Nova Hellas - Stories From Future Greece Edited by Francesca T Barbini & Francesco Verso

I would like to thank Luna Press Publishing for an advance collection of this anthology in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Luna Press Publishing

Published – Out Now

Price - £9.99 paperback £3.99 Kindle eBook

The stories in Nova Hellas take us on a dystopian, harsh journey. Yet their protagonists are resilient, cunning and resourceful; they thrive, not only survive.

In doing so, they reflect both the history of Greece itself, always surviving and rebuilding, always claiming a better tomorrow - and, perhaps, to a smaller degree, the stubbornness of Greek science fiction, which insisted on thriving in adverse circumstances and against much opposition. 

I think for the US and UK audiences we can be a bit isolated understanding the idea of other countries having a science fiction scene. If I say Greece to you, I suspect for many their inner geek will go immediately to mythology of the past and not be thinking of much set in in the country’s future. In the very good anthology Nova Hellas – Stories from Future Greece edited by Francesca T Barbini and Francesco Verso prepare to have those pre-conceptions changed and also get a reminder that science fiction although talking about the future is always in conversation with what happens now as a selection of Greek science fiction authors tempt us with visions of what is yet to come.

Amongst the stories I enjoyed were

Roseweed by Vasso Christou (Translated by Dimitra Nikolaidou and Vaya Pseftaki)

This tale is almost a slice of life tale but one with a sharp point at exploitation. Alba is a diver in demand in a Greece where climate change has led to mass flooding and her role is to check which submerged buildings could in some way become again fit for human habitation. But she finds a mysterious buyer is instead gobbling all viable homes for their own agenda. Christou manages to both give us a very atmospheric future of a world now gone but has a very sharp dig at how countries like Greece seem to be just places for the rick to tour and admire ruins rather than help the wider population in need. Really liked how this was so smartly told.

Social Engineering by Kosta Charitos (translated by Dimitra Nikolaidou and Vaya Pseftaki)

One of my favourite tales in the collection in some ways gives us the Athens of myth we tend to think of in our western heads but again this is a tale about how the future is never really being tackled. Athens is a city here of competing Augmented Realities all vying in an election for a decisive victory from the Church, The Army to even geeks and our lead character is a social engineer hired to help gain the best result in changing voters minds. The use of AR gives the story almost a surreal edge where angels can try to make you change your vote but the solution our narrator chooses is very much about making people acknowledge the real problems no one has agreed to tackle. As a British reader I can definitely relate to countries were everyone wants to paint a nostalgic yet glorious vision of the future and little actually gets done!

The Human(c )ity of Athens by Ionna Bourazopoulou (translated by Dimitra Nikolaidou and Vaya Pseftaki)

Another glorious story and one of the ones I found myself chilled by as it explores how cities constantly exploit immigrants. We meet Stationmaster Madebo arrive in Athens of the future his job which he starts in a few hours is to welcome the city’s new arrivals as they prepare to work for the city and the City’s Governor wants to ensure he understands the city and role before he does so. There is a brilliant concept of all humans being effectively traded between cities in a ever moving cycle – no one has a home very long and it can mean that relationships get split up in the name of capitalism. A story that explores the idea of immigrants being seduced by a city’s wonderful reputation for culture and democracy but ultimately trade and low-end jobs is what they really want the new intake to perform. Heart breaking and thought provoking.

T2 by Kelly Theodorakopoulou (translated by Dimitra Nikolaidou and Vaya Pseftaki)

This fascinating story explores social inequalities as we meet a young rich couple on an appointment w where there are two trains on the same route – one for the poor and one for the rich. We explore what this couple value and their reasons for the trip. Their attitudes to the poorer embers of society plus a group of protesting Muslims are truly awful and then we find exactly how much shallower they can be. This is a tail shouting out about he rich who are ever focused on glamour and style who ignore all matters of substance – angry and disturbing.

Those We Serve by Eugenia Triantayllou

A really unusual but charming story where we visit a Greek Island resort where robots have taken the duties of the locals who hide in their own village during the peak summer months. Manoli knows he is an android but enjoys his work and in particular the regular visit of Amelia, a woman who has come to the resort for decades knowing his human but now he has the greater share of interactions. This is a tale of getting out of your zone and pushing the boundaries of what you can do. Heart-warming in some ways and yet when we see the attitudes of the human locals to their android replicants again a story with a feeling of exploitation that never ends giving it a worrying idea of what may be going on in the background.

Any Old Disease by Dimitra Niolaidou

In some ways one of the more classic science fiction ideas but one that I think readers will enjoy the execution of. Ada works at a secret institute researching a strange disease that strikes at the population that in this advanced world worries its leaders. Her young student seems very intrigued by finding out the cause, but this sets her up in competition with her bosses. This is one of those puzzle stories SF loves, and its final reveal does ask the reader which choice is better.

I was really impressed with this collection and its variety and the approach used by the authors. There is also a great introduction to the history of the Greek SF scene in the introduction by Dimitra Nikolaidou. This is science fiction with bite and a very social political focus to make the reader consider the issues raised. Knowing recent Greek history, it is not too hard to see why the future feels both bleak and unpredictable but throughout the tales it is about people finding a ay through a problem – perhaps not unchanged but making do. I would highly recommend this to science fiction fans and a reminder that SF crosses more boundaries than just outer space.