I regularly read and listen to Jim Wright and David Gerrold, two writers who would seem to have little in common. Gerrold made a name for himself in the science fiction sphere, most notably for the script for The Trouble with Tribbles episode of the original Star Trek series. Jim Wright is a former Navy intelligence officer who writes political commentary. Events in this country since 2016 have made it so that our political reality resembles those dystopian futures science fiction writers often wrote about. The two often discuss this climate on a podcast from B Cubed Press, which is the publisher of this anthology of short stories from many different science fiction writers, including another favorite of mine, Harry Turtledove.

Alternative Liberties gathers together some of the finest minds in speculative fiction to address the implications of current politics.
Adam-Troy Castro answers the classic question “What happens if this keeps on?” in a riveting story of a quiet citizen undergoing an increasingly surreal house arrest. Renowned fantasy author Louise Marley writes from the perspective of a future academic, proposing a Ph.D. thesis about our times. Harry Turtledove, a master of alternate history, gives us the tale of a woman enthralled by the Terrific Leader. In Brenda Cooper’s “A Better President,” she tells the story of a Black D.C. teenager who, passing as white, ends up play a key role in a fascist riot. In the thoughtful “Afterward,” science fiction legend David Gerrold presents an all-too-relatable a man estranged from his neighbors in an increasingly paranoid society. Elwin Cotman gives us a hack writer whose specialty is gutting American literary classics so they will appeal to a contemporary rightwing audience—and comply with the government’s AI censor, named Liberty.
As frightening as our times appear, these writers envision daring, resistance, and hope. DP Seller’s tale of resistance at the Port of New Orleans has magical overtones. Voss Foster celebrates queer teens whose courage and collaboration enable them to survive in their ultra-conservative communities.

In light of the current political climate, it was refreshing that not everything here was doom and gloom. Gerrold’s piece, in the afterward, is a ray of hope. There are a number of stories where the protagonist decides the time has come to stand up to those in power, and although we don’t get to see the result of that decision, it’s a rallying call to all of us who are despondent about what we see happening. Little things add up, and if we all do little things where we can, then we have some power.

Jim Wright’s essay was the first entry in the book, and it is in his usual writing style as if he’s having a conversation with someone. I’d read this particular essay when he first published it after the Election in November, and he seems to really capture how frustrated so many of us feel.

Two of my favorites were Smart Squirrel by Kurt Newton, where a border guard gets a comeuppance, and Monteczuma’s Rescue where a man who escaped to Costa Rica must now decide whether or not to save his Trump-loving mother from the camp where she has been interned.

The book was released on January 20, 2025. If I’d read it before that day, I probably would have thought many of the stories were a bit of an exaggeration, even as I was terrified of what the incoming President was going to do. Now, some of the stories seem tame in light of what we’ve witnessed over the last two months. Things I once thought were implausible now seem possible.

My one complaint is the audio version of this book. Instead of getting a narrator, B Cubed Press used something called “virtual voice.” I would recommend they not do that in the future. The narration is simply awful. The computer does not pick up some of the words properly, particularly acronyms and slang. I’d have to listen to a particular sentence a few times to understand what the author meant. In addition, it doesn’t get the right inflections and the pace is off. For example, it seems to inject pauses where there shouldn’t be a pause, or no pause where one should be. I would say they’d be better off *not* releasing an audiobook if “virtual voice” is the only option they have.

Alternative Liberties is not a warning. The damage is done and here we are. It’s more of a commiseration about how we can cope with what we’re experiencing and keep having some hope for the future. The stories are good and entertaining, filled with everyday people I could relate to. Just don’t go for the audiobook. It was horrible.