Lost Places

February 1, 2023
A collection of sometimes-unsettling tales that champion the power of the individual voice. A young magician pays a terrible price to assure a powerful man's comfort. An elderly woman stages a daring escape from a nursing home run by impersonal algorithms. An artist serves her mysterious Muse--no matter the cost. In these often unsettling stories, Pinsker explores themes that have become recurring preoccupations in recent books such as We Are Satellites (2021): the rise of surveillance tech, the erosion of humanity in a world seemingly run by and for machines, and the enduring power of human connection. In "Everything Is Closed Today," a part-time librarian is stuck with nothing to do and a dwindling bank account when a series of mysterious threats closes schools, libraries, stores, and more. In this cold and unfeeling world, it's connecting with a group of neighborhood girls over skateboarding that begins to point to a way out. For the elderly woman on the run in "Escape From Caring Seasons," it's connecting with the human being behind a surveillance drone. In "That Our Flag Was Still There" and "The Mountains His Crown," we see individuals defying totalitarian states--one futuristic, one fantastical. All together, these stories explore the aspects of our world that can't be reduced to algorithms--the individual voice, the power of connection, and the larger, stranger mysteries we may encounter but never fully understand. Science fiction and fantasy fans will love these strange, sometimes haunting, and ultimately empowering stories.

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Starred review from February 1, 2023
Pinsker's latest collection includes her Hugo Award-winning story "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather," a folklore-esque mystery told through the annotations and comment chains of a song-lyrics website, and new story "Science Facts!" in which a group of girls on an orienteering trip step into a forest that holds some eerie secrets. Pinsker is as prescient as ever, digging into the questions we've been asking ourselves over the past few years: What are we willing to sacrifice to be comfortable? What are the dangers of increasing digitization and gamification of everyday needs, or of even the best-intentioned surveillance? In "That Our Flag Was Still There," every day, a person must be a human flag, drugged with patriotism; in "Escape from Caring Seasons," a woman must escape a largely automated elder care community that is holding her wife prisoner. The stories are queer, hopeful, and eerie, celebrating the rebellious spirits of both immortal-feeling youth and resilient elder protagonists. These stories are inspired by the rhythms of jazz, the inspiration behind art, the power of speaking aloud. It's a worthy follow-up to her first short story collection that fans of Charlie Jane Anders and Sarah Gailey will enjoy.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.