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“Kalicalypse” is an anthology that will make you discover the best of science fiction from the Indian Subcontinent, focusing in particular on the most controversial aspects that await humanity
Kalicalypse
Kalicalypse collects stories by talented female and male writers from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, broadening the scope of Future Fiction‘s previous volume Avatar.
The stories deal with crucial themes for understanding the development of the subcontinent and therefore of a large portion of the world population: fascinating and disturbing visions at the same time, such as the ethics of mind-uploading in an aging population, the exploitation of mythological archetypes in virtual reality by the multinational Shiva, the biopolitics of fertility whereby a bleeding daughter becomes a precious resource in the “Fertility Market”, the migration of climate refugees on suborbital platforms, terraforming by nanobots for the improvement of the Earth and the challenges faced by those operating junk ships in space.
An anthology with an apocalyptic flavour
First of all, I would like to compliment the Future Fiction publishing house, which, book after book (this is now the fourth one I’ve written on the site), always manages to amaze and presents the reader with unexpected and high-quality themes, a little gem. of the beautiful country. Coming to us, if “Futurchia” and “Heaven on Earth” were works in their own right, for “Kalicalypse” we must necessarily draw parallels with “Avatar”, the first science fiction anthology linked to the Indian Subcontinent of Future Fiction.
Beyond the fact that the latter only told Indian science fiction (while Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan authors are also present in Kalicalypse), the most evident differences are those relating to the atmosphere and sensations that can be felt in the chosen stories. In “Avatar” there is in fact often a positivist story of the future, so much so that it makes the reader want to experience those sensations firsthand and make him wait with a smile for what will be; for “Kalicalypse” the situation tends to be very different.
Between gods and goddesses
The title itself is the union of “Kali”, the Hindu goddess of destruction, and “Apocalypse”, immediately giving a very clear idea of what we will face: a future with dark features, not necessarily linked to the apocalypse itself but with many themes and themes perfect for series like Black Mirror and at the same time deeply intertwined with the reality of the Subcontinent. To give you an example: in Kali_Na, the second story of the anthology, we talk about a future in which the goddess herself is recreated in an AI version, showing all her ferocious character and causing quite a few problems.
Personally, however, the story that I appreciated most was the last one: “The Almighty” by Md Zafar Iqbal, which tells how a group of robots, following a miraculous escape from an accident, begin to believe in God and to divide into factions, making life impossible for the captain of their spaceship; something brilliant that helps you reflect on both the future and the present.
If you like science fiction or are looking for a book that can amaze, Kalicalypse is a decidedly right choice that will take your mind beyond the known boundaries, showing it a new way of doing and telling the future.
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