny F. and people like her who can waste their time and money on these places while he has to live in a shipping container "condo" with his friend, share a bathroom with 15 people and eat food/rations provided by the government that taste like shit.
- Succulent:
Written entirley in the form of a dialogue between three people who are deciding what to eat. A world where people eat celebrity flesh-flavored dishes. Celebrities who license their genes for the protein synthesizers get paid handsomely for it. Celebrities exist only as an uploaded consciousness for digital performance capture.
Very disturbing.
- Pollinators: Bees have disappeared from the world. Lydia Doss is a scientist working on attracting Tricorn moths (these are night pollinators) to the gherkin fields. There is a fear of world ending in five years. People are panicked and against the scientists who experiment at night and use enough energy for their experiments to cause blackouts in the city.
Also California has got robot bees thanks to some Silicon Valley investors who are going to claim the benefits of their work.
Again, a story with an interesting premise (and a normal human character) that seemed too short and seemed to end rather abruptly.
- Time to fly: Favourite story of the bunch.
A very touching story with a lot of heart set in a bleak world.
Lady Oceanos. A cruise ship with more than 2000 people on board. These people are the few survivors of the Third World War (the superpowers bombed each other with Hydrogen bombs). A 75 year old Elizabeth/Erzsébet reminisces about the past, tries to relive it, and learns to move on.
- A View Worth All the Aqua in the World:
There is dystopian and then there is... whatever the fuck this is. Haunting. Disturbing. Bleak (with, maybe, a tinge of hope). A world you don't want to live in. A desecration of everything beautiful about this beautiful planet of ours. The story is quite good.
Bee discovers an artifact of a civilization long forgotten and hopes to sell it to get some Aqua for herself and her son Gator (Aqua is currency).
There are holographic trees in this world. The story is set sometime after 2425. Cherry Blossoms have gone extinct (in 2425). People consider trees, lakes, and animals a myth. There has been a WW12. Most of the surviving information about pre-WW12 civilizations has been taken Off-World.
People eat something called VN and AquaSub, which have become the world's source of food.
- You Need a Licence for That:
Confusing. Frustratingly confusing.
- Novel Suggestions for Social Occasions:
Action-packed short story with (a sort of) unclear setting (is it a dystopian future or a medieval setting?) and food as surprisingly both a central and unimportant part (or maybe I missed the point). It is a well-written story. Again, too short.
- Just a Taste: Another favourite.
A story of lies, deceit, power, corruption, and murder over... a burger.
So far, this is the story with the most substance. It is not too short, it doesn't overstay it's welcome. It's in that perfect balance where you are satisfied with the one story that is told and interested in knowing more of the world.
A world that is detailed and interesting. A world with themes that are similar to the other stories in this collection, yet just different enough to stand out on it's own and distinguish itself from the other stories.
- Rubber Road:
A post apocalyptic survival of the fittest story with good character focused writing. Also, I've never read such descriptions of the sky before: colour of lemon tea, shade of cat piss and colour of an old bruise.
- Unlimited Dream:
Inception-like concept of dreams mixed with hunger, desire, a want for better life and the lies we tell ourselves to get there. A very good story.
- Marianne is Not Hungry:
Horror. Not the jump-scare kind. But a sort of body horror. Excellent story. Also, I think this does a better job with the narration than the first story (Pleased to Meet You) about sentient meat.
- Lorenzo and The Last Fig:
A good sad/happy story with beautiful prose style.
- Food Fight:
This is one fever dream of a story. Very character-driven, not much plot.
- The Crane:
A story that captures anxiety and overthinking perfectly. Also, one of the few (or maybe the only one) stories in this collection that benefits from being shorter in length than an average short story (it's only 5 pages long) and it works splendidly for the overcrowding thoughts of our main (and only) character.
- Recipe from the Future:
What the fuck was that? Madness. Sheer madness is what this story is. Madness from the lack of food. A fever dream of a story (or more of a rambling, really).
______________________________________________
Author(s):
Jeff Dupuis (Editor)
A. G. Pasquella (Editor)
1. Catherine Bush (Pleased to Meet You)
2. Dina Del Bucchia (I Want Candy)
3. Elan Mastai (Succulent)
4. Carleigh Baker (Pollinators)
5. Lisa de Nikolits (Time to Fly)
6. Anuja Varghese (A View Worth All the Aqua in the World)
7. Sifton Tracey Anipare (You Need a Licence for That)
8. Ji Hong Sayo (Novel Suggestions for Social Occasions)
9. A. G. A. Wilmot (Just a Taste)
10. Terri Favro (Rubber Road)
11. Mark Sampson (Unlimited Dream)
12. Jowita Bydlowska (Marianne is Not Hungry)
13. Eddy Boudel Tan (Lorenzo and The Last Fig)
14. Chris Benjamin (Food Fight)
15. Jacqueline Valencia (The Crane)
16. Gary Barwin (Recipe from the Future)
______________________________________________
Publisher: Dundurn Press
Publication Date: April 22, 2025.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 1, 2025
I have a story called "Food Fight" in this, so ... 10 stars out of 5.
It is an honour to have a story included with the likes of Catherine Bush, Lisa de Nikolits, Jowita Bydlowska, Gary Barwin, Mark Sampson, etc. Usually when you read an anthology, some of the stories are great and some are whoosh... But I enjoyed every one of these stories. Kudos to Jeff Dupuis & A.G. Pasquella.
The theme is fascinating and heavy. How will we feed ourselves as the chaos of our altered climate intensifies? A question now fundamental to our continued existence as humans. The imagined answers are often bleak. Cannibalism is a frequent trope I hadn't anticipated when I got the assignment. But humour survives.
Another surprise (hopefully the editors will correct me if I'm wrong here): I think my story was the only one featuring farmers. Perhaps they will be replaced by AI or GM or synthetics or pills. But I imagined them pressing on against these things in the near future.
My very favourites were "I Want Candy" by Dina Del Bucchia (written entirely in the form of online reviews) and "Novel Suggestions for Social Occasions" by Ji Hong Sayo (kind of a Jane Austen meets Louis L'Amour, brilliantly juxtapositioning ultraviolence with etiquette obsession).
It is an honour to have a story included with the likes of Catherine Bush, Lisa de Nikolits, Jowita Bydlowska, Gary Barwin, Mark Sampson, etc. Usually when you read an anthology, some of the stories are great and some are whoosh... But I enjoyed every one of these stories. Kudos to Jeff Dupuis & A.G. Pasquella.
The theme is fascinating and heavy. How will we feed ourselves as the chaos of our altered climate intensifies? A question now fundamental to our continued existence as humans. The imagined answers are often bleak. Cannibalism is a frequent trope I hadn't anticipated when I got the assignment. But humour survives.
Another surprise (hopefully the editors will correct me if I'm wrong here): I think my story was the only one featuring farmers. Perhaps they will be replaced by AI or GM or synthetics or pills. But I imagined them pressing on against these things in the near future.
My very favourites were "I Want Candy" by Dina Del Bucchia (written entirely in the form of online reviews) and "Novel Suggestions for Social Occasions" by Ji Hong Sayo (kind of a Jane Austen meets Louis L'Amour, brilliantly juxtapositioning ultraviolence with etiquette obsession).
June 29, 2025
Stories about food and consumption in future - speculative that is veering on dystopian science fiction area, with rationed lab grown food to continued consumerism with eclectic tastes of the rich.
I enjoyed the collection as a whole, but none really stood out.
Thank you to Netgalley and Dundurn Press for providing me with a free copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed the collection as a whole, but none really stood out.
Thank you to Netgalley and Dundurn Press for providing me with a free copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.
December 31, 2024
Devouring Tomorrow is a collection of food centered fiction about the future. There are a lot of fascinating concepts gathered in these pages, but I only fell deeply in love with a small number of the stories.
A View Worth All the Aqua in the World, and Just a Taste were my absolute favorites from the collection.
Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read Devouring Tomorrow in exchange for my honest feedback.
A View Worth All the Aqua in the World, and Just a Taste were my absolute favorites from the collection.
Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read Devouring Tomorrow in exchange for my honest feedback.
October 31, 2024
This is an anthology of short stories about the future of food in a climate warmed world written by Canadian authors I’m not much of a fan of short story collections and don’t read them very often as I often find that I’m just getting into a story when it’s over and I’m having to readjust to the next one. I did have a reach for this collection as I’m a fan of dystopian fiction and the subject matter of a future when food access is not as easy it is now interested me
As always when reviewing a an anthology like this is very difficult to do that and mention all the authors individually. All the stories were interesting and well written and the editor has worked hard to collate a selection of stories at all work well together.
A few of the stories that stuck in my wind were Pleased to meet you, by Catherine Bush the thought of the genetically modified food you eat having a mind and being able to communicate with you after it was really creepy
In story, Succulent by Elon Mastel celebrities donate their genetic sequence to make artificial meat and it’s quite an amusing concept
You need your license for that by sifton Tracey anipare grabbed me immediately why would women need license? Make a baby or to eat or both? The scene when she’s in the toilet munching on a cake was fabulous
Lorenzo and the last Fig tree by Boudel tan The last fig tree on Earth emblematic of the we treat nature I love the image of this tree surrounded around it by guards and fences quietly dying from lack of love is so emblematic of our relationship with Mother Earth .This was I think my favourite story
In summary this is a well collated interesting selection of stories loosely about our relationship with food and it’s future in a dystopian world. The order had different writing style but all of them were interesting and enjoyable to read.
I read an early copy of the novel on NetGalley UK. The book is published in the UK in April 2025 by Dundum press
This review will appear on NetGalley UK Goodreads, and my book blog BionicSarahsbooks.wordpress.com. After publication it will also appear on Amazon UK.
As always when reviewing a an anthology like this is very difficult to do that and mention all the authors individually. All the stories were interesting and well written and the editor has worked hard to collate a selection of stories at all work well together.
A few of the stories that stuck in my wind were Pleased to meet you, by Catherine Bush the thought of the genetically modified food you eat having a mind and being able to communicate with you after it was really creepy
In story, Succulent by Elon Mastel celebrities donate their genetic sequence to make artificial meat and it’s quite an amusing concept
You need your license for that by sifton Tracey anipare grabbed me immediately why would women need license? Make a baby or to eat or both? The scene when she’s in the toilet munching on a cake was fabulous
Lorenzo and the last Fig tree by Boudel tan The last fig tree on Earth emblematic of the we treat nature I love the image of this tree surrounded around it by guards and fences quietly dying from lack of love is so emblematic of our relationship with Mother Earth .This was I think my favourite story
In summary this is a well collated interesting selection of stories loosely about our relationship with food and it’s future in a dystopian world. The order had different writing style but all of them were interesting and enjoyable to read.
I read an early copy of the novel on NetGalley UK. The book is published in the UK in April 2025 by Dundum press
This review will appear on NetGalley UK Goodreads, and my book blog BionicSarahsbooks.wordpress.com. After publication it will also appear on Amazon UK.
October 13, 2024
“Devouring Tomorrow” is an assortment of short stories predominantly set in dystopian futures and all either feature or centre around the concept of food and our relationship with it. All written by different authors, this collection offers the opportunity to sample this tasting menu of stories pick your favourite, savour some, devour others and question the necessity of a few in the middle.
As with most short story collections compiled from different authors - some hit and some miss. This is the same with reading the right novel at the wrong time – you don’t always have time to adapt to new styles of writing in quick succession and it results in a mediocre reception of the novel. This happened with a few of the short stories in the collection but let me be clear – none were DNF standard.
There were, however, some real treats in there.
'Unlimited Dream' by Mark Sampson, 'Just a Taste' by A.G.A Wilmot, 'I Want Candy' by Dina Del Bucchia, 'A View Worth all the Aqua in the World' by Anuja Varghese and 'You need a Licence for That' by Sifton Tracey Inipare were my stand out stories from the collection. I felt as though they added a completely original concept – be it the writing style (entirely dialogue) or the premise (creating food from vivid dreams – but don’t dare eat it!) each had something to give or something to learn from it.
Overall, I would totally recommend this to my friends and fellow readers. Innovative, creative and a pleasure to read. Thank you for letting me read this as an ARC.
As with most short story collections compiled from different authors - some hit and some miss. This is the same with reading the right novel at the wrong time – you don’t always have time to adapt to new styles of writing in quick succession and it results in a mediocre reception of the novel. This happened with a few of the short stories in the collection but let me be clear – none were DNF standard.
There were, however, some real treats in there.
'Unlimited Dream' by Mark Sampson, 'Just a Taste' by A.G.A Wilmot, 'I Want Candy' by Dina Del Bucchia, 'A View Worth all the Aqua in the World' by Anuja Varghese and 'You need a Licence for That' by Sifton Tracey Inipare were my stand out stories from the collection. I felt as though they added a completely original concept – be it the writing style (entirely dialogue) or the premise (creating food from vivid dreams – but don’t dare eat it!) each had something to give or something to learn from it.
Overall, I would totally recommend this to my friends and fellow readers. Innovative, creative and a pleasure to read. Thank you for letting me read this as an ARC.
January 10, 2025
As the future unfolds, how will food change and how will it change us?
Devouring Tomorrow is the first short story collection that I've ever read fully. And it is truly filling. The stories I enjoyed the most are the first and last one of the anthology ("Pleased to Meet You" and "Recipe from the Future"), sandwiching the rest of the more or less tasty literary morsels between them. (I cannot resist the food puns, I'm sorry.)
If I were to rate each story individually, this might fall somewhere closer to 3 stars, but the concept itself, and the ideas behind some of the stories, raise my rating to a solid 4. I especially enjoyed the wide range of formats and voices for the stories: musings about the nature of being by sentient lab-grown meat, a scathing critique of food scarcity in a class-demarcated society told through restaurant reviews, a dialogue between three people negotiating their relationship while choosing whose celebrity's cloned flesh they should have for dinner, the internal monologue of food waiting for an anorexic woman to consume it. I was a bit less interested in the more "conventional" stories, but almost all of them contained something that made me ponder the world and our relationship to food and consumption.
There's nothing so unsavoury or unsavioury as the present.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing a digital copy of this book for review consideration.
Devouring Tomorrow is the first short story collection that I've ever read fully. And it is truly filling. The stories I enjoyed the most are the first and last one of the anthology ("Pleased to Meet You" and "Recipe from the Future"), sandwiching the rest of the more or less tasty literary morsels between them. (I cannot resist the food puns, I'm sorry.)
If I were to rate each story individually, this might fall somewhere closer to 3 stars, but the concept itself, and the ideas behind some of the stories, raise my rating to a solid 4. I especially enjoyed the wide range of formats and voices for the stories: musings about the nature of being by sentient lab-grown meat, a scathing critique of food scarcity in a class-demarcated society told through restaurant reviews, a dialogue between three people negotiating their relationship while choosing whose celebrity's cloned flesh they should have for dinner, the internal monologue of food waiting for an anorexic woman to consume it. I was a bit less interested in the more "conventional" stories, but almost all of them contained something that made me ponder the world and our relationship to food and consumption.
There's nothing so unsavoury or unsavioury as the present.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing a digital copy of this book for review consideration.
February 22, 2025
2/5 ⭐️
obrigada à netgalley, por me dar acesso ao ARC deste livro em troca da minha opinião sincera!
“devouring tomorrow” tinha tudo para ser perfeito para mim (short stories, comida e ficção científica) mas, infelizmente, falhou na execução….
imagino que muitas das ideias presentes em cada história surpreendam bastantes leitores, contudo, para quem já viu “black mirror” ou goste de consumir distopias/conteúdo de ficção científica (especificamente o filme “antiviral” do brandon cronenberg, o “crimes of the future” do david cronenberg, o livro “never let me go” do kazuo ishiguro, o “memory police” da yoko ogawa, o “cursed bunny” da bora chung, o anime “promised neverland”, a série de animação “love, death & robots” ou “scavengers reign”), nenhuma das narrativas foi suficientemente fora da caixa.
para além disso, não apreciei a utilização de tantas referências contemporâneas à cultura pop, que num primeiro momento tornam o livro super atual, mas, ao mesmo tempo, também o tornam rapidamente obsoleto e preso no tempo…
talvez possa ser um bom livro para quem consumiu poucos conteúdos de ficção científica e procura uma linguagem mais jovem e informal que, tragicamente, não é o meu caso.
english review: ─────── ☽ •
Thank you to NetGalley for giving me access to this book's ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!
"Devouring Tomorrow" had all the elements to be a perfect read for me (short stories, food, and science fiction), but unfortunately, it fell short in execution...
I imagine that many of the ideas in each story will surprise a lot of readers. However, for those who have watched Black Mirror or enjoy consuming dystopian/science fiction content (specifically the film Antiviral by Brandon Cronenberg, Crimes of the Future by David Cronenberg, the book Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa, Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, the anime The Promised Neverland, the animated series Love, Death & Robots, or Scavengers Reign), none of the narratives were truly out of the box.
Additionally, I found the heavy reliance on contemporary pop culture references to be a drawback. While they initially make the book feel fresh and relevant, they also risk dating it quickly, making it feel tied to a specific moment in time...
This might be a great read for those new to science fiction who are looking for a more youthful and casual tone—tragically, that’s not my case.
obrigada à netgalley, por me dar acesso ao ARC deste livro em troca da minha opinião sincera!
“devouring tomorrow” tinha tudo para ser perfeito para mim (short stories, comida e ficção científica) mas, infelizmente, falhou na execução….
imagino que muitas das ideias presentes em cada história surpreendam bastantes leitores, contudo, para quem já viu “black mirror” ou goste de consumir distopias/conteúdo de ficção científica (especificamente o filme “antiviral” do brandon cronenberg, o “crimes of the future” do david cronenberg, o livro “never let me go” do kazuo ishiguro, o “memory police” da yoko ogawa, o “cursed bunny” da bora chung, o anime “promised neverland”, a série de animação “love, death & robots” ou “scavengers reign”), nenhuma das narrativas foi suficientemente fora da caixa.
para além disso, não apreciei a utilização de tantas referências contemporâneas à cultura pop, que num primeiro momento tornam o livro super atual, mas, ao mesmo tempo, também o tornam rapidamente obsoleto e preso no tempo…
talvez possa ser um bom livro para quem consumiu poucos conteúdos de ficção científica e procura uma linguagem mais jovem e informal que, tragicamente, não é o meu caso.
english review: ─────── ☽ •
Thank you to NetGalley for giving me access to this book's ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!
"Devouring Tomorrow" had all the elements to be a perfect read for me (short stories, food, and science fiction), but unfortunately, it fell short in execution...
I imagine that many of the ideas in each story will surprise a lot of readers. However, for those who have watched Black Mirror or enjoy consuming dystopian/science fiction content (specifically the film Antiviral by Brandon Cronenberg, Crimes of the Future by David Cronenberg, the book Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa, Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, the anime The Promised Neverland, the animated series Love, Death & Robots, or Scavengers Reign), none of the narratives were truly out of the box.
Additionally, I found the heavy reliance on contemporary pop culture references to be a drawback. While they initially make the book feel fresh and relevant, they also risk dating it quickly, making it feel tied to a specific moment in time...
This might be a great read for those new to science fiction who are looking for a more youthful and casual tone—tragically, that’s not my case.
February 2, 2025
Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from netgalley in exchange for a review.
An anthology speculating on the future of food in this world. From the death of bees and what comes after, over sentient lab-grown meat, to droughts and cannibalism there is a lot of potential futures in here. Most of the story focus on a dystopian view set somewhere in the future, but some are closer to our current reality than others, which was interesting and made the stories feel more different while reading. There is a some repetition, especially with the idea of “food – or a part of food, like vegetables, fruit or cows – has gone extinct due to drought/fungus/pollinator death/plagues/GMOs, how would that look like?”, which made some of the stories feel a bit repetitive after a while, but there where quite a lot of stories I enjoyed and that still made this anthology feel intriguing, such as Succulent, which is told entirely in dialogue, Novel Suggestions for Social Occasions, which features an etiquette for dinner parties of the post-apocalyptic kind, Marianne Is Not Hungry, which is set in the rather near future and features a disordered relationship to food that is not part of any other stories here and Recipe From The Future, which sticks out for its intriguing and weird writing style.
There are also three stories with LGBT+ characters (one lesbian MC, one gay MC and one nonbinary MC for each), which I enjoyed, but I want to give a trigger warning for the story with the nonbinary character as their story is mostly focused around being sexually exploited, misgendered and reduced to their genitalia, which I didn’t find that great to read and for which I chose to lower my rating from 4 stars to 3. I don’t mind sexual violence or transphobia to play a role in a story (look at the world we live in!), but I do not really care for it to be treated to flippantly and without any form of resolution as it was in that story.
All in all, this is an intriguing anthology idea, featuring some great writers and some great ideas and if you enjoy reading about speculative dystopian ideas on our future food this could be an interesting read for you.
As always, you can now find short notes on all the short stories featured, including summaries, some notes on my thoughts and trigger warnings beneath:
*FAV* Pleased To Meet You by Catherine Bush: This is a really fascinating short story about a world of lab-grown meat developing sentience. It is unsettling and really well written, horrifying in a much too realistic way. I loved it.
I Want Candy by Dina Del Bucchia: Restaurant reviews in the future split between one reviewer of high-end restaurants and a reviewer, who cannot afford to dine at any of these places (or actually any places at all). Wonderful illustration of class differences in the future and the author really made Jenny, the rich reviewer, so deeply hateful, it was great to read.
TW: death by fire
*FAV* Succulent by Elan Mastai: A world in which meat is produced from celebrity genes (yum!?) centered around three roommates and their struggles. Told only in dialogue, this is a really fascinating short story and I really liked it. It is messy, it is weird, it has capitalist cannibalism, relationship drama, I adored it.
*FAV* Pollinators by Carleigh Baker: Scientists are trying to find a way to transform farming after bees have disappeared suddenly. Really interesting idea and with a lot of fascinating worldbuilding, this is a short story I really liked.
Time to Fly by Lisa de Nikolits: A post-apocalyptic world where a few rich people survived the atomic world destruction on their cruising yacht. Very emotional and heartbreaking, I really enjoyed the way it dealt with loss and grief through memories of food.
TW: drug use, mass death through nuclear war
A View Worth All the Aqua in the World by Anuja Varghese: A world ravaged by droughts where the survivors earn aqua by scrounging for treasure in the underground. A mother finds an oldtech artifact. A rather typical dystopian sci-fi story, but I liked the main character and her voice, so I liked this short story well enough.
TW: dehydration, mass extinction
You Need A Licence For That by Sifton Tracey Anipare: A woman attends a dinner party in a world where calories are rationed out and pregnancies are something you need to pass an exam for. Very interesting concept and I really enjoyed the uncomfortable party setting here.
*FAV* Novel Suggestions For Social Occasions by Ji Hong Sayo: Set in world where elaborate dinners often end in slaughter, framed by a rule book for proper etiquette for Ladies, this is a really fun story, with lots of fighting. I really enjoyed it!
TW: murder, violence
*FAV* Just A Taste by A.G.A. Wilmot: In a cyberpunk world, where cows have long gone extinct, a woman, who steals and sells memories for the right price, finds herself up against a very powerful man with a seemingly impossible request: Find a memory that contains a burger. Very fun, very messy, very enjoyable!
TW: murder, violence
*FAV* Road by Terri Favro: Two sisters trying to survive in a moth apocalypse. Really great and scary worldbuilding here, this is a short story I could absolutely read more of! I also loved the ending.
TW: animal death, death, poison
Unlimited Dream by Mark Sampson: In a world where food can be grown through dreaming, we follow one dreamer as he slowly becomes more and more enamored with the dream. Haunting and intriguing, but I would have liked to dive deeper into the dream world.
TW: self-harm, mention of starvation, violence
*FAV* Marianne Is Not Hungry by Jowita Bydlowska: A story told through the perspective of an eating disorder as it follows a woman through her relationships. Heartbreaking and sad and especially the ending was tough to read. I really enjoyed this one, especially since it stands out in its intriguing approach to food in this anthology.
TW: cheating, eating disorder, mention of incest, miscarriage, vomit
Lorenzo and the Last Fig by Eddy Boudel Tan: In this story fruit and vegetables were destroyed by a fungus years ago. But now, miraculously, a fig tree has been discovered. This is a heartbreaking story oppressed by fear and governmental oppression, but also with a very hopeful end, which I adored!
Food Fight by Chris Benjamin: A story of farmers fighting for their right to their land and to sell their food after corporate greed and climate change has made most farming impossible. Intriguing concept, but it is also so dark and filled with a lot of misgendering and sexual violence that it took away from the story for me. I also don’t know why the grandpa that sexually assaults people needed to get a narrative voice in the story? Just to misgender Sawyer again, after their cousin already did? Just to think about sexually assaulting them? Really not a plot I needed in here or that I felt add anything to the story or the narrative about food it was trying to tell.
TW: sexual violence, incest, misgendering
The Crane by Jacqueline Valencia: A man struggling with a lot of anxiety imagines what a crane if it gained life and sentience might eat. Intriguing concept and really fun addition to this anthology, which more often features dystopian scenarios of scarcity than this short, but fun tale of horror.
*FAV* Recipe From The Future by Gary Barwing: A quite weird, but intriguing story about eating the future (literally). Told in really short scenes this paints a very strange world, but I enjoyed digging into it.
An anthology speculating on the future of food in this world. From the death of bees and what comes after, over sentient lab-grown meat, to droughts and cannibalism there is a lot of potential futures in here. Most of the story focus on a dystopian view set somewhere in the future, but some are closer to our current reality than others, which was interesting and made the stories feel more different while reading. There is a some repetition, especially with the idea of “food – or a part of food, like vegetables, fruit or cows – has gone extinct due to drought/fungus/pollinator death/plagues/GMOs, how would that look like?”, which made some of the stories feel a bit repetitive after a while, but there where quite a lot of stories I enjoyed and that still made this anthology feel intriguing, such as Succulent, which is told entirely in dialogue, Novel Suggestions for Social Occasions, which features an etiquette for dinner parties of the post-apocalyptic kind, Marianne Is Not Hungry, which is set in the rather near future and features a disordered relationship to food that is not part of any other stories here and Recipe From The Future, which sticks out for its intriguing and weird writing style.
There are also three stories with LGBT+ characters (one lesbian MC, one gay MC and one nonbinary MC for each), which I enjoyed, but I want to give a trigger warning for the story with the nonbinary character as their story is mostly focused around being sexually exploited, misgendered and reduced to their genitalia, which I didn’t find that great to read and for which I chose to lower my rating from 4 stars to 3. I don’t mind sexual violence or transphobia to play a role in a story (look at the world we live in!), but I do not really care for it to be treated to flippantly and without any form of resolution as it was in that story.
All in all, this is an intriguing anthology idea, featuring some great writers and some great ideas and if you enjoy reading about speculative dystopian ideas on our future food this could be an interesting read for you.
As always, you can now find short notes on all the short stories featured, including summaries, some notes on my thoughts and trigger warnings beneath:
*FAV* Pleased To Meet You by Catherine Bush: This is a really fascinating short story about a world of lab-grown meat developing sentience. It is unsettling and really well written, horrifying in a much too realistic way. I loved it.
I Want Candy by Dina Del Bucchia: Restaurant reviews in the future split between one reviewer of high-end restaurants and a reviewer, who cannot afford to dine at any of these places (or actually any places at all). Wonderful illustration of class differences in the future and the author really made Jenny, the rich reviewer, so deeply hateful, it was great to read.
TW: death by fire
*FAV* Succulent by Elan Mastai: A world in which meat is produced from celebrity genes (yum!?) centered around three roommates and their struggles. Told only in dialogue, this is a really fascinating short story and I really liked it. It is messy, it is weird, it has capitalist cannibalism, relationship drama, I adored it.
*FAV* Pollinators by Carleigh Baker: Scientists are trying to find a way to transform farming after bees have disappeared suddenly. Really interesting idea and with a lot of fascinating worldbuilding, this is a short story I really liked.
Time to Fly by Lisa de Nikolits: A post-apocalyptic world where a few rich people survived the atomic world destruction on their cruising yacht. Very emotional and heartbreaking, I really enjoyed the way it dealt with loss and grief through memories of food.
TW: drug use, mass death through nuclear war
A View Worth All the Aqua in the World by Anuja Varghese: A world ravaged by droughts where the survivors earn aqua by scrounging for treasure in the underground. A mother finds an oldtech artifact. A rather typical dystopian sci-fi story, but I liked the main character and her voice, so I liked this short story well enough.
TW: dehydration, mass extinction
You Need A Licence For That by Sifton Tracey Anipare: A woman attends a dinner party in a world where calories are rationed out and pregnancies are something you need to pass an exam for. Very interesting concept and I really enjoyed the uncomfortable party setting here.
*FAV* Novel Suggestions For Social Occasions by Ji Hong Sayo: Set in world where elaborate dinners often end in slaughter, framed by a rule book for proper etiquette for Ladies, this is a really fun story, with lots of fighting. I really enjoyed it!
TW: murder, violence
*FAV* Just A Taste by A.G.A. Wilmot: In a cyberpunk world, where cows have long gone extinct, a woman, who steals and sells memories for the right price, finds herself up against a very powerful man with a seemingly impossible request: Find a memory that contains a burger. Very fun, very messy, very enjoyable!
TW: murder, violence
*FAV* Road by Terri Favro: Two sisters trying to survive in a moth apocalypse. Really great and scary worldbuilding here, this is a short story I could absolutely read more of! I also loved the ending.
TW: animal death, death, poison
Unlimited Dream by Mark Sampson: In a world where food can be grown through dreaming, we follow one dreamer as he slowly becomes more and more enamored with the dream. Haunting and intriguing, but I would have liked to dive deeper into the dream world.
TW: self-harm, mention of starvation, violence
*FAV* Marianne Is Not Hungry by Jowita Bydlowska: A story told through the perspective of an eating disorder as it follows a woman through her relationships. Heartbreaking and sad and especially the ending was tough to read. I really enjoyed this one, especially since it stands out in its intriguing approach to food in this anthology.
TW: cheating, eating disorder, mention of incest, miscarriage, vomit
Lorenzo and the Last Fig by Eddy Boudel Tan: In this story fruit and vegetables were destroyed by a fungus years ago. But now, miraculously, a fig tree has been discovered. This is a heartbreaking story oppressed by fear and governmental oppression, but also with a very hopeful end, which I adored!
Food Fight by Chris Benjamin: A story of farmers fighting for their right to their land and to sell their food after corporate greed and climate change has made most farming impossible. Intriguing concept, but it is also so dark and filled with a lot of misgendering and sexual violence that it took away from the story for me. I also don’t know why the grandpa that sexually assaults people needed to get a narrative voice in the story? Just to misgender Sawyer again, after their cousin already did? Just to think about sexually assaulting them? Really not a plot I needed in here or that I felt add anything to the story or the narrative about food it was trying to tell.
TW: sexual violence, incest, misgendering
The Crane by Jacqueline Valencia: A man struggling with a lot of anxiety imagines what a crane if it gained life and sentience might eat. Intriguing concept and really fun addition to this anthology, which more often features dystopian scenarios of scarcity than this short, but fun tale of horror.
*FAV* Recipe From The Future by Gary Barwing: A quite weird, but intriguing story about eating the future (literally). Told in really short scenes this paints a very strange world, but I enjoyed digging into it.
April 14, 2025
[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Devouring Tomorrow releases April 22, 2025
As a professional chef and someone who finds dystopian cli-fi a guilty pleasure to read, I was certain that I was going to love this speculative Canadian anthology about the future of food insecurity.
Either my expectations were too high, or most of these short stories missed the mark by lacking the right commentary that makes this specific subgenre so good.
Out of the bunch, my favourites were: Unlimited Dream, Just a Taste, I Want Candy, A View Worth All the Aqua in the World.
PLEASED TO MEET YOU
Lab-grown meat that becomes sentient.
I WANT CANDY
An online rivalry that sparks through a series of restaurant reviews showing the stark contrast and luxury of indulging in high-end food while the masses face food scarcities.
SUCCULENT
Cannibalism and dishes made with synthesized celebrity flesh.
POLLINATORS
A world in which there are no bees to pollinate crops.
TIME TO FLY
A long-term cruise ship that becomes a floating ecosystem and an old-age home for the rich, in which the drug addicted protagonist and heir to a canned food empire takes a trip in a centrifuge.
A VIEW WORTH ALL THE AQUA IN THE WORLD
A world in which water acts as a form of currency and sustenance.
YOU NEED A LICENCE FOR THAT
A single woman in a room full of families and pregnant couples who binge eats an entire cake.
NOVEL SUGGESTIONS FOR SOCIAL OCCASIONS
A raid and a feast to celebrate an engagement. This oddly read like medieval fiction rather than something in the future.
JUST A TASTE
Blackmail in exchange for the taste of a burger with real meat from a cloned memory.
RUBBER ROAD
Two sisters who come across an abandoned dog and use chewing gum as a way to curb their hunger.
UNLIMITED DREAM
A large-scale dream study that generates real pieces of food from its patients in quantities large enough to feed entire continents.
MARIANNE IS NOT HUNGRY
A woman with an eating disorder from the pov of her food. Way more sexual than it needed to be, and the graphic writing can be quite triggering to those with an ED. (cw: miscarriage)
LORENZO AND THE LAST FIG
A community finds a solitary fig tree and feel the need to scientifically study such a rarity instead of harvesting it, unaware that a boy from Italy has done exactly that.
FOOD FIGHT
Farmers protesting against larger corporations and those that keep raiding their stock.
THE CRANE
Anxious thoughts that lead to the protagonist wondering what a mechanical crane would eat.
RECIPE FROM THE FUTURE
Nonsensical dry humour.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Devouring Tomorrow releases April 22, 2025
As a professional chef and someone who finds dystopian cli-fi a guilty pleasure to read, I was certain that I was going to love this speculative Canadian anthology about the future of food insecurity.
Either my expectations were too high, or most of these short stories missed the mark by lacking the right commentary that makes this specific subgenre so good.
Out of the bunch, my favourites were: Unlimited Dream, Just a Taste, I Want Candy, A View Worth All the Aqua in the World.
PLEASED TO MEET YOU
Lab-grown meat that becomes sentient.
I WANT CANDY
An online rivalry that sparks through a series of restaurant reviews showing the stark contrast and luxury of indulging in high-end food while the masses face food scarcities.
SUCCULENT
Cannibalism and dishes made with synthesized celebrity flesh.
POLLINATORS
A world in which there are no bees to pollinate crops.
TIME TO FLY
A long-term cruise ship that becomes a floating ecosystem and an old-age home for the rich, in which the drug addicted protagonist and heir to a canned food empire takes a trip in a centrifuge.
A VIEW WORTH ALL THE AQUA IN THE WORLD
A world in which water acts as a form of currency and sustenance.
YOU NEED A LICENCE FOR THAT
A single woman in a room full of families and pregnant couples who binge eats an entire cake.
NOVEL SUGGESTIONS FOR SOCIAL OCCASIONS
A raid and a feast to celebrate an engagement. This oddly read like medieval fiction rather than something in the future.
JUST A TASTE
Blackmail in exchange for the taste of a burger with real meat from a cloned memory.
RUBBER ROAD
Two sisters who come across an abandoned dog and use chewing gum as a way to curb their hunger.
UNLIMITED DREAM
A large-scale dream study that generates real pieces of food from its patients in quantities large enough to feed entire continents.
MARIANNE IS NOT HUNGRY
A woman with an eating disorder from the pov of her food. Way more sexual than it needed to be, and the graphic writing can be quite triggering to those with an ED. (cw: miscarriage)
LORENZO AND THE LAST FIG
A community finds a solitary fig tree and feel the need to scientifically study such a rarity instead of harvesting it, unaware that a boy from Italy has done exactly that.
FOOD FIGHT
Farmers protesting against larger corporations and those that keep raiding their stock.
THE CRANE
Anxious thoughts that lead to the protagonist wondering what a mechanical crane would eat.
RECIPE FROM THE FUTURE
Nonsensical dry humour.
December 9, 2024
Devouring Tomorrow explores the future of food through a mix of speculative stories, but it’s a hit-or-miss experience. While some pieces are engaging and offer fresh perspectives on food scarcity, technology, and culture, others feel underdeveloped and lack the depth to make a real impact. The inconsistency made it hard to stay immersed, though the stronger stories do leave some food for thought. It’s an interesting concept, but the execution didn’t fully deliver for me.
May 9, 2025
this is such a cool concept for a short story collection, speculative fiction on what growing, accessing, and eating food might look like in a post-climate future. as with most short story collections, some stories were fantastic while others were okay.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- i want candy: told through yelp reviews. i want a prosecco ventilator!
- succulent: short and strange, my two favorite things
- you need a license: i wanted this to be longer
- just a taste: i need an entire book of this
- lorenzo: perfect, no notes
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- pleased to meet you: sentient meat!
- unlimited dream: i thought there would be more cannibalism but this was fun
⭐️⭐️⭐️
- pollinators
- a view worth
- novel suggestions
- rubber road
- marianne
- food fight
- the crane
⭐️⭐️
- time to fly
- recipe from the future
thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the free eARC!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- i want candy: told through yelp reviews. i want a prosecco ventilator!
- succulent: short and strange, my two favorite things
- you need a license: i wanted this to be longer
- just a taste: i need an entire book of this
- lorenzo: perfect, no notes
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- pleased to meet you: sentient meat!
- unlimited dream: i thought there would be more cannibalism but this was fun
⭐️⭐️⭐️
- pollinators
- a view worth
- novel suggestions
- rubber road
- marianne
- food fight
- the crane
⭐️⭐️
- time to fly
- recipe from the future
thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the free eARC!
September 7, 2025
Um livro de contos feito por autores canadenses. Todos são um pouco distópicos, se passam no futuro e são relacionado à alimentação. Me lembrou um pouco a série do Netflix Love Death and Robots, que apesar de não ter nada a ver com comida, também tem episódios com estilos totalmente diferentes e todos se passam em distopias.
September 26, 2025
Some really standout stories in here. I also appreciated the breadth and variety of focuses and themes that were in the selected stories.
May 12, 2025
Dear Reader: What’s the worst thing you’ve ever eaten?
We have a “delicacy” here, amacimbi/madora/mopane worms—edible caterpillars of the emperor moth (Gonimbrasia belina) that you find on mopane/iphane tree leaves in a particular season. Iphane grows in arid areas of southern Africa, so amacimbi are popular as they’re kind of “manna,” food found from foraging, and therefore accessible to the rural poor. I’ll spare you the details of how they’re prepared (or how they smell so fatty and greasy); suffice it to say, I have *never* eaten them and would leave the house whenever my family partook (which they eventually stopped doing because of me). But I am a squeamish eater in general; this is really just me, an anomaly in my part of the world. To answer my own question: The worst thing I’ve ever eaten is kangaroo—not because it tasted bad, because it really didn’t, but because I was tricked into it. And because it’s Skippy innit.
Anyway, it would seem like madora are a food of the future—along with crickets and possibly cockroaches, as well as other assorted bugs. And then there’ll be the stuff you grow in a lab—petri dish meat. Add to this the fact that fresh water may be hard to come by in our warmed Earth future? I will simply sign up for a quick death, I think.
A topic like “the future of food” can have really broad implications and interpretations; that’s what *Devouring Tomorrow* highlights. Stories in this imaginative and interesting collection include ones about—necessarily, as this is topical—cultured meat (cannibalism, anyone? This is how I may sign up to go out); futures where diets are even more class-based than today, sadly; the future of agrarian technology in the form of drone-aided pollination; memories of taste and flavour, because it’s becoming clear some foods will just no longer exist in the future (like coffee and chocolate—kill me now); and yes, water scarcity. For most of the stories, climate change is what haunts, and future means the absence of the abundance we are so reckless with now.
The collection as a whole has stories that lean towards sci-fi, horror, fantasy, as well as themes that defy genre classification. There’s a fun story about really rather unpleasantly rude dinner guests (Ji Hong Sayo’s *Novel Suggestions For Social Occasions*). There are people who generate food by “dreaming” (in Mark Sampson’s *Unlimited Dream*). There’s a deeply mournful story about the last fig tree (*Lorenzo And the Last Fig* by Eddy Boudel Tan). In one memorable story at the beginning of the collection, food is the protagonist (Catherine Bush’s *Pleased To Meet You*).
All of these stories are different visions of the end of the world (which, again, I am not going to stick around for). Come for imaginings of how the way we live today will impact tomorrow’s food. Stick around for some very dark humour, thoughts on the sociality around how we eat and also the taboos, and possible new ways we’ll make food. What food will you miss in the future? *Devouring Tomorrow* gets readers pondering.
Thanks to Dundurn and NetGalley for early DRC access.
We have a “delicacy” here, amacimbi/madora/mopane worms—edible caterpillars of the emperor moth (Gonimbrasia belina) that you find on mopane/iphane tree leaves in a particular season. Iphane grows in arid areas of southern Africa, so amacimbi are popular as they’re kind of “manna,” food found from foraging, and therefore accessible to the rural poor. I’ll spare you the details of how they’re prepared (or how they smell so fatty and greasy); suffice it to say, I have *never* eaten them and would leave the house whenever my family partook (which they eventually stopped doing because of me). But I am a squeamish eater in general; this is really just me, an anomaly in my part of the world. To answer my own question: The worst thing I’ve ever eaten is kangaroo—not because it tasted bad, because it really didn’t, but because I was tricked into it. And because it’s Skippy innit.
Anyway, it would seem like madora are a food of the future—along with crickets and possibly cockroaches, as well as other assorted bugs. And then there’ll be the stuff you grow in a lab—petri dish meat. Add to this the fact that fresh water may be hard to come by in our warmed Earth future? I will simply sign up for a quick death, I think.
A topic like “the future of food” can have really broad implications and interpretations; that’s what *Devouring Tomorrow* highlights. Stories in this imaginative and interesting collection include ones about—necessarily, as this is topical—cultured meat (cannibalism, anyone? This is how I may sign up to go out); futures where diets are even more class-based than today, sadly; the future of agrarian technology in the form of drone-aided pollination; memories of taste and flavour, because it’s becoming clear some foods will just no longer exist in the future (like coffee and chocolate—kill me now); and yes, water scarcity. For most of the stories, climate change is what haunts, and future means the absence of the abundance we are so reckless with now.
The collection as a whole has stories that lean towards sci-fi, horror, fantasy, as well as themes that defy genre classification. There’s a fun story about really rather unpleasantly rude dinner guests (Ji Hong Sayo’s *Novel Suggestions For Social Occasions*). There are people who generate food by “dreaming” (in Mark Sampson’s *Unlimited Dream*). There’s a deeply mournful story about the last fig tree (*Lorenzo And the Last Fig* by Eddy Boudel Tan). In one memorable story at the beginning of the collection, food is the protagonist (Catherine Bush’s *Pleased To Meet You*).
All of these stories are different visions of the end of the world (which, again, I am not going to stick around for). Come for imaginings of how the way we live today will impact tomorrow’s food. Stick around for some very dark humour, thoughts on the sociality around how we eat and also the taboos, and possible new ways we’ll make food. What food will you miss in the future? *Devouring Tomorrow* gets readers pondering.
Thanks to Dundurn and NetGalley for early DRC access.
January 22, 2025
Devouring Tomorrow is an anthology of 17 short stories centring around the theme of food insecurity in the future. I typically love a Black Mirror-esque dystopian story, however, I unfortunately found this collection too strange, largely incoherent and lacking flow. From a group of friends having a conversation about which celebrity to eat for dinner, to somebody talking about what a mechanical crane might eat if it came to life, to a pregnant woman who isn’t allowed to eat too much cake, to a very unnecessarily sad story about an abandoned dog, to a very graphic description of an eating disorder from the point of view of the food. For the most part, these stories left me rather perplexed and bewildered rather than entertained.
There were a few stories in this collection that I was more engaged with, namely, Unlimited Dream, a world where technology allows food to be dreamt up into tangible edible produce, and there were elements of other stories I enjoyed, however, as a whole unfortunately this anthology was a miss for me personally. That isn’t to say others might not really enjoy it though, especially if wacky and weird is your thing! Available from the 22nd April 2025.
Content Warnings: Animal Cruelty, Animal Death, Cannibalism, Death, Death of Parent, Drug Use, Eating Disorder, Violence, Vomit.
Thank you to NetGalley and Publishers Dundurn Press for the chance to read and review this ARC.
There were a few stories in this collection that I was more engaged with, namely, Unlimited Dream, a world where technology allows food to be dreamt up into tangible edible produce, and there were elements of other stories I enjoyed, however, as a whole unfortunately this anthology was a miss for me personally. That isn’t to say others might not really enjoy it though, especially if wacky and weird is your thing! Available from the 22nd April 2025.
Content Warnings: Animal Cruelty, Animal Death, Cannibalism, Death, Death of Parent, Drug Use, Eating Disorder, Violence, Vomit.
Thank you to NetGalley and Publishers Dundurn Press for the chance to read and review this ARC.
November 2, 2024
This was my very first short story collection, and can I just say…it was beautifully terrifying. I enjoyed more of the funny ones (like the people going back and forth with their reviews), but it really gave me a lot to think about.
I say it’s terrifying because some of these seemingly outrageous things (eating celebrity flesh that they sold when they were alive??) could be the reality of the world in 100 years (never know, I’m sure people in 1924 didn’t think we’d have iPhones lol).
Overall, these short stories were so well written and I would be interested to read more from some of these writers😊
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I say it’s terrifying because some of these seemingly outrageous things (eating celebrity flesh that they sold when they were alive??) could be the reality of the world in 100 years (never know, I’m sure people in 1924 didn’t think we’d have iPhones lol).
Overall, these short stories were so well written and I would be interested to read more from some of these writers😊
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2025
Devouring Tomorrow is an eclectic collection of imagined food futures, speculative and dystopian, by some established and creative Canadian writers, edited by Jeff Dupuis and A.G. Pasquella. It will be released on April 22nd.
As someone who has been teaching international students and immigrants for over 15 years, I know there is one topic that I can always get pretty much anyone to speak on or write about and that is food. Every human, every culture, every soul in this big world, has some connection to food or our lack thereof. As we continue to have worries about climate change, overpopulation and disease, these worries apply to food. Will we have enough of it in the future? Will the world be able to feed everyone? Will we have to resort to eating only science-formed, lab-based food? Is meat a thing of the not-so-distant past? As A.G.A Wilmot ponders in Just a Taste, “It has been predicted, more than two centuries prior, that an out-of-control population crisis would one day spell the end of fresh meat.”
This is what this collection deals with in new and mind-bending ways, the threat to food, not even just the idea of food, or food itself, but how and what we are going to be eating in the future. And perhaps tomorrow is going to come sooner than we’d like. Sometimes these stories even seem to read as “non-fiction” as tomorrow is too close for comfort and the plausibility is frightening.
As with any collection of short stories, some stories you will love and others will be misses, but as a whole the collection is coherent, and the stories build together nicely on the topic of food. There are some stories that are almost funny, like “Succulent” where people eat clean, delicious, reputable celebrity flesh donated from their genetic sequence.
Some like Pollinators is about all of the bees disappearing, which is downright terrifying. Through disturbing end of the world apocalypses to exploration of food and motherhood and who gets the right to eat what, Devouring Tomorrow will leave you thinking about what the future holds, who gets to survive and thrive and just what food might mean at the end of time. Some of the stories are truly bizarre, but all will leave you pondering the coming days and what surprises the future of food might hold.
As someone who has been teaching international students and immigrants for over 15 years, I know there is one topic that I can always get pretty much anyone to speak on or write about and that is food. Every human, every culture, every soul in this big world, has some connection to food or our lack thereof. As we continue to have worries about climate change, overpopulation and disease, these worries apply to food. Will we have enough of it in the future? Will the world be able to feed everyone? Will we have to resort to eating only science-formed, lab-based food? Is meat a thing of the not-so-distant past? As A.G.A Wilmot ponders in Just a Taste, “It has been predicted, more than two centuries prior, that an out-of-control population crisis would one day spell the end of fresh meat.”
This is what this collection deals with in new and mind-bending ways, the threat to food, not even just the idea of food, or food itself, but how and what we are going to be eating in the future. And perhaps tomorrow is going to come sooner than we’d like. Sometimes these stories even seem to read as “non-fiction” as tomorrow is too close for comfort and the plausibility is frightening.
As with any collection of short stories, some stories you will love and others will be misses, but as a whole the collection is coherent, and the stories build together nicely on the topic of food. There are some stories that are almost funny, like “Succulent” where people eat clean, delicious, reputable celebrity flesh donated from their genetic sequence.
Some like Pollinators is about all of the bees disappearing, which is downright terrifying. Through disturbing end of the world apocalypses to exploration of food and motherhood and who gets the right to eat what, Devouring Tomorrow will leave you thinking about what the future holds, who gets to survive and thrive and just what food might mean at the end of time. Some of the stories are truly bizarre, but all will leave you pondering the coming days and what surprises the future of food might hold.
October 25, 2024
Like most multi-authored anthologies, some stories caught my attention and others were more of a struggle to get through. This collection presents a diverse range of voices and styles, which is both its strength and its challenge.
I like that the collection was centered around the theme "Fiction from the Future of Food." Though, to be honest, some of the stories felt heavy-handed.
That being said, if you like weird, speculative, black mirror-esque stories, then definitely check out this collection! 90% of the stories are unique, thoughtful, engaging and freaky!
Thanks to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for the ARC!
4/5 Stars
I like that the collection was centered around the theme "Fiction from the Future of Food." Though, to be honest, some of the stories felt heavy-handed.
That being said, if you like weird, speculative, black mirror-esque stories, then definitely check out this collection! 90% of the stories are unique, thoughtful, engaging and freaky!
Thanks to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for the ARC!
4/5 Stars
December 27, 2025
I feel grateful whenever my fridge is full after putting away the groceries from a trip to the supermarket. Guilty when I open it and don't know what to grab despite having a wide range of options. Delighted when I bite into my quesadillas with chilorio, lime, and salsa. I am nothing short of privileged. Sharing and enjoying food really is one of the greatest pleasures of life.
I was drawn to the theme of the anthology, on what might happen when food is scarce or non-existent as we know it. When food becomes a luxury. Scary, but not crazy, to think about. (𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦: 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘢 𝘭𝘶𝘹𝘶𝘳𝘺. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴.)
This is the kind of collection where, even though not all stories were equally good to my taste (pun intended), all are equally interesting to analyze and admire. To observe each author's unique take on the same task. So much imagination poured in. It's natural, their being so different is what makes it rich.
A few stories play with the idea of remembering what something tastes like as a means of pleasure when there's nothing left. That's what stuck with me the most, the longing for taste. Can you even imagine?
The ones most memorable to me were:
- 𝙎𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩 (Elan Mastai): Made me think about things we do today that will sound totally insane in the future.
- 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙁𝙡𝙮 (Lisa de Nikolits): Actually sad, but entertaining. The illusion of taste.
- 𝘼 𝙑𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙦𝙪𝙖 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 (Anuja Varghese): Capitalism to the extreme. The reveal was shocking!
- 𝙐𝙣𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝘿𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 (Mark Sampson): Very Severance-y.
- 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙯𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙁𝙞𝙜 (Eddy Boudel Tan): Very sweet and nostalgic. Tenderness for nature and family love.
- 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙚 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 (Gary Barwin): Didn't understand much but it was satisfying to read. Very poetic.
Thank you, NetGalley, for this ARC.
I was drawn to the theme of the anthology, on what might happen when food is scarce or non-existent as we know it. When food becomes a luxury. Scary, but not crazy, to think about. (𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦: 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘢 𝘭𝘶𝘹𝘶𝘳𝘺. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴.)
This is the kind of collection where, even though not all stories were equally good to my taste (pun intended), all are equally interesting to analyze and admire. To observe each author's unique take on the same task. So much imagination poured in. It's natural, their being so different is what makes it rich.
A few stories play with the idea of remembering what something tastes like as a means of pleasure when there's nothing left. That's what stuck with me the most, the longing for taste. Can you even imagine?
The ones most memorable to me were:
- 𝙎𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩 (Elan Mastai): Made me think about things we do today that will sound totally insane in the future.
- 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙁𝙡𝙮 (Lisa de Nikolits): Actually sad, but entertaining. The illusion of taste.
- 𝘼 𝙑𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙦𝙪𝙖 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 (Anuja Varghese): Capitalism to the extreme. The reveal was shocking!
- 𝙐𝙣𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝘿𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 (Mark Sampson): Very Severance-y.
- 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙯𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙁𝙞𝙜 (Eddy Boudel Tan): Very sweet and nostalgic. Tenderness for nature and family love.
- 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙚 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 (Gary Barwin): Didn't understand much but it was satisfying to read. Very poetic.
Thank you, NetGalley, for this ARC.
November 15, 2024
2.5 rounded up.
Overall, this was an okay read, but nothing really stood out for me. If you enjoy dystopian stories with recurring themes around food scarcity and survival, give it a try. For me, it was hit or miss—some stories caught my interest, but most fell flat or felt like “telling” rather than “showing.”
Energy: Bleak. Acerbic. Lamenting.
🐺 Growls Some of the stories felt underdeveloped or overly focused on commentary - the focus is post-apocalyptic “worst-case” scenarios, but the constant emphasis on what’s “lost” felt repetitive, and it made the overall collection feel like it was hitting me over the head with the theme instead of just letting the plots unfold and speak for themselves.
🐕 Howls The majority either were too simplistic or too complex to fit in such a short length. Each story has different societal rules, technologies, and settings, but they’re often introduced with minimal explanation, making them confusing and difficult to follow. Some of these worlds felt so big that they needed more room to breathe—perhaps better suited to novellas or longer stories?
🐩 Tail Wags Some stories were thought-provoking.
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Restaurant reviews. Protein synthesizer. Centrifuge. Smart glasses. Gum. Memories. Death. Hunger.
• Touch of bleak future randomness
• Witty, dark comedy moments
• Eco sci fi disaster energy
• Post apocalyptic and dystopian stories
• Using little details to infer what the situations are
Content Heads-Up: War (nuclear, mass death). Food insecurity. Poverty. Pregnancy. Dog abandonment. Death. Loss of loved ones. Climate/environmental collapse. Gun violence.
Rep: Canadian.
📚 Format: Advance Reader’s Copy from Dundurn Press | Rare Machines and NetGalley
My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶
Overall, this was an okay read, but nothing really stood out for me. If you enjoy dystopian stories with recurring themes around food scarcity and survival, give it a try. For me, it was hit or miss—some stories caught my interest, but most fell flat or felt like “telling” rather than “showing.”
Energy: Bleak. Acerbic. Lamenting.
🐺 Growls Some of the stories felt underdeveloped or overly focused on commentary - the focus is post-apocalyptic “worst-case” scenarios, but the constant emphasis on what’s “lost” felt repetitive, and it made the overall collection feel like it was hitting me over the head with the theme instead of just letting the plots unfold and speak for themselves.
🐕 Howls The majority either were too simplistic or too complex to fit in such a short length. Each story has different societal rules, technologies, and settings, but they’re often introduced with minimal explanation, making them confusing and difficult to follow. Some of these worlds felt so big that they needed more room to breathe—perhaps better suited to novellas or longer stories?
🐩 Tail Wags Some stories were thought-provoking.
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Restaurant reviews. Protein synthesizer. Centrifuge. Smart glasses. Gum. Memories. Death. Hunger.
• Touch of bleak future randomness
• Witty, dark comedy moments
• Eco sci fi disaster energy
• Post apocalyptic and dystopian stories
• Using little details to infer what the situations are
Content Heads-Up: War (nuclear, mass death). Food insecurity. Poverty. Pregnancy. Dog abandonment. Death. Loss of loved ones. Climate/environmental collapse. Gun violence.
Rep: Canadian.
📚 Format: Advance Reader’s Copy from Dundurn Press | Rare Machines and NetGalley
My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶
September 15, 2024
Easy to “devour”
I was lucky enough to receive an ARC from NetGalley, and this collection of short stories is fantastic. Short stories and horror are a great combination, as is showcased here in DEVOURING TOMORROW.
Plot:
As a collection of short stories, the writers were given the premise of the future state of food, specifically in Canada.
What did I like:
I forgot how much fun short stories are. Because of their brief nature, writers can take big risks telling their stories. Whether it be a story using restaurant reviews (I WANT CANDY) or without dialogue tags (SUCCULENT), the payoff is worth it. Changing the normal convention of a story forced me to think more about what I was reading.
And that’s not to say the rest of the stories didn’t make me think. Oh, they did. At about halfway, I wondered if a few short stories might be connected. But I don’t want to get into any spoilers.
I also liked that the stories were being told across Canada. It added a dimension to the stories that made me feel more connected. Sure, some of them were so far in the future I didn’t feel the same connection, but that’s also the point. We’re imagining the future of food.
What didn’t I like:
The main thing I didn’t like was what I enjoyed the most: the stories are short stories. I wanted to live in some of them (POLLINATORS) more, to see that story world fleshed out. But doing so would rob the short story of its punch.
Final thoughts:
If you’re a Candian Literature fan, this book is for you. If you love horror, this book is for you. The editors, Jeff Dupuis and A.G. Pasquella, did a fantastic job. All of the writers did amazing. I’ve been reading a lot of Science Fiction lately, so this was a breath of fresh air.
I was lucky enough to receive an ARC from NetGalley, and this collection of short stories is fantastic. Short stories and horror are a great combination, as is showcased here in DEVOURING TOMORROW.
Plot:
As a collection of short stories, the writers were given the premise of the future state of food, specifically in Canada.
What did I like:
I forgot how much fun short stories are. Because of their brief nature, writers can take big risks telling their stories. Whether it be a story using restaurant reviews (I WANT CANDY) or without dialogue tags (SUCCULENT), the payoff is worth it. Changing the normal convention of a story forced me to think more about what I was reading.
And that’s not to say the rest of the stories didn’t make me think. Oh, they did. At about halfway, I wondered if a few short stories might be connected. But I don’t want to get into any spoilers.
I also liked that the stories were being told across Canada. It added a dimension to the stories that made me feel more connected. Sure, some of them were so far in the future I didn’t feel the same connection, but that’s also the point. We’re imagining the future of food.
What didn’t I like:
The main thing I didn’t like was what I enjoyed the most: the stories are short stories. I wanted to live in some of them (POLLINATORS) more, to see that story world fleshed out. But doing so would rob the short story of its punch.
Final thoughts:
If you’re a Candian Literature fan, this book is for you. If you love horror, this book is for you. The editors, Jeff Dupuis and A.G. Pasquella, did a fantastic job. All of the writers did amazing. I’ve been reading a lot of Science Fiction lately, so this was a breath of fresh air.
November 3, 2024
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!
Please note this is a 3.5.
This was an interesting compilation of short speculative fiction pieces centered around one of the base instincts of humanity - eating. As with all anthology pieces, some of these were real standouts, and others were lacking. I found a lot of the concepts really interesting, but particularly the idea of celebrity consumption (which, let's face it, everyone borders with parasocial relationships they hold with celebrities if they do so), and the idea of the memory of food existing where it cannot be shared with the wider world.
I think the story that grabbed me the most was the latter, with the idea of memory 'hoarding' of foods and tastes and concepts. We currently live in a world where food availability in first world countries has never been easier, and we have nearly every possible taste available to us in easy reach. A world reduced to very little taste and substance is, of course, a very possible reality, especially with food insecurity, and we may well one day find ourselves reaching to grasp the memory of a burger from something that has been around far longer than we have.
I did think that there were some stories, particularly towards the end, that could have stood to have a little more substance. I started them, was just starting to get into them, and then they ended. This is, of course, a common course with anthologies, but I did want a little bit more from some of the authors in making this a meatier collection. It was definitely thought-provoking and interesting, however!
Please note this is a 3.5.
This was an interesting compilation of short speculative fiction pieces centered around one of the base instincts of humanity - eating. As with all anthology pieces, some of these were real standouts, and others were lacking. I found a lot of the concepts really interesting, but particularly the idea of celebrity consumption (which, let's face it, everyone borders with parasocial relationships they hold with celebrities if they do so), and the idea of the memory of food existing where it cannot be shared with the wider world.
I think the story that grabbed me the most was the latter, with the idea of memory 'hoarding' of foods and tastes and concepts. We currently live in a world where food availability in first world countries has never been easier, and we have nearly every possible taste available to us in easy reach. A world reduced to very little taste and substance is, of course, a very possible reality, especially with food insecurity, and we may well one day find ourselves reaching to grasp the memory of a burger from something that has been around far longer than we have.
I did think that there were some stories, particularly towards the end, that could have stood to have a little more substance. I started them, was just starting to get into them, and then they ended. This is, of course, a common course with anthologies, but I did want a little bit more from some of the authors in making this a meatier collection. It was definitely thought-provoking and interesting, however!
March 8, 2025
Like food, it’s a matter of taste
I am an avid cook and have been a fan of science fiction/speculative fiction since middle school, so I was really looking forward to this book. Unfortunately, like many anthologies, the quality varies, and also, given the rather unusual focus, the emphasis also varies so that readers are likely to find some stories more interesting than others.
It is TOUGH to write good short speculative fiction, because the author must create an alternative or future setting in a short time. As a result, it is not uncommon to spend so much time on the setting that the story takes a bit of a back seat or is hard to follow. Alternatively, the author can sketch the setting so superficially in order to get to the plot that readers like me have a hard time following it. In an anthology with a specific topic as its focus, food in this case, some stories will emphasize the topic more than others, which might just throw it in as a detail. All of these shortcomings were present in various stories in this book, at least to this reader.
There were some good stories, though, and I especially enjoyed Lorenzo and the Last Fig, about a future where a malevolent fungus has wiped out the world’s fruit crops. I really enjoyed the writing in Unlimited Dream by Mark Sampson and will look for more of his books even though the ending let me down a bit.
Tastes vary in reading as well as food, though, so your favorites among an anthology like this could be different from mine. If it interests you, give it a nibble.
I received an advance review copy of this book from Edelweiss and the publisher.
I am an avid cook and have been a fan of science fiction/speculative fiction since middle school, so I was really looking forward to this book. Unfortunately, like many anthologies, the quality varies, and also, given the rather unusual focus, the emphasis also varies so that readers are likely to find some stories more interesting than others.
It is TOUGH to write good short speculative fiction, because the author must create an alternative or future setting in a short time. As a result, it is not uncommon to spend so much time on the setting that the story takes a bit of a back seat or is hard to follow. Alternatively, the author can sketch the setting so superficially in order to get to the plot that readers like me have a hard time following it. In an anthology with a specific topic as its focus, food in this case, some stories will emphasize the topic more than others, which might just throw it in as a detail. All of these shortcomings were present in various stories in this book, at least to this reader.
There were some good stories, though, and I especially enjoyed Lorenzo and the Last Fig, about a future where a malevolent fungus has wiped out the world’s fruit crops. I really enjoyed the writing in Unlimited Dream by Mark Sampson and will look for more of his books even though the ending let me down a bit.
Tastes vary in reading as well as food, though, so your favorites among an anthology like this could be different from mine. If it interests you, give it a nibble.
I received an advance review copy of this book from Edelweiss and the publisher.
October 21, 2024
Our lives, our culture, and our community all start with and revolve around food and eating. But we are entering an era of unprecedented change.
This book explores this setting in strange, morbid ways. A collection of short stories, written by Canada's most exciting authors.
When I saw this book over on NetGalley, I was strangely drawn to it. It might be the theme or the blurb, maybe the title or a collection of all of these. Each story is told by a different author, some longer than others and all telling their own tale on the take on what happens in the future of our food. Lab-grown meat, a future without bees, even cannibalism (can it be really named if one eats clones instead of actual humans?) - all these topics and more make an appearance.
In theory, this book would've been right up my alley, in reality, however, I just didn't seem to be able to connect. Some of these stories were easier for me, while others didn't fit at all.
I really wish I could've said I loved this one, but the reality is, that it was a battle reading it. Maybe it was the fact that there were so many different stories that always seemed to pull me out or maybe it was not enough of my mood for now.
Still, if the topic feels like it's up your alley, I'd definitely give it a try, as the writing itself isn't bad at all.
This book explores this setting in strange, morbid ways. A collection of short stories, written by Canada's most exciting authors.
When I saw this book over on NetGalley, I was strangely drawn to it. It might be the theme or the blurb, maybe the title or a collection of all of these. Each story is told by a different author, some longer than others and all telling their own tale on the take on what happens in the future of our food. Lab-grown meat, a future without bees, even cannibalism (can it be really named if one eats clones instead of actual humans?) - all these topics and more make an appearance.
In theory, this book would've been right up my alley, in reality, however, I just didn't seem to be able to connect. Some of these stories were easier for me, while others didn't fit at all.
I really wish I could've said I loved this one, but the reality is, that it was a battle reading it. Maybe it was the fact that there were so many different stories that always seemed to pull me out or maybe it was not enough of my mood for now.
Still, if the topic feels like it's up your alley, I'd definitely give it a try, as the writing itself isn't bad at all.
December 9, 2024
Heartfelt thanks to Rare Machines (Dundurn Press) and NetGalley for an ARC of Devouring Tomorrow!
Devouring Tomorrow is a collection of short stories from different authors, in which the fil rouge is represented a dystopic near future in which food runs low. So we have a world in which water is used as currency, another world in which people feed themselves with memories of long lost dishes, another in which people can only assume a certain amount of calories per day, depending on what licence they own, and so on.
But there are also other examples of dystopias that, for me at least, were easier to imagine. For example, the story Lorenzo And The Last Fig is set in a world where crops and fruit trees have been virtually exterminated by a bacterium. This is not that far from what happened with olive trees and Xylella fastidiosa in Southern Italy, so we should be aware that, in some cases, we've already reached that point.
I loved to see the different interpretations of the theme from different authors. I believe some stories were clearer than others (especially in the world building). Overall, Devouring Tomorrow is a brilliant antology on a future that is not so distant from our current reality.
(I'd put a TW for ED before Marianne is not hungry, unless there's one already, in that case I missed it)
Devouring Tomorrow is a collection of short stories from different authors, in which the fil rouge is represented a dystopic near future in which food runs low. So we have a world in which water is used as currency, another world in which people feed themselves with memories of long lost dishes, another in which people can only assume a certain amount of calories per day, depending on what licence they own, and so on.
But there are also other examples of dystopias that, for me at least, were easier to imagine. For example, the story Lorenzo And The Last Fig is set in a world where crops and fruit trees have been virtually exterminated by a bacterium. This is not that far from what happened with olive trees and Xylella fastidiosa in Southern Italy, so we should be aware that, in some cases, we've already reached that point.
I loved to see the different interpretations of the theme from different authors. I believe some stories were clearer than others (especially in the world building). Overall, Devouring Tomorrow is a brilliant antology on a future that is not so distant from our current reality.
(I'd put a TW for ED before Marianne is not hungry, unless there's one already, in that case I missed it)
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