Short Book Reviews: Thoughtful Sociological SF from Rachel Swirsky

January Fifteenth, by Rachel Swirsky (Tordotcom)

Rachel Swirsky is one of the most thoughtful, provocative writers in contemporary science fiction. Her work embodies the human experience with all its pathos and glory, without ever preaching or descending into hyperbole. In January Fifteenth, she begins with asking “What if…?” What if Universal Basic Income happened? Who would it help, and how? Which problems would it solve, and which make worse? And how many lives would be untouched, because some problems cannot be solved by money?

Instead of an exposition-laden diatribe, Swirsky takes us inside the lives of four very different women. With compassion but notably without judgment, she plays out their days before, the day of, and after the annual UBI payouts. 

Hannah is a middle-aged mother fleeing an abusive ex-spouse, an escape made possible by her monthly UBI. But “doing a geographic” cannot solve her well-founded fears of discovery, nor can it take the place of unexpected and effective help.

Janelle is a single, Black, struggling journalist wrestling with a rebellious, activist younger sister. Her life has become an unending drudge of barely making ends meet by interviewing strangers about UBI, even though her sister and—formerly—she herself opposed the policy.

Sarah, a pregnant teenager, a prisoner of a religious cult that practices child marriage, polygamy, and keeping women poor and ignorant, trudges to the UBI disbursement center. Her money will not buy her freedom, even if she could imagine such a thing, for it belongs her elderly husband.

Finally, Olivia parties with her wealthy, entitled college student friends, vying for who can spend their UBI in the most wasteful fashion. Her life is a parade of drug-induced visions, superficial relationships, and fear that her parents will find out she’s flunked out. On the surface, she is the most financially well-off character, yet by far the most enslaved.

January Fifteenth is science fiction at its best: stories that are challenging, accessible and, most of all, human. 

Recommended.

Short Book Reviews: Superb Political Fantasy

The Vanished Queen, by Lisbeth Campbell (Saga) presents a fiercely intelligent political drama in a fantasy kingdom dominated by a pathological sadist. The queen of the title was his wife, who was systematically tortured, separated from her sons, and then gone missing, “Disappeared,” presumed dead at his hands. One of the king’s cruelest acts was to do everything in his power to make the boys as brutal and insensitive as he is. A decade later, a resistance movement is gaining momentum, fueled by international intrigue and the king’s own increasingly desperate, ruthless suppression. One of the resistance fighters, a former student now a law clerk, discovers the queen’s diary in a boarded-up library, and the two time lines unfold and intersect.

What sets The Vanquished Queen head and shoulders above other fantasy novels is the intricate, pitch-perfect depiction of its characters, struggling to hold on to their humanity in a world that polarizes and debases even those with the best motives. These are smart, incredibly astute players who are all too often faced with impossible choices, both personal and political.

Campbell respects her readers, giving us everything we need to piece together the story without condescension or emotional manipulation. We are free to draw our own conclusions about complex, often ambivalent situations. With subtlety and exquisite skill, Campbell takes us on a journey through a series of moral and emotional conundrums: how is it possible to be a good person in a world where survival means doing evil deeds? When does a person become truly unforgivable, beyond redemption? And what is the place of love in such a world?