Introducing
What Tomorrow May Bring
The YA Dystopian Box Set
Introducing
Follow 11 authors into 11 dystopian tomorrows, where the dark portions of our humanity have taken hold of today, where the fabric of society is torn and greed consumes us all. Follow us down a dark path.
And find out what tomorrow may bring.
Science-Fiction presents a terrific opportunity for any writer. At its most basic it’s a chance for us to wonder about what could be, what might be, or warn of dangers that might come to pass. But when it’s at its best (possibly most subversive), great science-fiction is really all about “what is.” It’s about the here and now. It’s about us.
I could have set The Girls from Alcyone in the present (I almost did). After all, the story takes place in a world where the corporatocracy has finally supplanted all democratic forms of government, where indentured servitude and bonded laborers are the norm, and where the world’s populations have been neatly divided into the haves and have-nots. Kind of like today!
But I knew if I did (set the story in present day) it would have radically changed the tone and turned the novel into something I didn’t intend. Politics might be very near and dear to me, but I didn’t want TGfA to become a treatise on the rise of the new industrial imperialism. That wasn’t the novel I wanted to write. I wanted to write an adventure.
More than that, I wanted to write a story about the endurance of friendship, unwavering loyalty and love (yes, I am that much of a sap). I wanted to show a possible future where inclusiveness and acceptance were the norm, not the exception—even in a world where 99% of the population lives in abject poverty. I wanted to give my characters a chance to live without the burdens of prejudice, where no one cares about your nationality, your sexuality, or gives a second thought to who you date or who you love. All with no questions asked. Because they have bigger things to worry about. Like survival.
And, goddammit, I wanted the story to be fun!
Setting a story like this in the present day would be impossible. Who would believe it? But, that’s the beauty of science-fiction, and that’s why I love it so much. When we look to the future—in the case of The Girls from Alcyone, three hundred and fifty years into the future—absolutely anything is possible.
It's been a pleasure and a privilege to be included in this box-set of terrific dystopian science-fiction (by an amazing group of writers!). I hope you enjoy it as much as me.
Cary Caffrey.
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