Space

A sci-fi anthology offers widely divergent glimpses of the future

From alienated life in post-Arctic Sweden to the failure to engage with tech’s new intimacies, Helen Marshall explores an excellent and diverse new sci-fi anthology

By Helen Marshall

23 October 2019

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine. — Time travel is a major theme in a collection of up-and-coming writers
Gavin Hellier/Alamy Stock Photo

The New Voices of Science Fiction

Hannu Rajaniemi and Jacob Weisman (editors)

Tachyon Publications

THERE is nothing like an anthology for taking the pulse of new science fiction. One of the latest and best is The New Voices of Science Fiction, which includes many new writers who have received or been shortlisted for the Nebula or Hugo awards.

Editors Hannu Rajaniemi and Jacob Weisman promise a “tonal freshness”. So while the collection features mostly US authors, it does seem refreshingly diverse, with widely divergent…