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Better Worlds #1-6
Better Worlds
A collection of original fiction stories by a diverse roster of science fiction authors who take a more optimistic view of what lies ahead in ways both large and small, fantastical and everyday.
The stories of Better Worlds are not intended to be conflict-free utopias or Pollyanna-ish paeans about how tech will solve everything; many are set in societies where people face challenges, sometimes life-threatening ones. But all of them imagine worlds where technology has made life better and not worse, and characters find a throughline of hope.
Available to read for free from The Verge website: https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/5/18...
The stories of Better Worlds are not intended to be conflict-free utopias or Pollyanna-ish paeans about how tech will solve everything; many are set in societies where people face challenges, sometimes life-threatening ones. But all of them imagine worlds where technology has made life better and not worse, and characters find a throughline of hope.
Available to read for free from The Verge website: https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/5/18...
- GenresSolarpunkScience Fiction
ebook
First published January 14, 2019
105 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 1, 2026
Read along with the Solarpunk group; here's our discussion thread.
In terms of subjects and attitudes, I liked most stories here. What kept me from really (4-star ;) liking them was: one, their brevity--I think positive futures require larger canvases to look convincing; two, a certain listlessness in the writing. I'm going through a sluggish phase in my life, so I'm a sucker for energetic styles. Even more than usual, yes. ;)
The stories I liked most:
https://choveshkata.net/forum/viewtop...
In terms of subjects and attitudes, I liked most stories here. What kept me from really (4-star ;) liking them was: one, their brevity--I think positive futures require larger canvases to look convincing; two, a certain listlessness in the writing. I'm going through a sluggish phase in my life, so I'm a sucker for energetic styles. Even more than usual, yes. ;)
The stories I liked most:
https://choveshkata.net/forum/viewtop...
December 31, 2019
A Model Dog by John Scalzi ★★★★½
“You’re never a better person to anyone than you are to your dog.”
Truth. I make their food before my own. And there is no one on this Earth but them whose poop I’d pick up. Scalzi has written a strong simple story with feels.
Monsters Come Howling in Their Season by Caldwell Turnbull ★★★★☆
“The future is filled with monster storms just waiting for their names. We won’t come out unharmed. But there will be a time before and a time after.”
An impressively packed story that still manages to flow, entertain, and inform.
Machine of Loving Grace by Katherine Cross ★★★★☆
An AI created to stop online harassment both stays the course and goes well beyond its intended program.
A Theory of Flight by Justina Ireland ★★★½☆
It felt like a Cory Doctorow story with its open source technological revolution! Download the plans and build your own rocket ship to Europa! Woohoo, but it felt far fetched as hell. This was not hard science fiction, this was a social justice story.
St. Juju by Rivers Solomon ★★★½☆
I loved that the story brought to life a world of Fungi Mutarium! I liked the fact that the MC chose to be brave and go out into the world with her lover, no place is perfect, and she can always go back. The hound humans were far fetched.
A Sun Will Always Sing by Karin Lowachee ★★★½☆
The video was better than the story, it had an emotional edge the words lacked.
The Burn by Peter Tieryas ★★★☆☆
A kind of VR is used to emulate the hallucinations of disabled people to better understand and treat them. This was an amazing idea... then the story went to Candyland.
Overlay by Elizabeth Bonesteel ★★★☆☆
Again the video had a greater emotional impact than the story. VR is an excellent place to spend your final days with family.
Online Reunion by Leigh Alexander ★★☆☆☆
I listened to the audio version and was quickly bored. This was about a journalist pursing a story about creating virtual space for virtual pets, something about a military widow, and her own breakup. Chick flick snoozer.
Skin City by Kelly Robson ★★☆☆☆
A scary future and a fluffy crush story. Consider me a card carrying privacy freak.
Move the World by Carla Speed McNeil DNF
I have no idea what’s going on.
Finished 10/11 stories averaging 3.3 stars.
December 18, 2019
A few speed wobbles here and there, but on the whole a very rewarding set of stories.
February 21, 2019
A collection of 11 optimistic science fiction short stories that are available to read for free on The Verge website - https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/5/18....
As is the way with some anthologies I've read, I found the collection a bit hit and miss with their stories, although there were more hits than misses as I did enjoy the majority of them, in particular 'A Theory Of Flight' by Justina Ireland, 'A Model Dog' by John Scalzi and 'Monsters Come Howling In Their Season' by Cadwell Turnbull.
The stories, although set in the near future, really feel modern and current, with their real world settings and world building, plus with LGBT and POC characters as some of the main players in the stories, 'Better Worlds' shows that the future portrayed in this anthology is assuredly a diverse and sanguine one, with technology that can be made to improve life and offer the hope of a better world.
Overall, 'Better Worlds' is something a bit different and a pleasant change to read Sci-Fi that comes across as optimistic instead of dystopian.
As is the way with some anthologies I've read, I found the collection a bit hit and miss with their stories, although there were more hits than misses as I did enjoy the majority of them, in particular 'A Theory Of Flight' by Justina Ireland, 'A Model Dog' by John Scalzi and 'Monsters Come Howling In Their Season' by Cadwell Turnbull.
The stories, although set in the near future, really feel modern and current, with their real world settings and world building, plus with LGBT and POC characters as some of the main players in the stories, 'Better Worlds' shows that the future portrayed in this anthology is assuredly a diverse and sanguine one, with technology that can be made to improve life and offer the hope of a better world.
Overall, 'Better Worlds' is something a bit different and a pleasant change to read Sci-Fi that comes across as optimistic instead of dystopian.
February 21, 2024
3 - Mixed bag
TW/CW: Mental illness, Blood, Cursing, Schizophrenia/Psychosis, Violence, Animal death, Stalking, Terminal illness, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Classism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Death, Medical content, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, and Pregnancy
TW/CW: Mental illness, Blood, Cursing, Schizophrenia/Psychosis, Violence, Animal death, Stalking, Terminal illness, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Classism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Death, Medical content, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, and Pregnancy
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews