A review by verumsolum
Rebuilding Tomorrow by Tsana Dolichva
5.0
One of the things I really liked about this was that it really had multiple aims. I was mostly pleased to read stories about recovering and moving on from disaster. Too often, spec fic either is working to avoid the disaster or simply surviving after it. But this anthology was more… optimistic. Survival is not life, only a necessary prerequisite to it. And this book celebrated life.
I was also glad to see that it was inclusive: unlike many other stories elsewhere, this book's stories weren't centered only around heterosexual men. As somebody who is neither, I appreciated that, too.
There was other inclusion, too, around disability and chronic illness. I will admit that I was… unsure what to expect from this aspect. That's probably because I've seen far more token inclusion. I also know that many of these writers were writing about what they know, rather than simply including something that would make their work more marketable. This book languished on my mountainous to-read list for months, so by the time I started it, I had forgotten about this aim of the book, and it was most of the way through the book when I remarked to myself how many characters in the stories had conditions. I will reassure you, though… they are real people, with hopes and dreams, and their disabilities and illnesses are not the only features of those characters on display.
About my only complaint about this book? I wish it was longer; I wish there were more stories; I wish it didn't have to end! It also makes me very interested in reading [b:Defying Doomsday|28185450|Defying Doomsday|Tsana Dolichva|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1460005216l/28185450._SY75_.jpg|48207427], even though I am not a huge fan of apocalypse fiction. Because Rebuilding Tomorrow has such stellar authors that I expect that they have crafted good stories set in that type of environment.
I was also glad to see that it was inclusive: unlike many other stories elsewhere, this book's stories weren't centered only around heterosexual men. As somebody who is neither, I appreciated that, too.
There was other inclusion, too, around disability and chronic illness. I will admit that I was… unsure what to expect from this aspect. That's probably because I've seen far more token inclusion. I also know that many of these writers were writing about what they know, rather than simply including something that would make their work more marketable. This book languished on my mountainous to-read list for months, so by the time I started it, I had forgotten about this aim of the book, and it was most of the way through the book when I remarked to myself how many characters in the stories had conditions. I will reassure you, though… they are real people, with hopes and dreams, and their disabilities and illnesses are not the only features of those characters on display.
About my only complaint about this book? I wish it was longer; I wish there were more stories; I wish it didn't have to end! It also makes me very interested in reading [b:Defying Doomsday|28185450|Defying Doomsday|Tsana Dolichva|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1460005216l/28185450._SY75_.jpg|48207427], even though I am not a huge fan of apocalypse fiction. Because Rebuilding Tomorrow has such stellar authors that I expect that they have crafted good stories set in that type of environment.