caracabe reviewed The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe
Hopeful dystopian fiction
Unapologetically queer and hopeful fiction with urgent things to say, but not didactic. Janelle Monáe is an accomplished storyteller in the medium of the concept album. In this book, she collaborates with five fiction writers to create stories set in the dystopian world of her album Dirty Computer. Dystopian fiction is often a genre of resistance and hope, and that’s the case here. The authors recognize the messiness of human nature: even in communities of peace and mutual aid, characters find fear and hate and betrayal. But these stories challenge us to imagine the world that can be, if we create it. As Mx. Tangee says in the final story, “They don’t own the future.”