For fans of Becky Chambers, this short story collection is an expansion on the "Dirty Computer" universe, a cross medium sci-fi world created by non-binary music legend Janelle Monáe. It's true that the stories discuss intense and heavy subjects such as policing, institutionalised incarceration, patriarchy and queerphobia sanctioned and enforced by the state, capitalism and the legacy of racial colonialism and slavery. Somehow Monáe and their contributors (each short story cowritten by a different who Monáe personally thanks in their acknowledgements - which I recommend people read as well, it brought a tear to my eye especially as someone who is a big fan of their music) created a collection with a resounding sense of hope in the power of collective action <3 Some of the stories that deal with time travel remind me of the TV show "Dark" which is also quite a unique addition to the SFF/Speculative canon. I think this is a great introductory short story collection for those who have never read one before, as all the stories have a clear narrative "connection" all being from the same narrative universe (some even directly referencing each other - more like Easter eggs than an interweaving narrative however) which can assuage the feeling of disjointedness that arises when moving on from one short story to the next.

Anyway, this is a really wonderful queer, trans and sapphic sci-fi short story collection from a truly imaginative team of people. I am so glad I took the time to experience this pleasure of a book. Big love to the stories "The Memory Librarian," "Timebox" (the only story with a disconcerting/spooky ending) and "Save Changes" (the character growth? the twists? the hopepunk ending?????!!!)