SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe

 

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monae and Other Contributors: https://t.co/EzO7LTktGx

Short Review: 8.5 out of 10 - Really interesting anthology set in the world created by Monae for their album Dirty Computer..
1/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) August 2, 2022

Short Review (cont): Although not requiring any foreknowledge of this world, this collection is a real interesting work of Afrofuturism dealing with queerness, gender, womanhood, oppression and control.
2/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) August 2, 2022

The Memory Librarian is an anthology of stories written by artist (most known for her* songwriting) Janelle Monáe, in collaboration with a number of generally established Black Science Fiction authors, inspired by the world Monáe created for her album, Dirty Computer.  It's a pretty great list of collaborating authors, including one of my favorite authors in Alaya Dawn Johnson - so I was pretty intrigued, despite never having listened to Monáe and not knowing really anything about Dirty Computer.  

*Monae is non-binary and uses both she/her and they/them pronouns, but the bio in this book uses She/Her, and so will in this review for consistency.* 

And I'm glad I did, because this is a pretty interesting Afrofuturist anthology, dealing heavily with gender, womanhood and otherness, control and oppression, and finding new ways to hope despite it all, in a world that is so so dystopian.  This is not to say that every story is optimistic - with the US controlled in large part by a memory altering fascist society that oppresses those who don't fit into the default gender (and largely racial) hierarchy, there's a lot of pain here...and much of that pain is also inflicted here by those who aren't necessarily cis fascists themselves.  And the stories are largely distinct as they explore science fiction and magic, and feature some really strong characters - so things never get boring here, even if the stories never really hit that top top tier of must read stories.  The result is a collection that's very good and well worth the hype this book has garnered.  


The Memory Librarian is a collection of five stories (and an Intro), all five of which are probably novelette length, although two are long enough to possibly be novella length.  The stories are as follows:

The Memory Librarian by Monáe and Alaya Dawn Johnson

Nevermind by Monáe and Danny Lore;

Timebox by Monáe and Eve L. Ewing;

Save Changes by Monáe and Yohanca Delgado;

Timebox Altar(ed) by Monáe and Sheree Renee Thomas.  

Each of the Five Stories features stories taking place within or nearby New Dawn, the fascist government that has seemingly taken over the United States.  New Dawn imposes a strict cis heteronormative regime, with a bias towards those who are White or look as such, although it is willing to look the other way at times for people of status.  And unlike our own fascist network, New Dawn enforces that with technology that allows its enforcers, such as its Memory Librarians, to review the memories of its populace, memories that they are supposed to give up as a price for living there....and to erase those memories with a drug known as Nevermind.  Those who don't conform, who try to escape the oversight and be something other than the accepted norm are considered Dirty Computer (ala Monáe's album).  

And this setting provides a great backdrop for some really interesting stories that explore gender, race, and sexuality, as well as what one does against a fascist Empire attempting to regulate it all, and how one is able to form personal connections despite it all. 

So in The Memory Librarian, you have the story of a black woman who has seemingly suppressed her desire for women and risen high in the New Dawn order in monitoring memories, as she is led to have a relationship with a woman who is in some way tied to those who are Dirty Computer and promote other drugs that help rebel against the New Dawn order, forcing her to decide who she wants to be - a person who indulges her wants and desires?  Or someone who sacrifices all that just to move up the ladder further.  

In Nevermind we follow two protagonists, a woman and a non-binary protagonist at the Pynk Hotel, a place for refugees of New Dawn, especially women, as they try to maintain their memories and identities, even amongst fears that New Dawn has suddenly found them...and that someone among them has betrayed them out of some unclear prejudice.

In Timebox we have a more personal story, as a couple of women discover a closet where Time seems to stop compared to outside, and one wishes to use it to try and gain some comfort to be able to get a better handle on their relationship and life, while the other has grand plans and perhaps not enough consideration for the other.  

In Save Changes, a Young Woman who possesses an object that supposedly can rewind time is led by her sister to an underground, and must make a choice about when to use the object and whom to save;

In Timebox Altar(ed) (which has no connection to Timebox), a group of children, growing up in hard times, find a magical spot that a older man shows them can take them to a different future, one in which they've created a better world for people like them.....

Each of these stories presents interesting and different ideas about survival, resistance, hope, and more, and they manage to not last long enough to outlast their welcome.  And, if you couldn't tell from my descriptions above, the stories largely feed on one another to add context and depth to the remaining stories - so The Memory Librarian sets up how people lose themselves complying with New Dawn and how they find themselves resisting; Nevermind shows people being at home with themselves as Queer individuals who aren't heteronormative, and how acceptance is better than trying to force others to comply (and also deals with TERFs in a way, due to how a non-binary person is treated); Timebox deals with interpersonal relations and how personal time is needed even among big plans, like those discussed in the prior stories; Save Changes shows how one can be paralyzed by fear from living, and that final story closes with showing how a hopeful and better future is possible.   

In short, The Memory Librarian and Other Stories is a strong collection of stories dealing with gender, sexuality, and being something different - something true to yourself - and finding a way forwards even in a harder and oppressive world, and how one can find help in others to make those connections.  Well worth your time, as one might expect from the collection of collaborators Monáe has assembled here.