Trans-Galactic Bike Ride

This was delightful. It features a lot of unique spins on what is essentially a fairly narrow premise (trans speculative fiction narratives featuring bicycling), and it was really nice to be able to sit down to a whole collection of trans positive stories. I did find the reprint (“Edge of the Abyss”) thematically frustrating, but the ten new tales all had something fun to offer. This is a short volume, and so you’re going to find a few definite vignettes and ones I wish were just a little more fleshed out, but I may seek out my own copy.

Highlights for me:

“Riding for Luck,” in which an uninterrupted city cycling course can bring luck. I really enjoyed the writing and the way the characters came together in this one.

“Unexpectedly Trans-Parent,” has some great worldbuilding, looking for lost things through wormholes, and an A+ pun.

“Rovers” takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, in which a currier meets a werewolf. It’s t4t and I loved the way finding community featured.

“A Sudden Displacement of Matter” has a heist and reclamation of a monument for the people who had originally built it. What the prose lacks it makes up for in a great plot.

“Briar Patch” is more of a vignette, but the writing is beautiful and the rumination of moving on after loss and exile resonates.

Definitely a good one to pick up if you want some queer joy.

I can't remember the last time I read a collection of short stories where I liked EVERY SINGLE story. Maybe it's because they are all cool and queer and sci-fi