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Modern lifestyles offer unheard-of levels of technological comfort, but are there unseen side effects? A microscopic change in our water or food, consequences from unchecked politicking and power plays with little regard for the impact on the average person, or any number of things can take our seemingly invincible society and cast it to ashes. This collection of short stories examines how little control we have over things that could disrupt either our way of life or its continuance. Apocalyptic scenarios are presented in fictional contexts, complete with social commentary, sardonic wit, and heartbreaking futility. So many technological and societal changes have been presented to us with the promise of an easier life, yet in their wake, what it means to be human has changed as well, to the point where it begs the question of whether twenty-first-century human life can even be described as natural.
To say that these stories and their general direction are bleak would be a bit of an understatement, but in every selection, there is an inspiration to act before things are too far gone as well. The frankness of these stories’ narrators and main characters perfectly represents human persistence and doggedness. Even in the face of unspeakable tragedy and impending doom, there is a prevailing theme of finding a way forward. The writing is snappy, full of personality, and has plenty of suspense and creativity to keep the reader unsure of what is to come. The images and scenes presented in these stories are not tragedies but conclusions of consequences. Any similarities that readers may see between this fiction and the world they live in will probably serve as a source of concern and inspire action while also serving to entertain and stir the imagination.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review