Transcendent: The Year’s Best Transgender Speculative Fiction edited by K.M. Szpara
There are fantastical stories with actual transgender characters, some for whom that is central and others for whom that isn’t. And there are stories without transgender characters, but with metaphors and symbolism in their place, genuine expressions of self through such speculative fiction tropes as shapeshifting and programming. Transgender individuals see themselves in transformative characters, those outsiders, before seeing themselves as human protagonists. Those feelings are still valid. Cisgender people can never quite understand this distancing. But though the stories involve transformation and outsiders, sometimes the change is one of self-realization. This anthology will be a welcome read for those who are ready to transcend gender through the lens of science fiction, fantasy, and other works of imaginative fiction.
Review
I love anthologies! Several awesome stories and new authors to discover every tine – what more can you ask for? Doesn’t matter if I like all of them or not – they’re always interesting to read and explore different stories and ideas. This one was no different. Some stories I didn’t really understand but that’s okay – others probably will get more out of them. I’m still going to check out every author and find out who they are and what else they’ve written because that’s always fun.
Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for Transcendent.
Book Details
- Editor’s Website
- K.M. Szpara
- Publisher / Date
- Lethe Press, September 2016
- Genre
- Science Fiction, Fantasy, Short Stories
- Page Count
- 255
- Completion Date
- March 26, 2023