What do you think?
Rate this book
Bikes in Space #5
Bikes Not Rockets: Intersectional Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories
As you ride down the intergalactic bike path, you come to a crossroads. Which path will you take? Your choice could determine your future, or the future of all humanity, forever. These twelve stories explore a variety of intersections set in distant, outlandish, or disturbingly realistic futures and dimensions—all involving bicycles and the breaking of gender stereotypes. A bicycle race spans a rift between worlds. A teenager learns a valuable lesson from her prepper mom. A young fruit seller gets closer to her dream of becoming an astronaut. An overwhelmed mom finds unexpected solace at a bicycle collective. And much more! Contributors include Tuere T.S. Ganges, Gretchin Lair, Ayame Whitfield, Julia K. Patt, Elly Bangs, Osahon Ize-Iyamu, Monique Cuillerier, Kat Lerner, Hella Grichi, and Summer Jewel Keown, with illustrations by Elly Bangs and Paul Abbamondi.
160 pages, Paperback
First published December 4, 2018
6 people are currently reading
128 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 2, 2019
From the title, I thought this could turn out to be very, very bad. Stories written to try to force inclusion of a certain subject in order to fit into a themed collection can turn out awful. But, I was pleasantly surprised.
The stories all include bicycles, sometimes as a minor element. They all have mostly-female characters, often women who are non-white, non-European, poor, overweight, wearing a prosthetic, or some other situation that is absent or marginalized in traditional SF. But the stories are all very different from each other, and all are pretty good.
The stories all include bicycles, sometimes as a minor element. They all have mostly-female characters, often women who are non-white, non-European, poor, overweight, wearing a prosthetic, or some other situation that is absent or marginalized in traditional SF. But the stories are all very different from each other, and all are pretty good.
February 7, 2019
I really enjoyed this anthology! When I saw it at Powell’s my first thought was, “This is the MOST PORTLAND THING I’VE EVER SEEN,” and it was! In a good way.
As a huge SF fan, I was curious how the bike angle was going to work. Since this is an anthology, it of course worked differently in all the stories, but I was (pleasantly) surprised by how natural and un-forced its inclusion across the stories felt. Sometimes the bike theme was REAL UP FRONT (we’re on a bike race in space!) other times it crept in or showed up much later or became important for reasons other than we expected. And I should mention that even though all the stories have bicycles in them, they’re not all *about* bicycles, if you get my drift? Sometimes the bikes are pretty incidental.
My faves of this collection were The Dusty Way to Galaxies Beyond by Julia K. Patt, Accident by Gretchin Lair, At the Crossroads by Elly Bangs, and First the Rapture, Then the Paperwork by Summer Jewel Keown.
I would recommend this collection to anyone who is into feminist science fiction - they are all great stories, and I took something away from each of them.
As a huge SF fan, I was curious how the bike angle was going to work. Since this is an anthology, it of course worked differently in all the stories, but I was (pleasantly) surprised by how natural and un-forced its inclusion across the stories felt. Sometimes the bike theme was REAL UP FRONT (we’re on a bike race in space!) other times it crept in or showed up much later or became important for reasons other than we expected. And I should mention that even though all the stories have bicycles in them, they’re not all *about* bicycles, if you get my drift? Sometimes the bikes are pretty incidental.
My faves of this collection were The Dusty Way to Galaxies Beyond by Julia K. Patt, Accident by Gretchin Lair, At the Crossroads by Elly Bangs, and First the Rapture, Then the Paperwork by Summer Jewel Keown.
I would recommend this collection to anyone who is into feminist science fiction - they are all great stories, and I took something away from each of them.
January 13, 2019
One of my friends contributed a story to this book and I was thrilled to find it was one of my favorites too! Go Summer!
April 8, 2021
yay bikes. yay queers in space on bikes.
August 17, 2021
This was a decent collection, 4 stars on average. I liked some stories more than others. Sufficiently intersectional. It was fun to do a meta-analysis on "bicycle as literary symbol", as it was represented in each story. I also appreciated the multiple instances of queer women bicycle collectives just existing for the betterment of community. The most common symbolic usage of the bicycle was as a symbol of freedom, something that I've always felt on my own bike. Looking forward to reading more of these collections.
August 12, 2019
(This review originally appeared at Mad Scientist Journal.)
Bikes not Rockets, edited by Elly Blue, is the fifth volume in the Bikes in Space series, all of which feature speculative fiction centered around bicycles. The theme of this volume was intersectional stories, and it collects eleven stories in that vein.
The stories in this volume vary between those that take place in space or on other planets, and those that are still based on earth, either preceding, during, or after an apocalyptic event of some sort. But all of the stories share a common theme in addition to including a bicycle—they’re all stories with an element of hope. Sometimes things don’t go quite the way the protagonist might have wanted, but there’s always a sense that some good will come of the events.
Several of the stories really drew me in with their descriptions and imagery. “This Dusty Way to Galaxies Beyond,” by Julia K. Patt, had vibrant imagery that really made you feel like you, too, were in a dry place where you might live out your entire life. But the story she weaves is one of a girl who wants to go to space, and though her dream might not be realized in the course of this tale, there is a promise that someday, it might be possible for her to leave the planet of her birth.
The characterization in “At The Crossroads” by E. L. Bangs was phenomenal, immediately interesting me in Callie and Diego as they took part in an interdimensional bike race, with the fate of the Earth hanging in the balance. I also adored “First the Rapture, Then the Paperwork,” by Summer Jewel Keown, for its adorable version of the bureaucracy of Heaven being overwhelmed when the Rapture came.
If you’re a bicyclist or just enjoy speculative fiction stories of hope and intersectionality, you might enjoy checking out Bikes Not Rockets.
The editor provided us with a free copy of this anthology in exchange for review consideration.
Bikes not Rockets, edited by Elly Blue, is the fifth volume in the Bikes in Space series, all of which feature speculative fiction centered around bicycles. The theme of this volume was intersectional stories, and it collects eleven stories in that vein.
The stories in this volume vary between those that take place in space or on other planets, and those that are still based on earth, either preceding, during, or after an apocalyptic event of some sort. But all of the stories share a common theme in addition to including a bicycle—they’re all stories with an element of hope. Sometimes things don’t go quite the way the protagonist might have wanted, but there’s always a sense that some good will come of the events.
Several of the stories really drew me in with their descriptions and imagery. “This Dusty Way to Galaxies Beyond,” by Julia K. Patt, had vibrant imagery that really made you feel like you, too, were in a dry place where you might live out your entire life. But the story she weaves is one of a girl who wants to go to space, and though her dream might not be realized in the course of this tale, there is a promise that someday, it might be possible for her to leave the planet of her birth.
The characterization in “At The Crossroads” by E. L. Bangs was phenomenal, immediately interesting me in Callie and Diego as they took part in an interdimensional bike race, with the fate of the Earth hanging in the balance. I also adored “First the Rapture, Then the Paperwork,” by Summer Jewel Keown, for its adorable version of the bureaucracy of Heaven being overwhelmed when the Rapture came.
If you’re a bicyclist or just enjoy speculative fiction stories of hope and intersectionality, you might enjoy checking out Bikes Not Rockets.
The editor provided us with a free copy of this anthology in exchange for review consideration.
December 7, 2019
*** Possible Spoilers ***
With both 'intersectional' and 'feminist' in the title I was braced for the worst. However I was pleasantly surprised. I expected a combination of 'woke' and 'victim' culture and instead, these were perfectly good stories. In addition it was quite interesting how the authors worked bicycles into their narratives. I particularly enjoyed the one in which a truly dedicated cyclist takes her bike to Heaven. There were a couple of authors who interjected a bit of politics into the mix but it was not so heavy handed as to be obnoxious and there was one story that, although fiction, seemed more essay than story; nevertheless, overall these were good tales and the book is worth reading.
With both 'intersectional' and 'feminist' in the title I was braced for the worst. However I was pleasantly surprised. I expected a combination of 'woke' and 'victim' culture and instead, these were perfectly good stories. In addition it was quite interesting how the authors worked bicycles into their narratives. I particularly enjoyed the one in which a truly dedicated cyclist takes her bike to Heaven. There were a couple of authors who interjected a bit of politics into the mix but it was not so heavy handed as to be obnoxious and there was one story that, although fiction, seemed more essay than story; nevertheless, overall these were good tales and the book is worth reading.
August 11, 2020
Love the concept. Tore through this in one afternoon on train rides sandwiching a 20-miler. I really enjoyed some of the stories, and also loved the brief author bios at the end, as well as Elly's editor intro at the beginning. I have another in the series to read through, which will help me start to make more connections in the genre.
December 24, 2024
A wide range of stories some bleak, some hopeful. Reading "The Accident" made me flip back and look at the publication date -2018 - it reads as unfortunately prophetic in 2024. Really appreciated "There were one and many" and "The Crossroads" for creating such a hopeful view of a bicycle-rich future.
March 6, 2020
This was a lovely break from more intense reading. Lots of fun and weird stories, all of which had a bike somehow wrapped up with interesting writing. I would read one at a time, as I was working my way through other things. Perfect decompression stories.
October 7, 2020
This was a particularly not-bad book! It's also proof that intersectionality in anthology improves the entire work. I could definitely go for more intersectional feminist often queer bicycle science fiction.
December 30, 2018
I enjoyed pretty much every story in this collection. Lots of feels.
December 24, 2019
Incredible collection that opened my eyes to a lot of good people doing good things with writing.
January 6, 2025
This was a fun, quick read!
May 5, 2019
Fun anthology where I felt each story took one type of apocalypse and one type of violence to build the plot. Most showed a tinge (or more) of hope. Most left me feeling hopeful.
Note to self--read more short stories.
Note to self--read more short stories.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews