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chuckroAn anthology of science fiction stories written by, for, and featuring queer folks. I’m not entirely sure where “destruction” figures into this.
I think there are two kinds of stories that feature queer romance: The kind where the queerness is integral to the story, and the kind where the romance could just as easily be hetero or differently queer. Furthermore, I think the latter stories can be divided the same way all stories that feature a romance can be divided: Into those that benefit from having a romantic subplot, and those that do not.
Which brings me to the only instance I think you’ll ever hear me say that a queer romance shouldn’t be in a story: When the story would be better if it contained no romance at all, because the romantic subplot detracts from the overall quality of the story. “The Tip of the Tongue” by Felicia Davin falls into this category, as I thought the concept was great and the execution was decent, but I think fleshing out a circle of friendships with younger and older people and their different approaches to rebellion would have made for a better story than having a romance.
Most of the stories in this collection do not fall into that category, by the way. There’s a fair mix of stories that hinge on the fact that the protagonist is queer and stories where that’s just a side note and it’s just another facet of their characterization. “Two by Two” by Tim Susman is a case of the former, in that the major conflict of the story revolves around the main characters being gay and being unwilling to hide their relationship. “Increasing Police Visibility” by Bogi Takacs is a good example of the latter, in that it’s a story completely unrelated to sex or gender that happens to star someone who uses “e” and “eir” for their pronouns. “Nothing is Pixels Here” by K.M. Szpara is an interesting instance of mixing the two, which I can’t really explain without spoiling the twist.
“Die, Sophie, Die” by Susan Jane Bigelow is a very good story that you shouldn’t read if you have nightmares about GamerGate: The protagonist is a woman who writes an article about video games and the story picks up immediately thereafter. Call that a trigger warning; it’s kind of horrifying.
Overall: There’s some solid sci-fi here, independent of the value of showcasing minority authors. Are some of the stories strongly political? Yes, of course. But honestly, if you don’t think sci-fi is political, it’s only because you limit your consumption to sci-fi that matches your politics.
I think there are two kinds of stories that feature queer romance: The kind where the queerness is integral to the story, and the kind where the romance could just as easily be hetero or differently queer. Furthermore, I think the latter stories can be divided the same way all stories that feature a romance can be divided: Into those that benefit from having a romantic subplot, and those that do not.
Which brings me to the only instance I think you’ll ever hear me say that a queer romance shouldn’t be in a story: When the story would be better if it contained no romance at all, because the romantic subplot detracts from the overall quality of the story. “The Tip of the Tongue” by Felicia Davin falls into this category, as I thought the concept was great and the execution was decent, but I think fleshing out a circle of friendships with younger and older people and their different approaches to rebellion would have made for a better story than having a romance.
Most of the stories in this collection do not fall into that category, by the way. There’s a fair mix of stories that hinge on the fact that the protagonist is queer and stories where that’s just a side note and it’s just another facet of their characterization. “Two by Two” by Tim Susman is a case of the former, in that the major conflict of the story revolves around the main characters being gay and being unwilling to hide their relationship. “Increasing Police Visibility” by Bogi Takacs is a good example of the latter, in that it’s a story completely unrelated to sex or gender that happens to star someone who uses “e” and “eir” for their pronouns. “Nothing is Pixels Here” by K.M. Szpara is an interesting instance of mixing the two, which I can’t really explain without spoiling the twist.
“Die, Sophie, Die” by Susan Jane Bigelow is a very good story that you shouldn’t read if you have nightmares about GamerGate: The protagonist is a woman who writes an article about video games and the story picks up immediately thereafter. Call that a trigger warning; it’s kind of horrifying.
Overall: There’s some solid sci-fi here, independent of the value of showcasing minority authors. Are some of the stories strongly political? Yes, of course. But honestly, if you don’t think sci-fi is political, it’s only because you limit your consumption to sci-fi that matches your politics.
no subject
Date: 2016-07-01 02:13 am (UTC)found this:
http://www.destroysf.com/