Kirjahaku

In a far-future society where biotechnology has revolutionised gender, young Fift must decide whether to conform or carve a new path. In the distant future somewhere in the galaxy, a society has emerged where everyone has multiple bodies, cybernetics has abolished privacy, and individual and family success within the rigid social system is reliant upon instantaneous social approbation. Young Fift is an only child of the staid gender, struggling to maintain their position in the system while developing an intriguing friendship with the poorly publicised bioengineer Shria - somewhat controversial, since Shria is bail gendered. In time, Fift and Shria unintentionally wind up at the center of a scandalous art spectacle which turns into the early stages of a multi-layered revolution against their strict societal system. Suddenly they become celebrities and involuntary standard-bearers for the upheaval. Fift is torn between the survival of Shria and the success of their family cohort; staying true to their feelings and caving under societal pressure. Whatever Fift decides will make a disproportionately huge impact on the future of the world. What's a young staid to do when the whole world is watching?

"Rosenbaum's The Ant King and Other Stories contains invisible cities and playful deconstructions of the form. In "Biographical Notes to 'A Discourse on the Nature of Causality, With Air-Planes,' by Benjamin Rosenbaum"-yes, his name is part of the title-the author imagines a world whose technologies and philosophies differ wildly from ours. The result is a commentary on the state of the art that is itself the state of the art." -Los Angeles Times Favorite Books of 2008 * "Give him some prizes, like, perhaps, "best first collection" for this book." -Booklist (Starred review, Top 10 SF Books of the Year) "Featuring outlandish and striking imagery throughout-a woman in love with an elephant, an orange that ruled the world-this collection is a surrealistic wonderland." -Publishers Weekly "Rosenbaum proves he's capable of sustained fantasy with "Biographical Notes," a steampunkish alternate history of aerial piracy, and "A Siege of Cranes," a fantasy about a battle between a human insurgent and the White Witch that carries decidedly modern undercurrents...Perhaps none of the tales is odder than "Orphans," in which girl-meets-elephant, girl-loses-elephant." -Kirkus Reviews "Urbane without being arch, sweet without being maudlin, mysterious without being cryptic."-Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing "Lively, bizarre, and funny as well as dark, sinister, and sensual." -Boston Phoenix A dazzling, postmodern debut collection of pulp and surreal fictions: a writer of alternate histories defends his patron's zeppelin against assassins and pirates; a woman transforms into hundreds of gumballs; an emancipated children's collective goes house hunting. Benjamin Rosenbaum's stories have appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction and McSweeney's, been translated into fourteen languages, and listed in The Best American Short Stories 2006. Shortlisted for the Hugo and Nebula awards, Rosenbaum's work has been reprinted in Harper's and The Year's Best Science Fiction. He lives in Switzerland with his family.

In the distant future, somewhere in the galaxy, a world has evolved where each person has multiple bodies, cybernetics has abolished privacy, and individual and family success are reliant upon instantaneous evaluations of how well each member conforms to the rigid social system. Young Fift is an only child of the Staid gender, struggling to maintain zir position in the system while developing a friendship with the acclaimed bioengineer Shria - a controversial and intriguing friendship, since Shria is Vail-gendered. Soon Fift and Shria unintentionally wind up at the centre of a scandalous art spectacle which turns into a multilayered Unraveling of society. Fift is torn between zir attraction to Shria and the safety of zir family, between staying true to zir feelings and social compliance . . . when zir personal crises suddenly take on global significance. What’s a young Staid to do when the whole world is watching?