Review: A People’s Future of the United States Looks Forward and Shows Us The Present

Edited by: Victor LaValle and John Joseph Adams / Publisher: One World Friends, 2019 is picking up right where 2018 left off, and all indications are that 2020 is going to be more of the same. Things, as they say, are as bad as they ever been. Knowing this, I picked up A People’s Future of The United States, looking simultaneously for escapism and inspiration. This anthology of 25 speculative fiction short stories looks actively forward, projecting out What If scenarios — What if the politics of America keep getting more violent? What if we build that wall, and lots of others besides? What if we do nothing about our impact on the climate? As each story grapples with these questions the individual answers are more pessimistic than optimistic, more “we have a long way to go” than “it is only upsides from here”. But by the end of the book, the overall feeling of possibility is clear. This is imagination set on the work of crafting a better future. Overall, the anthology succeeds. This Is Who We Are In A People’s Future of The United States, editors LaValle (author of The Ballad of Black Tom and DESTROYER) and Adams (series editor for The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy) cultivate 25 visions for the future of the United States. They present a diversity of voice, character, and setting to scratch the surface of the distinctions that lie within “The United States” (quotes intentional). There are stories of first and second generation immigrants and stories of the bord…