A People's Future of the United States

Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers

By: Victor LaValle - editor, John Joseph Adams - editor

Narrated by: Vikas Adam, Darrell Dennis, William DeMeritt, Prentice Onayemi, Paul Boehmer, Soneela Nankani, Adenrele Ojo, N'Jameh Camara, Nancy Wu, Various

Length: 15 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

A glittering landscape of twenty-five speculative stories that challenge oppression and envision new futures for America - from N. K. Jemisin, Charles Yu, Jamie Ford, G. Willow Wilson, Charlie Jane Anders, Hugh Howey, and more.

In these tumultuous times, in our deeply divided country, many people are angry, frightened, and hurting. Knowing that imagining a brighter tomorrow has always been an act of resistance, editors Victor LaValle and John Joseph Adams invited an extraordinarily talented group of writers to share stories that explore new forms of freedom, love, and justice.

They asked for narratives that would challenge oppressive American myths, release us from the chokehold of our history, and give us new futures to believe in. They also asked that the stories be badass. The result is this spectacular collection of 25 tales that blend the dark and the light, the dystopian and the utopian.

These tales are vivid with struggle and hardship - whether it’s the othered and the terrorized, or dragonriders and covert commandos - but these characters don’t flee, they fight.Thrilling, inspiring, and a sheer joy to listen to, A People’s Future of the United States is a gift for anyone who believes in our power to dream a just world.

AUDIO TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction by Victor LaValle, read by the author
The Bookstore at the End of America, by Charlie Jane Anders, read by Kyla Garcia
Our Aim Is Not to Die, by A. Merc Rustad, read by Dani Martineck
The Wall, by Lizz Huerta, read by Roxana Ortega
Read After Burning, by Maria Dahvana Headley, read by William DeMeritt
Chapter 5: Disruption and Continuity [excerpted], by Malka Older, read by Prentice Onayemi
It Was Saturday Night, I Guess That Makes It All Right, by Sam J. Miller, read by Paul Boehmer
Attachment Disorder, by Tananarive Due, read by Kyla Garcia
By His Bootstraps, by Ashok K. Banker, read by William DeMeritt
Riverbed, by Omar El Akkad, read by Soneela Nankani
What Maya Found There, by Daniel José Older, read by Roxana Ortega
The Referendum, by Lesley Nneka Arimah, read by Adenrele Ojo
Calendar Girls, by Justina Ireland, read by N'Jameh Camara
The Synapse Will Free Us from Ourselves, by Violet Allen, read by Vikas Adam
O.1, by Gabby Rivera, read by a full cast (Public Broadcast, Falak Alfayed: Vikas Adam; Mala: Soneela Nankani; Deviana Ortiz: Roxana Ortega; Key: William DeMeritt; Orion: Adenrele Ojo; Luz: Kyla Garcia)
The Blindfold, by Tobias S. Buckell, read by Prentice Onayemi
No Algorithms in the World, by Hugh Howey, read by Darrell Dennis
Esperanto, by Jamie Ford, read by N'Jameh Camara
ROME, by G. Willow Wilson, read by Soneela Nankani
Give Me Cornbread or Give Me Death, by N. K. Jemisin, read by Adenrele Ojo
Good News Bad News, by Charles Yu, read by a full cast (Narrators: Prentice Onayemi & Dani Martineck; Elizabeth Chang: Nancy Wu; Darren Chang: Darrell Dennis; Cynthia Rodriguez: N’Jameh Camara; Bert Newsom: Paul Boehmer; Emma Chang: Kyla Garcia; Nicholas Chang: Nancy Wu)
What You Sow, by Kai Cheng Thom, read by Nancy Wu
A History of Barbed Wire, by Daniel H. Wilson, read by Darrell Dennis
The Sun in Exile, by Catherynne M. Valente, read by Nancy Wu
Harmony, by Seanan McGuire, read by Dani Martineck
Now Wait for This Week, by Alice Sola Kim, read by Soneela Nankani

©2019 John Joseph Adams and Victor LaValle (P)2019 Random House Audio

A bit brilliant, a little reactionary.

Overall, it is a good set of stories with some standouts that are great and some that stand out for other reasons. I read this because I loved the dystopia triptych that features some of the same authors. This collection, at times, just feels like rejects from that collection. I don't hold the authors too accountable for some of the pieces that make the future out to be a place of political regression, seeing that this book was published after the 2018 election and the nation seemed to have taken a step back. However, a future with a new Comstock act prohibiting condoms and radical new conversion therapy seems kinda derivative to write about in a sci-fi speculative fiction book. I think some of these future regression stories are one some reviews calling the book preachy. The other reason for the preachy claims is the representation of the characters in the stories. Yes, this book has a very diverse character list. Yes, a higher percentage of LGBTQ than exsit in the in a random sampling. you should expect this in the climate today, and you want your protagonist to face adversity; well, the LGBTQ community is a good place to cast plots. However, a few stories take on a very political and one-sided tone. A story in particular didn't have any conflict, and the world became a utopia almost overnight when the president suddenly became trans. The story is well written and a fun little piece of satire. The author themselves calls out, through a character, that they don't believe in utopias and then immediately says its as close as a society can get, then the story ends. I was getting used to the triptych format from the other book, so I was expecting a part two or three with some conflict, but nope, just abruptly end everything fixed. I can see the fun in that story, if viewed like a single framed political cartoon. So will you like this book? Even though I didn't give it 5 stars I still I suggest you read it and find out for yourself!

Not one American Dream, but many.

Using current events as a jumping off point, these stories spin out possible permutations of our future. There isn’t one American dream, but many. Some are deeply grounded in science, some skewer social and political fears. And some let us see what it’ll look like when things get better.
You’re going to meet so many great characters in this series. From the book-seller’s daughter trying to get her neighbors to look each other in the eye to the family giving birth to the first baby born in a decade, from the curandera fighting the Empire to the librarian of stories written in tattoos, the people in these stories will open your eyes to all kinds of ways to experience life. By turns uplifting, bloody strange, heartbreaking and joyful, this story collection touches on so many things: gender relations, race, hope, the need to feel safe, and the need to feel dignity among them. There are versions of America in this series that I dread, and versions of America that I long for. There’s one commentary on a certain mango-hued nutjob and his cough social philosophy that involves a quantum genetic drug dropped into the water supply, and it cracked me right up. Give Me Corn Bread Or Give Me Death is utterly fascinating and weirdly believable…though it does involve training dragons with siracha.
You can imagine that twenty-five authors have some pretty different styles. But these works have been beautifully curated to balance one another in form and pacing. Some are full of a creeping horror. Some are fast and brutal. And some have the gentle banality of a son trying to tell his father that it’s okay that everyone has a good life now without working themselves to death for it. All of them will take you somewhere.
We’re at a crossroads in history. This book reminds us that we can take a turn into the dark or the light. And wherever we go, we’ll be taking our whole selves and all our facets along for the ride: good and bad, kind and cruel, genetic and historical.
Strap in.

Fascinating!

I couldn’t put this one down! There were so many beautiful, hurrying, heartbreaking, and downright just brilliant tales in here. Everyone should listen to this, and use it as a warning of what could be if we don’t start paying attention and do something about the state of the world.

really great

almost every story was completely engaging. recommend for fans of sci fi and speculative fiction

mind blowing, mind altering

loved every piece of this. visionary, brutally honest, and healing. I feel as if I've just heard stories from some of the best storytellers of our time.

Depressing

I found the majority of the stories were continuations into the future of the racist, misogynistic, anti immigrant narrative we are suffering from today. Where’s the vision? The creative solutions? The heroes or leaders? I can see these futures in daily newspaper headlines. Look at the creativity of an author like Kurt Vonnegut. Dark stories of humanity’s hubris that were also hilarious.

A Peak at Futures Here

This is an emaculate collection of diverse stories centered on diverse identities. Narration is impeccable. The breadth and qualities of the stories is a wonderland of … what if … based on what has been experienced and what we might know.

Fascinating and Diverse Exploration of Reality

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I really enjoyed the very diverse voices found within this collection, exploring so many different “What if...?” scenarios. An amusing, thoughtful, cautionary, and eye opening journey.

Wonderful Trip

I loved this book and will probably read it again. There is too much to talk about, because SO much and many peoples were featured, but 0.1 and Harmony were my favorites. They both made me cry.

A least 4/5 of the stories were very good

I like keeping a short story book going to listen to between other books. One story after each book. Some of these were great and most were good.