In Your Face

If you enjoyed the hit series, Black Mirror, you’ll be drawn to this anthology of twisted, sci-fi tales that touch on the hot political topics of today and the speculative social issues of tomorrow. 

•ANDROIDS & ANARCHY – A galactic bounty hunter races against the clock to keep an evil aristocrat from using his synthetic fiends to take over the universe.

Resistance Is Brutal by Chanta Rand takes current social issues and places them into sci-fi settings, mixing sociology and science fiction to create stories for readers to make sense of ongoing real-life events by challenging their perception of our culture:

THE UTERAL SUSPECTS features a future version of the #MeToo movement.

YOUR HEALTH IS YOUR WEALTH shows dating in a world based on numbers, in which people are judged by their digits.

EXPERIENCING ETHICAL DIFFICULTIES highlights the influence celebrities have on young viewers, as well those attempting to control the celebrities.

A FORGONE ILLUSION uses advanced technology to remind readers, be careful what you wish for.

ANDROIDS & ANARCHY tackles gender identity on a galactic level, but it is merely a sample of a longer story not available within this anthology.

If Carl Jung and Ray Bradbury had a love child, the result might be Chanta Rand. I only wish she had included more stories within this flash fiction collection, but the author has definitely made her mark with this one.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Misogyny In Mythology

Set in Ancient Greece, a young woman turns into legend through an unfortunate event.

Ruined by Kiersten Knighting is the telling of a popular Greek myth through the eyes of a rape victim. Considering how victim-blaming has been rampant throughout history, I think it's great to see someone give a voice to this iconic person. Knighting does an excellent job giving the character a voice, as well as drawing attention to the bias of the original myth.

This story is far better than the author's other attempt at addressing social issues in The Solution.

As always,
AstraDaemon

What A Night

In The Basement by Razz Popo is bloody amazing. I made a plethora of incorrect assumptions based on the title and the description...neither doing the actual story any justice. There is no way I could have predicted any of the events and, even though I began to recognize certain elements towards the end, Popo still surprised me. By the time I finished the story, I felt as though I had been brutalized and dragged through the house myself.

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Granted, I've only read two stories by Razz Popo, but I love this author's work! What appeals to me the most is his trademark mix of social issues and the supernatural. Unlike other authors who look for ways to make a real life problem even worse, Popo serves up the most exquisite and terrifying justice to bring balance to the chaos of his creations.

I would love Razz Popo to write a story with both Annie and Lana facing off with some real world evil...I can't get enough of these characters.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Putting Zombies To Good Use

Compliance by K. Batholomew takes place in Ohio, after a zombie apocalypse. This story focuses on the psychological and sociological aspects of a world-wide collapse of civilization, as well as individual characters and the new world order they are living in. I think Bartholomew did a great job of expressing all the layers within this setting. This is why I've always preferred the zombie genre over the other horror genres...the zombies represent so much more than monsters.

While the writing style is more similar to World War Z by Max Brooks, the thinking level of this story reminded me of Kim Paffenroth's Dying To Live series. If you've ever wondered why zombies have been so popular for so long, I encourage you to read this story.

As always,
AstraDaemon

The Sociology of Haters & Trolls

Reading The Comments
Joseph M. Reagle, Jr.
240 pages
$15.39 Kindle Version

Reagle visits communities of Amazon reviewers, fan fiction authors, online learners, scammers, freethinkers, and mean kids. He shows how comment can inform us (through reviews), improve us (through feedback), manipulate us (through fakery), alienate us (through hate), shape us (through social comparison), and perplex us. He finds pre-Internet historical antecedents of online comment in Michelin stars, professional criticism, and the wisdom of crowds. He discusses the techniques of online fakery (distinguishing makers, fakers, and takers), describes the emotional work of receiving and giving feedback, and examines the culture of trolls and haters, bullying, and misogyny. He considers the way comment -- a nonstop stream of social quantification and ranking -- affects our self-esteem and well-being. And he examines how comment is puzzling -- short and asynchronous, these messages can be slap-dash, confusing, amusing, revealing, and weird, shedding context in their passage through the Internet, prompting readers to comment in turn, "WTF?!?"

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As a reviewer/blogger, I was really excited to read this book. I thought it was great that someone decided to focus on the comments that shape and influence numerous types of websites, as well as the effect they have on the people who use those sites. However, I think Reagle missed his opportunity to truly explore new ground and, instead, wrote one anecdote after another. Considering the controversy over Amazon reviews in particular, I'm surprised at how little he covered the sociological aspects of this new culture that has developed as the internet has evolved.

A lot of the information provided seems like unnecessary filler, such as details about products for sale, instead of spotlighting the different types of reviewers and other online commentators. As a result, the insight that Reagle provides loses its impact on the reader. The most enlightening section is Chapter 3, which discusses the various forms of manipulation that occurs through reviews, comments, likes, etc. I wish the rest of the book had been more like that chapter.

In any case, if you are a reviewer, blogger or someone who relies on the internet to make a living, I recommend reading this book - it's entertaining, if not informative.

As always,
AstraDaemon