Book Review: Meet Me in the Future - Stories

Image: The cover of the book has a background of thin lines stretching out from the center which each end in a white dot and have different lengths, resembling an illustration of travel through space. Behind the lines is a light blue background. In the upper center of the book, a large section is covered by a yellow shape with unequal sides spanning the width of the book. Across the center is a large red beetle shown from the head and front legs forward, facing to the right. Across their head it says "MEET ME IN THE" in small capital black letters. Between the large pinchers of the beetle, it says "future" in large black capital letters. Under that is a red circle with the word "stories" in yellow. Across the bottom of the book is the author's name in large black letters with "Kameron" slightly smaller than "Hurley." Below that is a review quote in very small red letters that is too small to read.

Kameron Hurley has quickly become on of my favorite fiction authors. I have been immersing myself in her collection of works and adding more to my shelf to read next. I was excited to get the chance to read her forthcoming short story collection, Meet Me in the Future, for the aforementioned reasons but also because I had not read any of her short stories yet.

Short story collections are this odd measure of diversity in talent in which a favored author can perform unexpectedly badly or a mediocre author can rock your world. They can often be a collection of amazing stories mixed with ones that are so bad it is difficult to understand how they were allowed to be published at all. In Hurley's case, an excellent author of novels performs excellently in the short story realm as well, despite her claims in the introduction that she is not a short fiction writer. I started bookmarking my favorite stories to list in this review. But, by the end of the book, I had bookmarked most of the stories which basically made the practice unnecessary. It is rare not only that someone performs superbly across mediums but also that a collection of shorts is excellent the whole way through. It is obvious that these stories were written and chosen with care and intent to produce something great.

I want to focus a bit on the introduction, because it was enlightening to me why it is that Hurley draws me in so well even when she is covering themes that don't often attract me. I often think I am not really into themes of war, grotesque and gory body horror, or which lean more fantasy than science fiction at times. Yet, I feel completely immersed in Hurley's works that often completely center these things. I have come to realize that it is how someone presents them to me that matters. The reality is that not enough authors' writing involving these themes has the insight Hurley's has. She discusses in the introduction that she lives with serious chronic illness and disability and had grandparents who lived through the Nazi occupation, one of whom was captured on suspicion of being part of the French resistance movements. I also knew that she is a feminist who is formally educated in South African resistance movements (available in the author biography at the end of the book.) These all inform her writing in ways that captures a reality of struggle and suffering that is not just written for the sake of shock or disturbance.

The ways disability and illness inform several stories is in intimate and real portrayals of disabled life. There is one character with leg braces who describes formerly being told she is "lucky' by doctors who only focus on her ability to eventually walk again and not her permanent catheter, her (implied) ostomy bag, her sex life, or that trauma is never "lucky." This is an experience countless sick and disabled people have dealt with with doctors, self included. This character is not portrayed as a victim nor is she portrayed as inspirational, which are often the only fates for those with disabilities. She's a disabled person being human with advantages and struggles. Other stories often also include excretory functions and other fun stuff we often ignore in injury and violence because we are too squeamish or afraid. Yet, disruption of these functions is common in illness, injury, and/or disability and often requires outside help and support from both technologies and human beings. Basically, Hurley has a realistic take on what it likes to be sick and/or disabled that is likely formed by her own experiences.

Another theme in many stories is that of gender nonconformity, transgender experiences, and straight up cross-gender body swapping. Again, Hurley goes at these themes in a way that separates her from others who either make the story all about the person's gender or who tokenize trans and GNC characters for points with no understanding of gender dynamics. Hurley's portrayal of these characters and societies is unique and fantastical while still holding on to the here and now enough that we can recognize them. LGBTQ and polyamorous women of many kinds are a common theme in Hurley's books and stories. This was present across most of the stories in the book. But, the creative ways Hurley explored multiple genders via futuristic or parallel words and multiple stories about body swapping was more present in this book.

There are a couple of stories that may excite those who have read and enjoyed "The Stars are Legion" and "The Light Brigade." (Possibly others, but I have not read all of her books yet.) They include inspiration for the books or events that predated the narratives in the novels. There are familiar themes of technology combining with flesh in ways that are different from the usually human or android representations. There are themes of colonization and oppression that capture the horrific realities via the medium of fiction. There are repeated occurrences of nonhuman animals used as a vehicle for oppression via the description of their commonplace mistreatment as an excuse for mistreatment of marginalized humans. Hurley manages all of these things in ways I have not experienced in other science fiction and/or fantasy that I have read. There are times when Hurley's messages are heavy handed, which can bother me, but for some reason does not when she does it. There are many other times where the themes and messages are woven intricately in complicated ways throughout the stories, creating the experience of the story as reality, even if it's in space, a parallel  world, or a million years in the future.

If you like Hurley's work, you will likely enjoy this book. If you are unfamiliar with her work, I think this book could be good to dip your toes into it. Overall, it is a good representation of her styles and talent. "Meet Me in the Future: Stories" is due out in August of 2019 and is definitely a recommended read.

This review was also posted to my goodreads.