Bikes in Space

by Elly Blue

A reader of science fiction since she was a child, Elly Blue elected to make this issue of Taking the Lane into a powerful tribute to feminist sci-fi about bicycles. It gravitates away from the unfortunately-traditional macho heroes, hurtling through space with giant guns, ready to protect and/or tame their scantily clad space babe. Elly's visions of the future are populated by strong, intelligent, empowered women with complex personalities. And it was a vision apparently shared by many: It's the largest issue of TTL yet! Help us fend off this space shark attack in style! Ieeeee!

Strong female characters pedal through dystopian futurescapes; robots ponder the meaning of life as racers power past; fantastic creatures ride out to hunt even as the politics of their world shift under them. The original collection of feminist bicycle science fiction stories.

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fiction, Solarpunk, Anthologies

119 pages, ebook

First published March 24, 2013

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less contrived than I was expecting

[Taru Luojola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Olen tässä tovin etsiskellyt, onko velopunk-kirjallisuutta ollut olemassa ennen kuin itse aloin sitä kirjoittaa. Ei sillä genrenimellä, mutta muuten kyllä jonkin verran. Yhdysvaltalaisen feministisen Taking the lane -polkupyörälehden vuotuiset fiktioantologiat tulivat vastaan tässä aivan sattumalta vasta muutama päivä sitten.

Ensimmäinen tämän Bikes in Space -spefisarjan antologia on julkaistu 2013, eli kovin vanhasta ilmiöstä ei tässäkään ole kyse. Ja koska kyseessä on ensimmäinen, antologian novellit ovat idealtaan suht hapuilevia ja ohuita. Monissa novelleissa asetelma on tutuhko ”pyörät pelastavat maailman, tai sen mitä autoilta ja ilmansaasteilta nyt enää on jäljellä” ilman sen kunnianhimoisempaa tai yllättävää juonta, mutta joissain tehdään vähän rohkeampiakin irtiottoja tästä peruslähtökohdasta. Etenkin päätösnovelli Harry's new old bike poikkeaa yleislinjasta, sillä siinä portlandilaishipsterin äärimmäisen autenttisesta ironiasta tulee niin totta, että hän huomaakin päätyneensä 1930-luvun tukkityömaalle — eikä ole siitä yhtään pahoillaan.

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a bit disappointed with this. It sounds so cool that I had to take a look but there isn't a whole lot of substance behind the gimmick and some of the stories are pretty toe-curling. It has its moments (the last one, for example, is pretty good) but ultimately it was decidedly meh.

[Lori Harasem · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this for a book club on cycling. I am not a fan of science fiction so found these stories to all be rather odd and not generally of interest to me, but they were short (some very short!) and this book was small so I got through it. I decided this publisher has other books I’d love, this just wasn’t the one for me, so I’m glad to have read this book so I could learn more about the publisher.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

The moon was a bust.

You see the grinning maw and you think your little life is going to change. You think that the future is before you, and the past is behind you, but it isn’t. You’re not rolling forward. You’re there already, and you’re already long gone.

[Larry James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection by Elly Blue of wildly different stories. A couple that didn't seem to 'hit the mark' but several real gems, too. Amazing world building in just a few hundred words. Very modern inter-sectional mindset. Recommended.

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars! Picked this one up at my local indie. Favorite stories were Bipedal by Nicky Drayden, Nova’s Cycles by Aaron M. Wilson, The Revelation of Megulon-5, and The Breathing Engine by Matthew Lambert!

[Kaileigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this as an adorable tiny book. Very good variety in the stories, best enjoyed if you have done a little bike maintenance and know the names of things.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first volume of a series of feminist short story anthologies featuring bikes. This volume was very short, but had a few standout stories.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable enough light sci-fi. There was only one story that I didn't enjoy, and it was short. A few, I wished were longer.

[Ruby Gertz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a delightfully fun short read. Short stories imagine future worlds in which bicycles play some key role, with some feminist undertones, what's not to love?

[Paulina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute and fun little book :)

[Harry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Patchy and preachy.

[Marlowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun little collection. It's a quick read, and most of the stories are a bit too short to do more than just set a scene, but I had fun with it. I particularly liked Nova's Cycles, which could easily have been expanded to a full length story. And, of course, Nicky Drayden's entry was the stand-out.

[Meg]

yay!

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

liked it, especially Nicky Drayden's Bipedal. liked volume 2 even more.