This months recs are all dystopian futures
Some of them are closer to now, and some are set in a galaxy far, far away, but they're all about worlds we probably wouldn't enjoy living in:
1: Dreaming in Cordite, by deannawol
Jared is the rebellious teenaged son of the owner of Padaleckicorp. He's enjoying life until someone tries to murder him and actually succeeds in killing his family. Jensen is a mercenary who has a grudge against the man who kills a couple of his friends on a whim. The two come together when it seems that their adversary is the same person. I love cyberpunk, and this is one of the best of them that I've found.
2: Gunmetal Dawn, by deannawol
This story follows on from Dreaming in Cordite, and shows how Jared takes back what was his, but almost loses everything he treasured most in the aftermath. Together these stories kept me fascinated for days.
3: Three Grams, by frostian
The enigmatic title doesn't do this story justice. I wasn't sure what I was going to get when I opened it up, but it's a wonderfully written Sci-fi set far into a dystopian future. There has been a civil war, and the inhabitants of Earth are holding colonised planets to ransom, charging the settlers exorbitant rates for water having stripped all the assets away from the planet. Gerald Padalecki is a scientist who has discovered a way to create water to free the colonists from their crushing debts. Everything is going to plan until his son, Jared, discovers a boy who has been tossed onto a trash heap. The boy is a bio-mechanical construct - a doll - that has been made to be a sex toy, but the Padalecki's adopt him.
4: Naked Under Here, by fleshflutter
Jared is Black Steel, the superhero that turned Manhattan to metal along with all its occupants. Jenesis has so many reality altering powers that he's pretty much a god. Jenesis doesn't want complications, but sometimes things, with the best will in the world, do get complicated.
5: You're in my head (but not in my hands), by hugemind
More cyberpunk. Gorgeous and poignant, and should've been a whole lot longer than it is, Jensen creates an AI.
6: The Gifted, by morrezela
Jensen has a talent, and because of this he's been incarcerated in a training facility where he is learning to become a weapon for a government agency that's shrouded in mystery. When a group of bullies attack hiim and throw him to the feral murderer who lives at the edge of his prison, he's pretty much convinced that his life is about to end.I loved this story. There are some spelling glitches but I was still engaged in the story enough to want to get to the end. Now I'm hoping that it becomes a 'verse.
7: Feeling is Freedom, by alasse
This is an oldie but goodie. Jensen is the cleric in charge of ensuring there is no deviant left unprosecuted. Their crime is simply to feel. Experiencing feelings has been outlawed. Of course there is a resistance, and of course, Jared is the leader of it. When they meet, the inevitable happens.
8: Things We Can't Untie, by astrangerfate
Jared is a high school kid who becomes a political prisoner. Jensen is the one designated to train him as a sex slave to be sold to a member of the wealthy elite, which is the fate of prisoners like Jared. It's very well written and pretty scary in concept - to me at least. Read all of it, including the outtakes, because they are awesome. This is from the outtakes, when Jared is finally arrested while in his school assembly:
“This is probably the last time you’ll ever see me,” he says bluntly, “so I want you to remember me. Some of you know that I write for the school paper. Well, I also write for another paper, one you probably haven’t heard of. It’s called The Patriot, and I write articles about how it’s sick and wrong to enslave human beings in the name of national security. And ironically enough, I’m about to be enslaved for expressing that opinion.”
9: Hold Me Like You'll Never Let Me Go, by totallyquirky
This is about Armageddon, and it's based on the movie of the same name. There's an asteroid heading towards Earth. What a time to find the one you love! Jared's dad is the one person who can avert armageddon, and Jensen is the reprobate who works for him. This is a fun story with lots of what the author calls schmoopage. It's a term I am going to adopt from now on.
10: Like Tears in Rain, by ysbail
I've always loved Blade Runner and this is an awesome treatment of the Blade Runner idea. In this story, Replicants are real and although they have been used off-world in hazardous situations, they are banned on earth and are killed wherever found. The Blade Runner here is Jared. Guess who's a Replicant!
1: Dreaming in Cordite, by deannawol
Jared is the rebellious teenaged son of the owner of Padaleckicorp. He's enjoying life until someone tries to murder him and actually succeeds in killing his family. Jensen is a mercenary who has a grudge against the man who kills a couple of his friends on a whim. The two come together when it seems that their adversary is the same person. I love cyberpunk, and this is one of the best of them that I've found.
2: Gunmetal Dawn, by deannawol
This story follows on from Dreaming in Cordite, and shows how Jared takes back what was his, but almost loses everything he treasured most in the aftermath. Together these stories kept me fascinated for days.
3: Three Grams, by frostian
The enigmatic title doesn't do this story justice. I wasn't sure what I was going to get when I opened it up, but it's a wonderfully written Sci-fi set far into a dystopian future. There has been a civil war, and the inhabitants of Earth are holding colonised planets to ransom, charging the settlers exorbitant rates for water having stripped all the assets away from the planet. Gerald Padalecki is a scientist who has discovered a way to create water to free the colonists from their crushing debts. Everything is going to plan until his son, Jared, discovers a boy who has been tossed onto a trash heap. The boy is a bio-mechanical construct - a doll - that has been made to be a sex toy, but the Padalecki's adopt him.
4: Naked Under Here, by fleshflutter
Jared is Black Steel, the superhero that turned Manhattan to metal along with all its occupants. Jenesis has so many reality altering powers that he's pretty much a god. Jenesis doesn't want complications, but sometimes things, with the best will in the world, do get complicated.
5: You're in my head (but not in my hands), by hugemind
More cyberpunk. Gorgeous and poignant, and should've been a whole lot longer than it is, Jensen creates an AI.
6: The Gifted, by morrezela
Jensen has a talent, and because of this he's been incarcerated in a training facility where he is learning to become a weapon for a government agency that's shrouded in mystery. When a group of bullies attack hiim and throw him to the feral murderer who lives at the edge of his prison, he's pretty much convinced that his life is about to end.I loved this story. There are some spelling glitches but I was still engaged in the story enough to want to get to the end. Now I'm hoping that it becomes a 'verse.
7: Feeling is Freedom, by alasse
This is an oldie but goodie. Jensen is the cleric in charge of ensuring there is no deviant left unprosecuted. Their crime is simply to feel. Experiencing feelings has been outlawed. Of course there is a resistance, and of course, Jared is the leader of it. When they meet, the inevitable happens.
8: Things We Can't Untie, by astrangerfate
Jared is a high school kid who becomes a political prisoner. Jensen is the one designated to train him as a sex slave to be sold to a member of the wealthy elite, which is the fate of prisoners like Jared. It's very well written and pretty scary in concept - to me at least. Read all of it, including the outtakes, because they are awesome. This is from the outtakes, when Jared is finally arrested while in his school assembly:
“This is probably the last time you’ll ever see me,” he says bluntly, “so I want you to remember me. Some of you know that I write for the school paper. Well, I also write for another paper, one you probably haven’t heard of. It’s called The Patriot, and I write articles about how it’s sick and wrong to enslave human beings in the name of national security. And ironically enough, I’m about to be enslaved for expressing that opinion.”
9: Hold Me Like You'll Never Let Me Go, by totallyquirky
This is about Armageddon, and it's based on the movie of the same name. There's an asteroid heading towards Earth. What a time to find the one you love! Jared's dad is the one person who can avert armageddon, and Jensen is the reprobate who works for him. This is a fun story with lots of what the author calls schmoopage. It's a term I am going to adopt from now on.
10: Like Tears in Rain, by ysbail
I've always loved Blade Runner and this is an awesome treatment of the Blade Runner idea. In this story, Replicants are real and although they have been used off-world in hazardous situations, they are banned on earth and are killed wherever found. The Blade Runner here is Jared. Guess who's a Replicant!