Stephanie S's Reviews > Current Futures: A Sci-Fi Ocean Anthology

This is an online-only anthology, available to read for free at https://go.xprize.org/oceanstories

This anthology includes 18 sci-fi short stories set in a future in which technology is helping us to understand and hopefully save the ocean. Each author was asked to submit a story in this vein that has a hopeful note about our future on this planet.

Based on the stories alone, I’d give this 3.5 stars, but rounding it up to 4 for the gorgeous artwork included with each story. There are a couple of truly stand-out stories, a couple of duds, but mostly - each story is within the realm of “fine” to “interesting.” My favorites are the submissions by Vandana Singh and Malka Older.

1. Mother Ocean, by Vandana Singh. Paro knows she has a connection to the ocean, despite her mother’s insistence that she avoid the sea at all costs. As she and a blue whale learn to trust each other deeply, she begins to remember. This beautifully written story touches on the interconnectedness of humans and (the rest of) nature, the devastating consequences of colonialism, generational trauma, vulnerability, and - of course - climate change. Highly recommended. Art by Jing Jing Tsong. https://go.xprize.org/oceanstories/mo... 4.5*

2. Talking in Pictures by Sheila Finch. An interspecies communication researcher visits the ocean to experiment with using her neural implant to communicate with dolphins. Much like the researcher’s work, this story felt like the seed of an idea that hadn’t been fleshed out. It also ended rather abruptly. The art (by Christina Dill) is lovely though. https://go.xprize.org/oceanstories/ta... 2.5*

3. Improvisations on an Ocean Call by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz. Ys lives as a human, but she is also.. different from others. She knows of the music of the sea. “Humpbacks and sperm whale will cross paths with orca, baleen whales and bottlenose dolphins between late autumn and early winter and these meetings often turn into full concerts including cavorting and dance.” And Ys is inviting others to share this concert. I wasn’t sure about this one at first, but it grew on me as the main character developed (though I’m still not sure I fully understand all of the world-building. Art by Ayelet Raziel. https://go.xprize.org/oceanstories/im... 3.5*

4. Repatriation by Nalo Hopkinson. In the near future, Jamaica’s coast is underwater. “Global warning brought supertornados which had eroded the sand away. Polar ice cap melts had raised water levels enough to permanently flood so many of our coastal cities.” Our main character watched throughout his childhood as cruise ships contributed to oceanic pollution and climate change - and he hates them for this; he hates that he has had to immigrate to America. So why is his husband taking him on a surprise cruise for his birthday? This was a hopeful story, if a bit predictable. Still, sometimes the journey is more important than the destination, and Nalo Hopkinson is always worth a read. Art by Carolina Rodriguez-Fuenmay. https://go.xprize.org/oceanstories/re... 3*

5. Floating Rugs by Mohale Mashigo. Ella lives in an underwater community, watching whales swim past her window; she and her neighbors strive to sustain their environment by engaging in conservation work. But when a journalist from National Geographic arrives to write about their lifestyle, everything feels threatened. “I didn’t want someone writing about us like we were some ‘lost conservation tribe.’ We are so much more than that.” This was a well-written story with such an interesting premise; it highlights the wisdom of indigenous communities and the harm that happens when outsiders show an interest. “They will want to turn this into a destination where they get drunk in the ruins of beach front houses and take selfies ‘with the tribe.’” This is a short but powerful story. Art by Cornelia Li. https://go.xprize.org/oceanstories/fl... 4*

6. Sea Maple by Marie Lu. With some short stories, it’s hard to write a brief summary without spoilers, and this is one of those. Our main character discovered an underwater forest of giant coral (a new species); the story begins as she shows her 8-year-old sister her discovery using VR tech, and .. but no, I have to leave it at that. It’s a beautifully written, thoughtful, & moving character-driven story. Highly recommended. Art by Jazmen Richardson. https://go.xprize.org/oceanstories/se... 4*

7. Sturdy Lanterns and Ladders by Malka Older. This was in the Best SF of the Year collection that I read and it was one of my overall favorites from that collection. It’s another story that’s hard to describe without spoilers, but it begins with a marine behavioral researcher and an octopus. What if we could see the world through the eyes of another intelligent creature? What will we see that we’d never understood before? Highly recommended reading. Art by Chiara Zarmati. https://go.xprize.org/oceanstories/st... 5*

8. Blue Lotus by Madeline Ashby. This story is “about perfume, disinformation, and AI” (author description). This one was strange, but I like that it touched on how human technology can inadvertently impact others species. For instance - did you know that airplanes flying over nature preserves disrupts mating cycles of many species. (Not in the story, just a random sad fact.) Anyway, the story was okay. Art by Daria Kirpach. https://go.xprize.org/oceanstories/bl... 2.5*

9. Her Seal Skin Coat by Lauren Beukes. CW: fatphobia. An immersion expert makes a living demoing immersion technology that lets the participant feel the sensory (touch) experience of a nearby seal. She loves immersion herself, but hates the tourists she has to serve. Then she gets an offer for a much more interesting immersion job. This was a well-written and really interesting read. Art by Nancy Liang. https://go.xprize.org/oceanstories/he... 4*

10. Haven by Karen Lord. 2040 is “a time of rising sea levels and lethal hurricanes” in which “creative solutions are called for.” This had a lot going on for a 15 minute read, and I’m mostly just confused. I read it in full, skimmed it again, googled it, skimmed some more. Nope, I’m just confused. Oh well. Art by Michela Buttignol. https://go.xprize.org/oceanstories/ha... 2*

11. The Body Remembers by Kameron Hurley. CW: graphic depictions of war & PTSD. Nieve, a veteran of The Water Wars, is sent to a facility to try a new PTSD treatment - but it might get worse before it gets better. This felt like a story the author wrote after reading “The Body Keeps the Score” (a hugely influential work on trauma treatment). Good story but also a hard read. Art by Robin Eisenberg. https://go.xprize.org/oceanstories/th... 3.5*

12. The Little Shepherdess by Gwyneth Jones. Diti, a graduate student researcher, is working on a species survey for a deep sea mining project. Watching the oceanic life forms, she begins to rethink the current mining methods. This story was interesting, but the tonal shift at the end - wrapping the story up in a tidy bow - threw me off a bit. Art by Rosanna Tasker. https://go.xprize.org/oceanstories/th... 3.5*

13. Poems and Distant Lands by Gu Shi. Chen Shiyuan unexpectedly receives a call from a former mentor/project manager, and he learns that perhaps their project from 2 decades ago (to create an underwater AI for cleaning up crude oil and plastic from the ocean) wasn’t quite the failure they thought - but it’s also become something else entirely. An interesting read with some fun imagery. Art by Kirsten Zirngibi (go check out the full image!). https://go.xprize.org/oceanstories/po... 3*

14. Soft Edges by Elizabeth Bear. Art by Priscilla Kim. https://go.xprize.org/oceanstories/so.... A conservationist gets dragged into helping with a murder investigation when she finds a body washed ashore in a preservation area. She has her own history of being unjustly accused of a crime and spent several months in jail - so she’s understandably reluctant to help. This story suffered a bit from the author having a clear message to convey (our justice system is broken) without strong characterization or plotting to back it up. 2.5*

15. The Salt Dark by Deborah Biancotti. Meri wakes on the ship that she works on to her boss sounding the alarm; someone is diving in the dark, trying to steal the baby coral - the genetically spliced “hybrid” coral she works to protect. This was interesting if not super memorable. (I’m really tired today, so excuse the lackluster descriptions.) Art by Andreea Dobrin Dinu. https://go.xprize.org/oceanstories/th... 3*

16. The Seething Sea Sufficeth Us by Catherynne M Valente. This story is from the perspective of a pregnant whale - swimming the ocean (at times through underwater [previously inhabited by humans] cities), and singing the song of her pod to her unborn son. An interesting and strangely lyrical story. Art by Kaela Graham. https://go.xprize.org/oceanstories/th... 4*

17. To Have and To Hold by Brenda Peynado. Gabriela works with her parents on their disaster tourist cruise ship. She has just learned that her parents are divorcing, and this story holds her anger and also her reflections on how holding/possessing the things and people you love can often destroy them. “After, they always come to me with handfuls of shells, expecting to take back some memento marking their tasks, keep some beauty untouched for themselves. Part of my job was telling them to put all the shells they gathered back where they found them. Despite their best intentions, they still forget there are billions of us and any one action multiplied can pick the planet clean.” Some may find it a bit heavy-handed, but there are some things that just need to be said explicitly. Art by Tracy J. Lee. Go check out the full image - it’s beautiful! https://go.xprize.org/oceanstories/to... 4*

18. Southern Residents by Brenda Cooper. Dr. Julie Pol has just opened the Ocean Research Institute & Spa (ORIAS). There are plenty of critics - those who don’t think saving less than a hundred whales is worth millions of dollars when so many humans are suffering. Julie has to convince them that saving the whales means saving the ocean & saving the ocean means saving us. A well-written and fitting end to this anthology. Art by Alyssa Winans. https://go.xprize.org/oceanstories/so... 3.5*