NB – this collection also has SKCA winner Incompleteness Theories – which I reviewed here – https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/chaos2019/2020/3/7/y677ddi6exr6mfomxl8e8c85yocq3w

Publisher – Luna Press

Published – Out Now

Price - £10.89 paperback £4.07 Kindle eBook

From the bustling streets of Lagos to the icy moons of Jupiter, this debut collection of twenty stories from the vivid imagination of the award-winning Wole Talabi explores what it means to be human in a world of accelerating technology, diverse beliefs, and unlimited potential, from a uniquely Nigerian perspective.

Sometimes science fiction and fantasy can be conservative and parochial – we are only interested in a future that is UK/US based and often purely Caucasian. We in Western Europe forget that everyone dreams and worries about the future and our myths are by no means the only stories of the past. Fortunately we are increasingly getting access to the writers across the world who love the genre and have their own spin on familiar tales and share their thoughts and stories adding to the debate as to what it is to be human and where are we going as a species. In this collection Wole Talabi brings a great collection of stories covering multiple genres and some truly fascinating ideas on humanity.

Among the collection stories I enjoyed where

Parse, Error, Reset – In the future you can be in two places at once. You can download your personality to an artificial lifeform to go to all the things you don’t like – especially in a future where social media status is ever important. But sometimes this makes people decide can they just leave their life for someone else to take their place? Really strong and sobering opening tale that looks at the concept of our inner and outer lives – who we are in social media isn’t always the same person who stops smiling after the instagram picture is taken. Really thought provoking.

A Short History of Migration in Five Fragments of You – Really loved this story examining how lives change through the decisions of people. A woman becomes a slave moves to the new world and her descendents alter decisions that eventually take her future descendants beyond the boundary of Earth. Loved the idea of you always carrying all these past decisions that led you to where you are now.

Drift-Flux – an action adventure story where a pilot realises that they may be the only person able to save Earth. Twisty thriller but with a great old school use of physics. Loved the pacing in this story and despite a short story does a great jon in creating a picture of the space based civilisation that is to come.

A Certain Sort of Warm Magic – In Lagos a young man is swept off his feet by a young woman in a bar. This is a tale of romance and love and there is no science fiction or even fantasy in the tale – it’s about growing up and realising that love isn’t quite the same thing we are taught by media to expect. Warm and tender and one of my favourites in the collection.

Necessary and Sufficient Conditions – in a future Lagos a man is on a deadly mission of revenge – this story is a nasty bit of SF revenge. Ambition leads to destruction and loss - a very nasty sting in the tale awaits.

Wednesday’s Story – One of my favourite stories in the collection is one of the strangest the personifications of the Days of the week who tell the real tragic story of Solomon Grundy. But Wednesday would like to change the ending. It’s a story about stories – you cannot stop the narrative however much you’d like a different result. Lots of other stories get thrown into the mix creating a whole connected tale of myths.

The Harmonic Resonance of Ejiro Anaborhi – An unusual story that shifts from the end of a war in space; to a young woman in Nigeria whose father is getting into a dispute with an oil company. An alien artefact is about to change things. This turns into something a lot more epic than I was expecting! Well worth a look for the surprising change in direction.

Crocodile Ark – One of the darker tales in the collection that initially looks like it appears to be a standard tale of revolution against a repressive regime. But young revolutionaries often are loathe to change things too much…a sombre tale that echoes so many parts of our history. No one wants to be the villain but it can be so tempting to protect your position when you get what you want.

If They Can Learn – Another of my favourites. A new form of robotic policeman in Nigeria has killed an innocent man. A woman from the company behind it all tries to work out what happened. This story uses the issue of bias in AI brilliantly well and will make you think of the issues about who is being used to create the future.

The Regression Test – A 106 year old woman has been asked to see if the AI based on her mother (a leading scientist) is still replicating her mother’s personality. Its another tale of what makes a human mind and often it’s the little things that make all the difference. Very smart and worrying tale.

Overall, this was one of the most interesting and varied author collections I’d read in a while. I loved the variety of situations and the many different types of characters we meet (of varying genders) and I will definitely be looking out for more from Talabi in the future. Well worth your time.