Seeds of Change

I think that one of the things that science fiction can do well is provide fresh and thought-provoking insight into current social and political issues. Seeds of Change is a new anthology edited by John Joseph Adams that focuses on those sorts of stories:

Gathering stories by nine of today’s most incisive minds, Seeds of Change confronts the pivotal issues facing our society today: racism, global warming, peak oil, technological advancement, and political revolution. Many serve as a call to action. How will you change with the future?

Authors include Tobias S. Buckell, Ken MacLoed, K.D. Wentworth, Jeremiah Tolbert, Mark Budz, Ted Kosmatka, Blake Charlton, Jay Lake and Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu. The selections I've read (freely available on the Seeds of Change web site) are thought provoking without sacrificing the entertainment value of the story.

Several of the stories have biological themes:

• "N-Words" by Ted Kosmatka is a story about racism. What makes it SF is that the race in question are newly resurrected Neanderthals.
• Read an excerpt of "N-Words"
• Read Kosmatka's afterword, in which he discusses science and race and some of the biology relevant to his story
• "Endosymbiont" by Blake Charlton (who is a medical student) was inspired by his father's struggle with cancer. Charlton commented: "As the national debate about health care reform continues to gather steam, I hope ‘Endosymbiont’ makes people think about what it’s like to struggle with disease, about what exactly defines a human-being neurologically, and about what we—as individuals and as a society—might do to alleviate the burden of disease."
• Read an excerpt of "Endosymbiont"
• Read the interview with Charlton about the origins of "Endosymbiont"
• Further reading related to the story
• In "Arties Aren't Stupid" by Jeremiah Tolbert street artists work with cells rather than pain.
• Read "Arties Aren't Stupid"

And, of course there is a trailer:

Download the free stories and excerpts in PDF, HTML or Mobipocket format.
Purchase Seeds of Change at Amazon.com (affiliate lnk)