Dystopian stories, science-fiction, and horror stories have long been used as analogs for narratives that might otherwise be unheard. Today, Rogue One writer Gary Whitta is adding to that tradition with a surprise release of a charity anthology about resistance. Created and edited by Whitta, Hugh Howey and Christie Yant, Resist: Tales from a Future Worth Fighting Against, is a collection of sci-fi stories on the themes of rebellion, resistance, and revolution. Whitta created it as an opportunity for today’s best science fiction authors to speak to the current sociopolitical moment through the genre. The book includes an amazing roster of 27 authors, such as Charlie Jane Anders, John Scalzi, Kieron Gillen, Saladin Ahmed, Daniel H. Wilson, and many more. It’s an incredible collection of Hugo and Nebula Award winners and New York Times best-sellers, and you can grab it digitally right from Humble Bundle or pre-order the book from Amazon.We got to chat with Whitta about the radical project, and got an exclusive sneak peek at a story from the book by NY Times bestselling author Beth Revis, which we’ve included in our gallery below. For Whitta, the book was a way of exploring the current political landscape.“After the 2016 election, I think a lot of writers and others working in the entertainment field found themselves in a bit of a funk, struggling to find a way to make their work feel relevant or worthwhile in the broader context of everything that was unfolding all around them,” Whitta said. “Certainly that’s where I was. I felt unmotivated and uninspired creatively for quite a while, until I hit on the idea of turning my creative energy directly toward the problem. Though set in the distant future or on far-off worlds, science fiction has always been rooted thematically in the here and now, taking contemporary issues and questions and magnifying them through the warped lens of the fantastical. And many of the best sci-fi stories are cautionary tales about where society might be headed if we’re not careful.”
Images: Gary Whitta