The anthology, however, does not kick off on a bang. “Drone Pirates of Silicon Valley” by Meg Elison is a YA story that postulates: what if Robin Hood stole from everybody, not just the rich. It features a group of teens who start start capturing Amazon-esque delivery drones and redistributing their contents—at least those they don’t want. A “corporations are evil” story, it blurs the line between legal and illegal in ideological rather than realistic fashion with weakly characterized people. A might makes right sketch, the story would have been better off at longer length to flesh out the characters and implications of their piracy. Another story that could have been novella but in this case has enough meat on the bone to be a short, “Down and Out in Exile Park” by Tade Thompson takes the tons and tons of plastic in the ocean to its logical conclusion and posits a floating island named Exile. Exile so big as to become inhabited, Thompson locates a socio-anarchic society of Nigerian political deviants on the “land”, then sets them spinning with a most delightfully bizarre idea regarding their “religion”. Thompson has received increasing accolades in the past five years, and the story shows him growing in strength.
“Once Upon a Future in the West” by Daryl Gregory is a story that moves in fragmented fashion through near-future California wildfires. A doctor, a “cowboy” beef trucker, and a gestalt mind of “they” (as opposed to a woke “they) find their lives slowly drawn together in exciting, surprising fashion as a fire rages. It's an engaging story that possesses the unpredictability and vigor that a lot of peer-reviewed-to-death fiction these days lacks. “Crisis Actors” by Greg Egan has the writer in a well-known gear: pro-science, but approaches it from an unexpected angle. The main character is an educated, dark net conspiracy theorist who secretly goes around sabotaging environmental tech like a jihadist in a terror cell. Called to a job on a remote island, he poses as a medical worker to collect info for his fellow conspiracy theorist. Real life data, however, has something to say. While Egan is preaching to the choir in the story, it remains a dynamic read.
A story that could have done with a bit more rigor in technical details (for divers, at least) and a better editor for technique and tone, “When the Tide Rises” by Sarah Gailey nevertheless posits an interesting scenario wherein humanity has been pushed underwater by pollution and is now subject to dystopian corporate rule. It features an indentured kelp diver who is contemplating joining a utopian terrorist group but doesn't have the courage. Bolstering the tone to be adult (it's hard to believe the main character is not a teen given how she acts and speaks) would have greatly improved this story, but what exists remains readable for color, drama, and confidence in delivery.
In the most sublime story in the anthology, “I Give You the Moon” by Justina Robson tells of of a father, son, and mother in a future where humanity seems to have “figured it out”. The father remotely handles a sea rig which recycles plastic from the ocean. The son dreams of taking a vacation aboard a ship. And the mother thinks of saving her last few credits for a trip to the moon. Utopian but never overtly so, the story’s quiet optimism is captured in the manner which people pay it forward. A soothing, relaxing piece, and a nice counter-point to the dystopias bookending it.
“Do You Hear the Fungi Sing?” by Chen Qiufan is a story that has been told many times before, and Chen adds little to distinguish what he throws into the pot. Dances with Wolves in the future, it tells of a young technician who takes an overland journey to an unmapped node in the world network grid. Finding a traditional society, she learns there is more to life than cables and sat dishes. The moral is overt, something which the amount of exposition beats like a dead horse. Borrowing a little from contemporary culture wars (to be fair, the only piece in the collection to overtly do so), “Legion” by Malka Older puts forwards the idea: what if an online community was formed that monitored other people’s body cams for safety purposes? A person tries to rob you but there is a group watching via your cams who see and report. If that strikes you as a paranoid world full of victims, you wouldn’t be the only one to think so. (Also, who has time to sit around playing remote security for others for free?) Regardless, Older develops the novel in simple, effective fashion that keeps the pages turning as readers wait for the other shoe to drop.
Mixing Hindu caste with Greek myth, “The Ferryman” by Saad Z. Hossain tells of a cyberpunk Charon. Varga is of the lowest caste in a future where the rich have uploaded into immortality. A corpse collector for the poor left behind, he exists, nameless, collecting the rare dead body modern medicine has almost eliminated. To say precisely how this tale is cyberpunk would spoil matters, so let’s just say this man in black has his own way of ferrying souls to the land of the undead. The ending is a touch forced, but the story remains one of the best in the collection. And closing the collection is another YA tale, James Bradley's “After the Storm”. About a teen girl displaced from her family and living with her grandma, she struggles to fit in a new town, She finds work at a shoreline reclamation project, and eventually a social group who only partially accept her for who she is. An understated account, Bradley channels his inner Nevil Shute for a simple but effective human story.
As with almost all of Jonathan Strahan's anthologies, the stories never quite seem to live up to the hyperbole of his introductions. It could just as easily been called Cyberpunk 2040 or something equally near future, and everything would still fit. (I don't find it odd the book is named after a William Gibson novel.) But most important is that Tomorrow's Parties is a solid anthology. Regardless whether humans are the cause of global warming, or the stories are cyberpunk, Strahan has curated an enjoyable selection of contemporary shorts whose positives outweigh the negatives. While it's difficult to be original in today's speculative fiction environment, the stories nevertheless retain a freshness and energy that keep the pages turning. And that may be the ultimate measure of any book. Recommended.
The following are the ten stories contained in Tomorrow's Parties:
Drone Pirates of Silicon Valley by Meg Elison
Down and Out in Exile Park by Tade Thompson
Once Upon a Future in the West by Daryl Gregory
Crisis Actors by Greg Egan
When the Tide Rises by Sarah Gailey
I Give You the Moon by Justina Robson
Do You Hear the Fungi Sing? by Chen Qiufan
Legion by Malka Older
The Ferryman by Saad Z. Hossain
After the Storm by James Bradley
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