Bikes in Space: Volume II: More Feminist Science Fiction
by Elly Blue Editor, Elly Bangs Contributor, Elizabeth Buchanan Contributor, Caitlin Giddings Contributor, Jessie L. Kwak Contributor, Gretchin Lair Contributor, Maddy Spencer Contributor and Emily June Street Contributor
Bikes in Space is a feminist bicycle science fiction anthology. Started as a zine (and a bit of a joke), it ended up being ridiculously fun and popular, filled with great pulp-esque stories.
These are a dozen new stories that bring you into a dizzying futurescape inhabited by empowered women on two wheels!
- Fueled by vegan donuts and beer, a bike messenger races delivery drones through a crumbling future Portland.
- Maddy Engelfried's future city is a peaceful, if impoverished one, where everyone travels by bicycle... except one young girl
- In a post-nuclear holocaust America, why would anyone choose to be a woman?
- Emily June Street takes us to a parallel world, where women aren't supposed to race velos—and they definitely aren't supposed to win!
- Editor Elly Blue regales you with the story of the most epic butt dial in galactic history
Looking for more feminist bicycle science fiction? Find our growing collection, and calls for submission, here.
by Elly Blue Editor, Elly Bangs Contributor, Elizabeth Buchanan Contributor, Caitlin Giddings Contributor, Jessie L. Kwak Contributor, Gretchin Lair Contributor, Maddy Spencer Contributor and Emily June Street Contributor
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Comments & Reviews
"Bikes in Space: A Feminist Science Fiction Anthology creates it’s own place in the SF genre with ecological, technological, and dystopian themes mixed together with humor and some hard-riding bicyclists."
http://www.paperdroids.com/2016/05/17/get-gear-bikes-space/
This collection of short stories takes you on a far-out romp through dystopian societies where you encounter futuristic bike messengers and witness urban races with life-or-death consequences. And that's only in the first 10 pages. Bikes in Space Volume II should please fans of feminist lit and science fiction alike—and anyone else who loves a fascinating tale.
It’s a cute little product – goes well with the Twelve Planets books; I don’t know who did the physical publishing but it feels nice and well-made. I love the cover! And the stories… well.
“Racing the Drones” is a nod to bike couriers everywhere, and the advantages they have over other forms of delivery. “The Sassy Chassis Lassies and the Devolution Revolution” makes comment on road etiquette – and the frequent lack of it from cars – as well as the freedom offered by bikes. “Winning is Everything” looks at a woman defying a male status quo, while “Grandma Takes Off” features a very awesome older lady. I have named my bicycle, so “Tabula Rasa” – about forming an emotional connection to your ride – worked for me; “Bikes to New Sarjun” is incomplete but takes up the idea of bicycles and charity and government intransigence. And Elly Blue herself addresses that bane of the cyclist’s life, butt-dialling.
“From an Interview with the Famed Roller Sara Zephyr Cain” is one of my absolute favourite stories. There is so much going on here, like hints at some sort of post-apocalyptic world, and tantalising ideas of genetic modification. But more profoundly, it’s a discussion about gender – choosing it, and dealing with people’s reactions to that. I’d love to hear what transwomen think of the story. Another of my favourites was “Midnight Ride,” which takes as its theme the freedom offered by cycling – and whether that can be inclusive (it is a little sentimental but/and I think it’s done nicely). And then there’s “The Bicycle Maker,” a lovely little story set well into the future, where humanity – at some point before they disappeared – delegated bicycle-making to a machine of some sort. And what’s that machine to do when there are no humans to ride its bikes?