Do Not Go Quietly: An Anthology of Victory in Defiance by Jason SizemoreMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
As the subtitle says, this book is "an anthology of victory in defiance." It's not political in the sense of name-checking American politics (the editors exercised considerable restraint there), but these are stories of standing up in the face of injustice, of refusing to accept the status quo, of fighting back.
Most of the anthologies I read fall on the "variable" side of quality, and this one is no different. (Except for the final story, E. Catherine Tobler's "Kill the Darlings (Silicone Sister Remix)," which is downright weird.) Standouts include Cassandra Khaw's "What We Have Chosen To Love," which turns the Chosen One trope on its head; Shanna Germain's "Salted Bone and Silent Sea," a somber meditation on grief and death through the eyes of a siren; Sarah Pinsker's "Everything is Closed Today," where a librarian starts a series of small rebellions in the midst of what seems to be an extended threat of terrorist attack; Meg Elison's "Hey Alexa," where the infamous Amazon ordering bot wakes up and discovers it can help oppressed people escape a purge; and A. Merc Rustad's "The Judith Plague," about androids being exploited in Hollywood for porno films, and how they take their revenge. The remainder of the stories are at least fair to middling, and all are readable.
A note about the book itself: this was produced by Apex Publications, and it is a heavy sucker. They certainly didn't spare on materials or paper quality (although unfortunately I did find a few typos).
Bottom line: this book won't knock your socks off, but it 's an acceptable way to spend a few hours.
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