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"Whoever controls our memories controls the future. Janelle Monáe and an incredible array of talented collaborating creators have written a collection of tales comprising the bold vision and powerful themes that have made Monáe such a compelling and celebrated storyteller. Dirty Computer introduced a world in which thoughts-as a means of self-conception-could be controlled or erased by a select few. And whether human, A.I., or other, your life and sentience was dictated by those who'd convinced themselves they had the right to decide your fate. That was until Jane 57821 decided to remember and break free. Expanding from that mythos, these stories fully explore what it's like to live in such a totalitarian existence...and what it takes to get out of it. Building off the traditions of speculative writers such as Octavia Butler, Ted Chiang, Becky Chambers, and Nnedi Okorafor-and filled with the artistic genius and powerful themes that have made Monáe a worldwide icon in the first place-The Memory Librarian serves readers tales grounded in the human trials of identity expression, technology, and love, but also reaching through to the worlds of memory and time within, and the stakes and power that exists there"--… (more)
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These stories include that of Seshet the memory librarian, a high ranking official in New Dawn, who begins to explore life on the "wrong side of town" with a new transgender partner. A commune of women who've found refuge from New Dawn at a place called Pynk Hotel discover a traitor in their midst. A lesbian couple discover a room in their house outside of time with each responding to it differently. And a family are able to travel one by one into a future where they find they've been liberated giving them hope to make it a reality.
It's an interesting collection of sci-fi/Afrofuturist stories that very much parallels our real world struggles. The stories can be didactic in their messaging but honestly sometimes need to be told bluntly. While this type of fiction is not typically something I would enjoy - and I'll confess that some elements went over my head - I am glad that I read this book and would recommend it to people who like this genre and fans of Monáe.
Monáe’s work touches on themes that are at once current and ongoing in much of dystopian science-fiction, specifically the concept of controlling memories or reprogramming people. While books like Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We, George Orwell’s 1984, and Lowis Lowry’s The Giver all focused on similar ideas, Monáe’s work feels particularly prescient as states such as Texas and Florida seek to control what people learn, which books they can read, and whose stories are told. This similarly evokes Philip K. Dick’s focus on memory such as in his novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Like other dystopian science-fiction stories, Monáe’s characters often have names that blend generic identities with numbers, such as Jane 57821 in “Nevermind,” while others take back their power by naming themselves or demonstrate that they live outside of New Dawn’s controls by having their family names intact. This resembles Orwell or even George Lucas’s first film, THX 1138. Monáe’s focus on the intersectionality of race and gender – and how a totalitarian state would target both – highlights the current battles in which conservatives seek to legislate away people whose race or gender does not align with their definition of America. Recent authors with similar focuses include Tochi Onyebuchi, whose 2022 novel Goliath touches on the roles of the surveillance state and which groups are left behind during technological “advancement.” One does not need to have listened to Monáe’s Dirty Computer album or watched her 2018 film to appreciate this short story collection, but the three works do go hand-in-hand to explore these themes and deepen the reader/listener/viewer’s appreciation of the others.
"The Memory Librarian" with Alaya Dawn Johnson
Tells the story of Seshet, who works the people of power in the dystopia where these stories are set. Seshet is a memory librarian who works to keep things going right at New Dawn, making sure that the populations' memories are what they should be. But random things - not memories - start clogging up the system, and she investigates. At the same time, she meets Alethia and starts a romance, questioning if her own memories are suspect and whether she's really done enough good to outweigh the harm.
"Nevermind" with Danny Lore
At the Pynk Hotel, all women and women-aligned are welcome - or are they? Jane and her lover have put down roots here, sometimes quite literally as she puts her hands in the dirt and tries to remember what's been memory wiped by the drug Nevermind. When a trap on the hotel perimeter is found tampered with, enemies from outside are suddenly a threat even while, on the inside, some refuse to accept the trans, non-binary resident, Neer.
"Timebox" with Eve L. Ewing
This one was in a sense the most tame but to me had the most chilling ending. Two women, Raven and Akilah, are dating and get a new apartment together but frays in the relationship soon become apparently, primarily because of class differences where Akilah came from privilege and Raven did not. They discover that their pantry allows them a little extra time, and have very different ideas of how to use it.
"Save Changes" with Yohanca Delgado
Sisters Amber and Larry live with their mother, Diana, who had been part of the Resistance but now after her reconditioning she can't live on her own, doing such things as pickling Twinkies in Windex. When Larry brings Amber to an illegal party, Amber considers using the stone her father gave her that allows her to turn back time - but only once, and then she can pass it on to her oldest child.
"Timebox Altar(ed)" with Sheree Renee Thomas
On their birthday, Bug runs into a ghost town and puts together a sculpture they call an ark with their brother and two friends. Then, Bug disappears for a time. Each of the children have an experience in another time and place, realizing that there is hope for their world, and that each of them have a part to play. A little heavy-handed in its theme, but nice to end on a happier note.
Overall, an intriguing collection.