Biketopia: Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories in Extreme Futures

Bikes in Space #4

by Elly Blue (Editor)

This is the newest volume of the Bikes in Space A highly imaginative collection of sci-fi stories with a feminist bent.

In a world with an uncertain future, do you imagine for the best or for the worst case scenario? Twelve writers tackle extreme utopias and dystopias―and the grey areas in between―in Biketopia , the fourth volume of the Bikes in Space series of feminist science fiction stories about bicycling. Some find love and fierce resistance in the end times; others imagine an ecological future of saving technology, with solarpunk ecotopian visions, at times paired with crushing social control. Whatever your own future or present reality, these stories will motivate and inspire you to envision something different... and maybe even better.

The fourth volume of the Bikes in Space series of feminist science fiction stories about bicycling. Some find love and fierce resistance in the end times; others imagine an ecological future of saving technology, with solarpunk ecotopian visions, at times paired with crushing social control. Whatever your own future or present reality, these stories will motivate and inspire you to envision something different... and maybe even better.

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Solarpunk, Fiction, Dystopia, Feminism, Speculative Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 17, 2017

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found ‘Biketopia’ in the pop-up bookshop at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. When I saw it I had the delightful, unaccustomed sensation of being pandered to. Dystopias, feminism, and bicycles are three of my favourite things. Indeed, I am often disappointed by the lack of cycling in postapocalyptic novels - it’s definitely how I plan to get around when civilisation falls over. Clearly I could not resist this charming little book, which lived up to its promise. The stories are set a broad and interesting selection of worlds, in which women work together, resist tyranny, and ride bikes. My favourites were ‘Signal Lost’, a very plausible vision of over-intrusive health monitoring, ‘Shelter’, a misogynist dystopia that recalls The Handmaid's Tale, and ‘Portlandtown’, in which men have died out and woman live in micronations. Other stories featured zombies, pandemics, and a neat ten page Hunger-Games-as-bike-race pastiche. ‘Fast Learner’ seemed like the weakest of the bunch, although that’s a matter of taste rather than it being poorly written. All the stories have an interesting central conceit and together they were a real treat. I liked the choice to end on a light note, with the rehabilitation of feral bikes and a sprinkling of book and TV reviews. What a great idea for a story collection.

[Hákon Gunnarsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biketopia is the fourth volume of the Bikes in Space series, each volume a collection of feminist science fiction short stories about bicycling.

From the back cover: "Dystopian or Utopian? It's not always clear." It quite true that this science fiction anthology has a mix of these two genre, but I think the dystopians do outnumber the utopians, or the solarpunk stories. As always seems happen with anthologies like this, the different writing styles appeal to one differently, but over all I like this short book. My favourite stories are:

"Meet Cute" by Maddy Spencer which is the only cartoon story in the anthology. It's a wordless love story set in a solarpunk universe. It really is a cute short story, and one that I liked a lot.

"Maaike's Aquatic Center for Bicycles Raised by Fishes" by Jessie Kwak is hardly what one could call a story, there is only the flimsiest plot line, but it is a brilliant piece of writing just the same. It is the shortest story in the book, but I think this one will live me the longest of all the stories.

Both of these stories are along the solarpunk line, but of the dystopian stories I liked "Questions with the First" by Jim Warrenfeltz the best. It is a strong piece with only two characters sitting in a room talking, but in this interview you get the whole story. Atmospheric piece.

I honestly didn't think bicycle science fiction was such a rich topic, but there is clearly a lot that can be done with in it.

[Sunny Lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 2.5

Sometimes a little too Portland in a bad way, a few solid stories in here, a lot of unmemorable misses for me

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars for Biketopia: Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories in Extreme Futures (audiobook) Edited by Elly Blue read by Carolina Hoyos.

This was a interesting look into the future by twelve writers. They came up with utopias and dystopias where women are taking charge and using bicycles to find their adventure or freedom.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm giving this book four stars because of the sheer enthusiasm of the editor and writers. I enjoyed most of the stories, but, like the other book in this series that I read, Trans-Galactic Bike Ride: Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories of Transgender and Nonbinary Adventurers, the stories are written, I'm not sure how to say it, but naively, as if the authors weren't aware that they aren't opening up new territory with the stories. Like maybe they're not science fiction readers, and/or this is the first sf story they've written? Editing quality is not the best either (and not the worst). But again, the enthusiasm is great, the stories are engaging, and I enjoyed the bicycle and feminist themes.

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit that I got this book from the library mostly because of the off beat nature of the anthology - utopian and dystopian bicycle stories! Third in the "bikes in space" series! published (of course) in Portland! - but I ended up enjoying it. The good stories (particularly one about the insidious controlling nature of coporate-connected fitness tracking applied to pregnancy) were wonderful and the less good stories were at least fun. Bicycles consistently were used as a metaphor for personal freedom, allowing characters to get to where they need to be under their own power. hopeful thought, that.

[Eleanor Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories are great when you don't feel you have enough attention span for a whole novel - and as soon as I saw this compilation existed I had to buy it. Science Fiction, Feminism, Bicycles: it's almost like it was made just for me. Some of the stories resonated with me, others less so, some felt a bit dated but others completely fresh and new. And I particularly liked the closing tale of bikes fished from Amsterdam's canals. The reviews at the end were the most mediocre part of the book: but find that this is in fact only one of s series of volumes has me thinking of looking out the others too. Thank you Elly Blue

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid anthology of great variety. I especially enjoyed ‘Fast Learner’ by Kris Rose, in which the wife of an abusive bass player finds a novel way to survive a plague, and ‘Signal Lost’ by Gretchin Lair, which explores the unwanted (and asymmetric) effects of even opt-in surveillance. Really, though, this was a book full of treats. I hope to read the other collections in the series.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed bag of short stories. Some stories were especially good, one in particular would make for a decent Black Mirror episode [“Lost Signal”], but others didn’t catch me. Edition I read could use some editing [missing words, spelling errors]. Fun little collection though!

[Taru Luojola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suhteellisen keskinkertainen kokoelma novelleja, joiden yhdistävinä tekijöinä ovat dystooppisuus ja polkupyörät. Vaikka nimestä voisi luulla, että tässä on utopioita(kin), ei novelleissa juuri valoisuutta ole. Monet tarinoista ovat hyvän lähtöasetelman tasolla, ja varsinainen juonenkuljetus on jäänyt vähän heikoksi.

[Dylan Baldwin-Delaney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feminist bicycle sci fi sounds like a Portlandia skit (especially since the editor's story is called Portlandtown), but for the most part Biketopia was pretty good.

"Signal Lost" by Gretchen Lair and "Shelter" by Cynthia Marts were quite well done and set in a sadly believable future, and I'm a sucker for punk rock settings, so I liked "Fast Learner" by Kris Rose a lot (despite it's anti-bassist leanings). The other stories wavered, but this quick read was worth it for the aforementioned stories alone.

[Brenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-3.75. I haven't read a short story collection in a while, but I'm glad I finally read this one. One short story in particular, "Fast Learner" by Kris Rose, was really amazing. Oh man, I loved this story. Every time I watch an apocalypse movie or show and people are trying to escape a city, but so is everyone else at the same time, I yell at the television "ride a bike!" Those fuckers never listen to me.

Perfect sci-fi and apocalyptic short stories for people who love their bikes. I'm excited to read the other collections by Elly Blue.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorites in this collection were Signal Lost, Shelter, Questions With the First, and Maaike's Aquatic Center for Bicycles Raised by Fishes.

[Danika at The Lesbrary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun! I don't feel like any of the stories are really going to stick with me, but it's a cool premise and an amazing cover, and I did enjoy reading it.

[Ward · Rating 2 out of 5]

Deze bundel is een beetje een mixed bag, maar we geven het het voordeel van de twijfel. Het feministische aspect is gemiddeld genomen best aardig – dat betekent in dit geval dat er hoogtepunten en dieptepunten bijzitten. Het grote probleem zit 'm echter in de hele fietsenfacet. Ik was al een tijdje op zoek naar sciencefictionboeken met fietsen, omdat veel van de sciencefictionfilms en -boeken die ik consumeer het uitgangspunt lijken te hebben dat de cultuur van de toekomst het product is van een ontwikkeling van de Amerikaanse cultuur tot een panamerikaanse toekomst geprojecteerd op de gehele beschreven mensheid. En jullie weten dat Amerikaans cultuurimperialisme mij 's nachts wakker houdt.

Je zou de conclusie kunnen trekken dat ik gewoon niet de goede sciencefiction lees. Dat is ook zo. Maar ik had een tijd geleden bedacht dat het genre in ieder geval fietsen mist. Want als een Amerikaan iets niet kan bedenken dan is het wel dat er in de toekomst fietsen worden gebruikt in plaats van auto's die nog autoïger zijn dan de autoïgste auto's nu. En toen zag ik dit boek. Ik las de titel en dacht dat dit episch zou worden. Ik dacht hoopvol dat die fietsen zouden betekenen dat ik me beter zou herkennen als fietser in de algemene setting van het verhaal. Maar phoe phoe!! Ik had het helemaal mis.

Dit is juist het minst zelfbewuste meest Amerikaanse boek dat ik in tijden heb gelezen. Naast het feit dat in een groot deel van de verhalen de aanwezigheid van fietsen duidelijk alleen een excuus is om in deze bundel gepubliceerd te mogen worden, overheerst in de verhalen waar fietsen wel een actievere rol spelen een Amerikaanse interpretatie van wat fietsen is dusdanig het verhaal dat het juist mijn meest vervreemdende read in tijden is. Personages fietsen in groepjes, zoals hipsters in Portland; personages gaan fietsen als hobby in plaats van dat de fiets een alledaags gebruiksobject is; personages fietsen omdat ze gedwongen worden door de omstandigheden: bijna elk verhaal is een dystopie, omdat de auteurs eigenlijk geen andere reden kunnen bedenken voor een fietsende samenleving dan de gehele ineenstorting van de fossiele infrastructuur. Niet dat ik tegen de gehele ineenstorting van de fossiele infrastructuur ben, maar het is geen noodzakelijke voorwaarde om collectief te gaan fietsen!

Twee hoofdstukken zijn gewijd aan recensies, respectievelijk van boeken waarin personages fietsen en van tv-series waarin personages fietsen. De meeste boeken kunnen echter rekenen op zware kritiek van de recensenten, omdat het fietsen casual is. Zo krijgt Parable of the Sower van Octavia E. Butler ervan langs omdat de scenes met fietsen “underplayed” zijn. “Bikes are for transportation,” schrijft de recensent afkeurend. “The narrator pays very little attention to bikes and bike culture.” Vervolgens stelt de recensent voor dat het verhaal beter zou zijn als een van de personages een fietsenmaker was.

Naast deze hele fietsrant zijn sommige verhalen ook gewoon vreemd. Zo is er een verhaal over een vrouw wier echtgenoot vreemd blijkt te gaan (of vreemd blijkt te zijn gegaan) met twintig vrouwen die het hoofdpersonage als vrienden of kennissen kende (hier kom je gedurende het verhaal achter). Tegelijkertijd gaan opeens allemaal mensen op verschillende, onvoorspelbare momenten spontaan dood met bloedende ogen en weet ik veel wat. Paniek! Tijdens een bestemmingsloze fietsvlucht weg van stervende mensen, verkoopt de echtgenoot op een moment opeens een paar van de vrouwen waarmee hij vreemd ging als slaven aan een bikergang in ruil voor meth. Het hoofdpersonage is het opeens opgevallen dat iedereen waarmee haar echtgenoot vreemd is gegaan, niet spontaan aan het sterven is zoals de rest van de mensheid. De conclusie die ze trekt (en die iedereen aannemelijk lijkt te vinden), is dat seks met haar echtgenoot je immuun maakt voor whatever iedereen spontaan dood neer laat vallen. Het slot van het verhaal is dat het hoofdpersonage contact zoekt met de genoemde bikergang om haar echtgenoot – die opeens buiten bewustzijn is (ik weet niet meer waarom eigenlijk) – te ruilen tegen de vrijlating van die vrouwen waarmee de echtgenoot vreemd was gegaan en die hij als slaven had verkocht. Haar man is immers het een soort vaccin tegen deze onverklaarbare golf van dood (wat bikers vervolgens met de echtgenoot gaan doen, laat de auteur in het midden). De grote morele overwinning die geldt als de ontknoping van het verhaal is dat het hoofdpersonage kiest voor sisterhood en wraak op haar echtgenoot.

Twee andere verhalen laten zich samenvatten als "Hunger Games maar dan met wielrennen en uitsluitend vrouwen" en "Een kattenasiel maar de katten zijn fietsen opgevist uit een Amsterdams kanaal".

[Lauren Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where do I even begin with this one? Honestly, though. I haven't reviewed a short story collection on here before, and I'm not sure where to start. 

How about some backstory?

Biketopia: Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories in Extreme Futures seems, at first glance, an incredibly niche genre to be writing for. In some ways, that's true. Who else would think of dealing solely with bicycles in dystopian futures? 

I won this book from a GoodReads contest (the first one I entered, actually!), and was super excited to get it in the mail. The book came packaged with a short comic about the history of the publisher, Microcosm Press, and how it's flourished over the years, despite big publishers attempting to shut down indie publishers. I thought it was a very neat comic, and also a very neat way to distribute the press's catalogue of items. 

Upon researching Biketopia further,  found that it was started on Kickstarter! I'm glad they met their crowdfunding goals. This is also the third short story collection about bicycles in space that the publisher has published, so kudos to them for finding enough people that enjoy bicycles this much!

Now on to the actual review. This volume is very small, and regulates an average of eight pages per short story. Some are shorter, and some are much longer, but the average number of pages seems to be about eight. There are eleven short stories in this book. As with most short story collections, some are great, some are meh, and one are two are just...bad.

I am not going to call out specific stories for what they are, because I believe a collection like this needs to be experienced in its entirety. I will say the book suffers from being rushed. A lot of the stories have the potential to be really great, but they're strangled by the page or word limits that were imposed on them. Many of these could have been full-length novels by themselves. Eight pages (or even twelve pages) is not enough room for the majority of people to set up a dystopian society, explain the rules of the society, and explain why people are rebelling against it. I mean, The Hunger Games took three books to do so. The Uglies series has four (really long) books involved in overthrowing the seeming utopia. 

I will say I've never read a collection of short stories centered around bicycles. I'll also that for at least two of these stories, the bicycles seemed to be an afterthought. "Oh, wait, I've gotta put a bicycle in here somewhere!" Luckily, that's not the case for the majority of them. 

I think my favorite story in this book is the last story, "Maaike's Aquatic Center for Bicycles Raised by Fishes." It's got a unique premise behind it, and the way it's written makes me wish it was longer. It's one of the shorter stories in the book at around four pages or so. 

The most surprising thing to me is that reviews of other books as well as television shows at the end of the collection (all of which contain bicycles, of course). It doesn't feel like an afterthought, which is nice. 

If you're looking to purchase this book, go to Microcosm's page. I'm all about supporting small, indie presses. I'm probably going to end up buying several other books from Microcosm, because they seemed really interesting in the catalogue I received with my book shipment. 

In short, I'd give this collection a 3.5/5 stars. If you're really into dystopian fiction, and/or if you're a lover of bicycles, then this is the short story collection for you. I don't know how much the word "feminist" in the title plays in, because while there is some empowerment throughout a few of the stories, at some points it seems to be just shoved in randomly as well.

If you're into the genre, don't pass it up. Otherwise, I'd say rent this one from the library.

Series: Bikes in Space
Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: Elly Blue Publishing (August 8, 2017)
ISBN-13: 978-1621062066

As always, keep reading.

[Cas · Rating 4 out of 5]

(True average was 3.6, but the reading experience overall was more of a 4 anyway)
Picked this up at AWP after juggling between multiple Elly Blue speculative bike-themed anthologies, and ultimately going with a cover buy. I like yellow!
It ended up being a good choice, and I’m going to be looking out for many of these authors, as well as for more Microcosm anthologies and publications.

(Many of these stories are very short, so I’ll try to keep descriptions vague.)

“Riding in Place” by Sarena Ulibarri (3/5)
Collette has been drafted to the asteroid mines, and is counting down the days to return to earth when she meets an AI worker on the stationary bikes. Interesting, if conventional. I was more interested in the briefly-discussed Sisters of the Sun cult than the actual emotional-robot storyline.

“Taming the Beast” by Robert Bose (2.5/5)
In 2046, Ishani is given a government-sanctioned smart bicycle to replace his antiquated car. I could not deal with the idea that, in 20 years, we would all be saying “fark” instead of fuck. I like the bike gang though.

“Meet-cute” by Maddy Spencer
A comic strip! No dialogue, truly just a meet-cute. Liked the art, not going to try to rate it.

“Signal Lost” by Gretchen Lair (4.5/5)
The story opens with Tara receiving a push notification that she’s pregnant, and just gets weirder from there. I get overwhelmed thinking about data privacy at least weekly, and this was a really interesting take on it— as well as on the expectations and pressures of perfection put on mothers.

“Portlandtown” by Elly Blue (2.5/5)
There’s a matriarchy and entirely too many characters.

“Fast Learner” by Kris Rose (4.5/5)
This one follows Missy learning some difficult truths about her marriage as a mysterious plague overcomes the human race. The resolution of this was so ridiculous and delightful.

“Day 3658” by Dylan Siegler (3.5/5)
Zacky, Ashley, and Mandy are on the run from both the zombie apocalypse and dangerous military run “sanctuaries”. Omelas-esque, but much more fun.

“Shelter” by Cynthia Marts (5/5)
Donna is at risk of losing everything after her brother and guardian’s death in an extremely restrictive dystopia, and finds some solace in a support group. God, I love this one.

“Questions With the First” by Jim Warrenfeltz (4/5)
This is a transcript of an interview with the leader (or “first among equals”) of the People’s Republic of Real America. Really interesting, and also made me indirectly excited for the upcoming Hunger Games prequel.

“The Future of Flirtation” by Leigh Ward-Smith (2.5/5)
Mika meets a mysterious stranger at the diner where she works. It’s weird! Also, not enough about bikes.

“Maaike’s Aquatic Center for Bicycles Raised by Fishes” (4/5)
It’s all in the title. Cute!

The book concludes with book and television reviews that all relate back to bicycles somehow. Sure, I guess.

[Heather Warner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fourth book in the “feminist bicycle sci-fi” series and the second one that I’ve read-and I found this one just as entertaining. I love the bicycle being the connective piece throughout all of the stories, especially when the bikes are “alive”. All of the stories are quick reads and definitely have a social message in each one…..but I like that and expect it in this series of anthologies. Some of my faves are “Riding In Place” (Sarona Ulibarri)-an AI on a mining asteroid wants to visit Earth but isn’t allowed to leave because it isn’t believed to “know what it wants”-interesting story about AI agency; “Signal Lost” (Gretchen Lair)-state required ‘health chips’ are used to control women before, during, and after their pregnancies and how one woman feels about the lack of agency over her own body & life-seems very applicable to American women right now; “Portlandtown” (Elly Blue)-the longest story written by the book editor and it actually could easily be a whole novel-it’s a world without men where the two women-run “utopias” are at war-great characters & world building; “Shelter” (Cynthia Marts)-a world that women are viewed as less than men who receive all the good jobs, food, medical care, etc-and these men have unlimited life & death power over every woman-what drives some decide to escape; “Maaikes’s Aquatic Center for Bicycles Raised by Fish” (Jesse Kwak)-LOVED THIS ONE!!! Sweet & humorous & unique-an adoption center for ‘feral’ bikes!!! Need I say more!
But overall I enjoyed every story-one of my top anthology collections of the year-I plan to find more of the books in this series!

“In a world with an uncertain future, do you imagine for the best or for the worst case scenario? Twelve writers tackle extreme utopias and dystopias―and the grey areas in between―in Biketopia , the fourth volume of the Bikes in Space series of feminist science fiction stories about bicycling. Some find love and fierce resistance in the end times; others imagine an ecological future of saving technology, with solarpunk ecotopian visions, at times paired with crushing social control. Whatever your own future or present reality, these stories will motivate and inspire you to envision something different... and maybe even better.” (From the book blurb)

[Amy Lyden · Rating 3 out of 5]

When my friend gave this to me for the holiday I was estatic! I couldn’t have dreamed of a more appropriate book gift - bicycles, feminism, and dystopian/utopian! And in short stories - a personal favorite.

The collection was enjoyable - I didn’t know that I was missing bicycles in my alternative futures. I particularly enjoyed “Signal Lost” which explores the impact of biosensors on pregnancy and insurance, and had an interesting dynamic in the relationship presented. It also seemed very similar to present day, making it even more realistic/frightening.

The writing was a bit amateur and a couple of the stories were misses in terms of concept or were too short and lacked resolution. I felt like for a few of them, the intro could have been a bit longer to draw you into the world, as I had to reread the first few paragraphs several times to understand the world building.

The book and television reviews at the end were also a nice touch. I’ll be following up to check out a few of them.

All in all, a quick, fun and well-suited read. Glad I read and would recommend to like minded individuals.

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an easy, relaxing read that made sittin on planes for 6 hours yesterday less painful, albeit it did not take up over about half of those hours. It appears to be a project to get new ideas out there and give new writers a platform and I appreciated that- the freshness and in some parts the almost 80s or early 90s vibe with women's collectives and whatever.

The stories vary between hope and despair. The ones that are most cynical about human nature I liked the least but one was sanitised in a way that has niggled and niggled at me. I would probably give that one a 5 because it made me really think, being uncomfortable is not always bad. The little graphic story was hard for me to understand (I am very text-dependant) but what I could understand of it was cute.

My 5 stars here is not because this was "perfect" but because it's a very worthwhile project both for writers and for readers and a genuine attempt to strike out in new directions. I will look for more of these authors and this series.

[Margeaux · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the short stories were good and it would have been interesting to see where the characters would have gone if there was a longer format for the authors to work with. However, there was an equal number of stories that didn't feel like they needed to be told. These are meant to be a collection of feminist stories and I think that most of them accomplished that, but a few seemed to already have a clear story and the author threw in a woman or other reference to make it fit. I think that having each of these stories involve feminism, bicycles, and a future utopia/dystopia was a lot of boxes to check in a small format. A few also had pour world-building or too much future jargon that pulled me out of the story.

[Rebecca Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

What's not to love about Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction? This collection of short stories is creative and entertaining. Some of the stories left me wanting more. In particular - "Questions with the First" left me not really knowing what was going on or why. It created an interesting atmosphere, but left me hanging. But overall the stories were interesting and stoked my imagination.

My two favorite stories of this collection were "Signal Lost" - which felt like a frighteningly possible scenario in the not to distant future, and "Maaike's Aquatic Center for Bicycles Raised by Fishes" was just sweet and delightful. Both epitomize to me the value of this series.

I'm a huge fan of the Bikes in Space series. Totally worth the read.

[Karen Eisenbrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This themed anthology takes a piece of practical tech we have now—the bicycle—and casts it into an array of imagined futures: utopian, dystopian, horrifying, funny, sweet, and more. Stationary bikes, road bikes, racing bikes, and bikes rescued from canals all get to play central roles, often in stories of escape or rescue. It was fun to see all the imaginative ways the authors could find to use this marvel of efficiency in futuristic settings. There’s even a darling wordless cartoon of a pedal-bookmobile librarian finding love on the bike path. If you’re a fan of bikes, sci-fi, short fiction, or all three, check this one out!

[Allie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had me from the cover! Also, anything with the subtitle “feminist bicycle sci-fi stories” is going to intrigue me, and luckily this did not disappoint. These were fun, quick stories, all with some biking element and all thought provoking in terms of caring for the environment and being cautious of where we are heading as a society. I really enjoyed this, and it will stay with me for a while.

[Kai Wiesner-Hanks · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories, all post-apocalyptic and focused on feminism and bicycles. The stories are generally fun, and the writer’s passion comes through clearly. Highlight is probably ‘Portlandtown’ which imagines a ‘Y: The Last Man’ style world without men, but lots of stick fighting and bikes.

Editing could have used a bit of work as there’s a bunch of minor spelling/consistency mistakes but I enjoyed it overall.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biketopia is another anthology put together and edited by Elly Blue - this time, the stories feature dystopian futures, and also feminist protagonists and, of course, bicycles.

It's fun, interesting, and very varied. I very much enjoyed nearly all of the stories, and would definitely recommend this series to anyone who enjoys female-led sci-fi and fantasy.

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the stories were great and some of them were under developed. I often find that many short stories are just under developed longer stories. However, this book hit my soft spot of bikes and science fiction.

[KT · Rating 2 out of 5]

A couple of the stories I liked. Most were “meh.” One sounded like something I might have written when I was in college, which isn’t really a compliment. But a decent little book to read little bits of before dropping off to sleep.

[Niffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed most of the stories in this collection. There were a few stories I didn't care for where the plot was a little weak, but overall the ones I enjoyed more than made up for the others. I will have to search out other books in this series.

[Walter Underwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, it really is dystopian/utopian SF with bicycles. In a few stories, the bikes are incidental, but in many of them the bikes are freedom. Not just a symbol of freedom, but an escape from danger or a path to safety that isn't dependent on gasoline or money or permission.

Well worth a read.