PG16- Future Boston (some v,some x,b), In the Cube (v,some x,b), Slow Lightning (some v,b)
The Future Boston Project ("FuBos" for short) is a shared-world setting created by the Cambridge Science Fiction Writers Workshop, which includes the following authors: Jon Burrowes, Alexander Jablokov, Geoffrey A. Landis, Resa Nelson, Steven Popkes, David Alexander Smith and Sarah Smith.
This project is a future history of Boston from 1990 to 2100. In the 1990's, Boston begins to sink into the sea, then in 2014, several species of aliens arrive. Boston becomes the single Contact Zone for interstellar trade. This contact is limited because the more advanced alien societies must determine whether humans are sentient before they will accept them into the galactic community. In 2061, Boston's "privileged" status leads to a revolts over the taxation of this trade and the city secedes from the U.S.A. (This is one example of the twisted revisiting of history that is a theme throughout the project; another example is land-filled Boston returning to its original shorelines.)
Future Boston (edited by David Alexander Smith): This anthology represents the core of the FuBos project. The stories in this book are presented in the order of their fictional chronology. However, reading the stories in this order is not the easiest way of getting to know the setting--the first few are among my least favorite in the collection. The editor ends the collection with an essay which describes how the workshop created this "mosaic novel."
If this anthology is your first FuBos book, I would suggest that you start by reading "Fennario" (Resa Nelson & Sarah Smith), "When the Phneri Fell" (David Alexander Smith), "Three Boston Artists" (Sarah Smith) and "Ye Citizens of Boston" (Sarah Smith). I recommend this subset for two reasons: 1. They present some necessary context in an accessible way; and 2. They deal with the Phneri, the most numerous alien species in Boston, and the one developed the most thoroughly by the project.
The editor ends the collection with an essay on how the workshop created the setting, and gives the titles of several stories that appear elsewhere.
2041 A.D. (edited by Jane Yolen) contains one FuBos story: "The Last Out", by Resa Nelson and David Alexander Smith. The title refers to the last baseball game played in Fenway Park, a place which, like the rest of Boston, is sinking below water level. This story is up to the standards of the FuBos project, and the collection includes several non-FuBos stories that are certainly worth reading (including an Anne McCaffrey horse story, for example).
In the Cube, by David Alexander Smith: Private eye Beverly O'Meara and her alien partner Akktri the Phner are hired to find the missing daughter of the Boston City Operator. They soon find that the job is not quite what it appears, and they must deal with many of the movers and shakers of the Boston Cube in order to solve the mystery, as well as merely to survive. The plot is somewhat on the stock detective story side, but the characters are satisfyingly complex. This novel is a good showcase for the setting--with rich and effective use of its aliens, technology, history and special sites--and presents it in a much more enjoyable format than do many of the stories in the Future Boston anthology.
Slow Lightning, by Steven Popkes: Young Ira Bloom was raised on a space station with the help of an alien named Gray. When his parents died, he and his "nanny" were sent to Earth to live with his aunt in Boston. Ira comes into contact with the Bishop--the powerful alien who oversees the Boston Contact Zone and who will give humanity its sentience test--and learns some of the tragic history Gray shares with that being. Ira must learn how to cope with this potential threat to Gray, his only true family. This is a complex and challenging story, which requires multiple readings to comprehend all that is going on.
Popkes has other pieces about the Bishop in the Future Boston anthology. One of these, "The Test," is a sequel to Slow Lightning; both stories serve to clarify some confusing points in the other work.
Burrowes, Jon. "The Elephant-Ass Thing," in Future Boston.
--. "The Uprising," in Future Boston.
--. Vubre the Great. (not yet published?)Jablokov, Alexander. "The Adoption," in Future Boston (originally appeared in Asimov's, November 1991).
--. "Focal Plane," in Future Boston.
--. "IPOB Dining Hall Procedures," in Future Boston.
--. "The Lady of Port Moresby Incident," in Future Boston.
--. "Letter to the Editor," in Future Boston.
--. "Nomads," in Future Boston.
--. "The Place of No Shadows," in Future Boston (originally appeared in Asimov's, November 1990).
--. "Seating Arrangement," in Future Boston.
--. "WereWhereWear," in Future Boston.Landis, Geoffrey A. "Camomile and Crimson; or, The Tale of the Brahmin's Wife," in Future Boston (originally appeared in Analog, April 1990).
--. "Projects," in Future Boston (originally appeared in Analog, June 1990).
--. "Topology of the Loophole," in Future Boston.Nelson, Resa, and David Alexander Smith. "The Last Out," in 2041 A.D., edited by Jane Yolen.
Nelson, Resa, and Sarah Smith. "Fennario," in Future Boston.
Popkes, Steven. "Not for Broadcast," in Future Boston.
--. "The Parade," in Future Boston.
--. Slow Lightning (1993) (originally titled "The Egg"; published in paperback as a Tor Double with Poul Anderson's The Longest Voyage).
--. "So You Want to Meet the Bishop?" in Future Boston.
--. "The Test," in Future Boston.Popkes, Steven, and David Alexander Smith. "Playing Chess With the Bishop," in Future Boston.
Smith, David Alexander. "Afterword: How It Came to Be," in Future Boston.
--. "'Boston Will Sink, Claims MIT Prof,'" in Future Boston.
--. "Dying in Hull," in Future Boston (originally appeared in Asimov's, November 1988; reprinted in Isaac Asimov's Earth, ed. Gardner Dozois).
--. In the Cube (1993).
--. "Sail Away," in Future Boston.
--. "When the Phneri Fell," in Future Boston (originally appeared in Figment, October 1989).
--. "Who Is Venture Capital?" in Future Boston.Smith, David Alexander (editor). Future Boston (1994).
Smith, Sarah. "Seeing the Edge," in Future Boston.
--. "Three Boston Artists," in Future Boston (originally appeared in Aboringinal, July 1990).
--. "Ye Citizens of Boston," in Future Boston.
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