Having thoroughly enjoyed Lavanya Lakshminarayan’s
Analog/Virtual: And Other Simulations of Your Future, I’ve decided that all far-future dystopias should be structured as a series of linked short stories. That’s not to say George Orwell missed a trick by neglecting the perspectives of Julia, Mr. Charrington, or O’Brien;
1984 famously generates its power from how little Winston knows about his world. For those of us who want to understand the mechanics of a society, though, especially one that actively persecutes a good chunk of its citizens, there’s something to broadening the scope, including the voices of the oppressed, the privileged, and those who slot somewhere in between. That’s precisely what Lakshminarayan does with her debut collection, presenting 20 stories told from the viewpoint of the residents of Apex City, where access to technology divides the haves (“Virtuals”) and the have-nots (“Analogs”).