Periphery edited by Lynne Jamneck

Description:

Periphery is as much about the female perspective of the future as it is an exploration of individual identity in a world increasingly dominated by technology.

How do we define our humanity, if not by the way we connect to others? Yet, even in the realm of the physical and the sensual, technology continues to change perspectives on what it means to be human.

Through the stories collected in Periphery, we experience the intersection between a number of possible futures, and how we will continue to discover through our fallible emotions what it means to be human.

Excerpt:

What is science fiction?

The answer—or answers—depends on who you ask. For some, science fiction, or sf, is a component of speculative fiction. Others reject this umbrella term, suggesting it detracts from the what, who and why of the genre.

Can science fiction be defined at all?

Perhaps it was easier during the infant stages of the genre, seventy odd years ago when sf first began to receive major attention as a particular mode of writing. At its core, good sf has always been about everything but little green men. To the uninitiated, aliens and space ships are unfortunately still two of the most synonymous elements related to sf writing.

In many so-called “literary” circles, sf remains a genre that is frowned upon, even seen as substandard. Clearly though, anyone who thinks of sf in terms of Star Trek and Star Wars as the beginning and end-all of the field has probably never read much sf to begin with. It's hard to think that such narrow perceptions still flourish, when real-world science is frequently anticipated in the fictive contexts of sf long before they materialise as tidbits on the evening news.

The best fiction in any genre is most often about people, and how they react to the changes constantly taking place in the world around them. How do they react to cause and effect? What about the solutions that can be extrapolated from these transformations?

Sf stories are sociological studies of potential futures, and that is what makes them so exciting. In a world that keeps so many secrets from us, they give us an exciting glimpse into a future that could be—or a terrifying glimpse of something we could potentially avoid.

As many descriptions as there are to explain “science fiction,” so few are there when it comes to the topic of eroticism. Perhaps it is easiest explained as an aesthetic focused on sexual desire; the emotions and feelings that build upon the anticipation of sexual activity. Importantly though, it is not only arousal and anticipation, but also the attempt through whatever means of representation to incite those feelings.

This is what makes eroticism such a multifaceted concept. It is different for almost everyone. Similar erotic traits may follow through, but there is invariably always something that differs from one individual to another—a colour, a gesture, a texture, memories. The taste of a particular tang on the tongue, a threat, a specific word or sound—the possibilities as endless as the make-up of the human mind.

The stories in this anthology cross several boundaries. Some are sublime, others overt. What binds them together is that they are unique in their diversity. In terms of voice, style and story content, the thirteen stories in this collection run the gamut of not only the sf and erotic genres, but also showcase that which yields great stories—human emotion. Our fears and desires, the memories that haunt us, inspire us or ultimately drag us down.

Here’s wishing you a marvelous journey through the following exciting, tragic, sexy and inspiring pages. The girlies are suited up, they’re tough and they’re mean and they know how to wear a uniform, shake a stick and pilot an engine. They’re coming in from the boundary rims, and they’re ready to play.