Review: Big Themes - Big Questions
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 3, 2013
A couple of very interesting short stories I stumbled across. I don't usually read dystopian fiction; the amount of time I spend with my own dysfunctional characters and the situations they find themselves in is usually more than enough to keep me wondering about the future of our planet and the various species that inhabit it.But I like Ms. Browne's voice a lot. Instead of placing an overemphasis on the technological and environmental changes and challenges, her stories remain human and about, first and foremost, people.And she does a wonderful job of bringing big issues like displacement and censorshop to the forefront without resorting to the over-the-top moralizing that too often plagues otherwise good works of fiction. It would have been easy to do this, but Ms. Browne resists the temptation and lets her characters do the work for her.If we are indeed destined for a dark dystopian future characterized by dehumanization and societal collapse, just remember to bring Ms. Browne's work along for the ride. You might just need a little something to brighten your day.