HARD MOTHER, SPIDER MOTHER, SOFT MOTHER by Hal Y. Zhang

$10.00

Even in a world of constant surveillance, how well can you really know a person?

Description

Radix Media is proud to present the fourth title from our science fiction series, Futures: Hard Mother, Spider Mother, Soft Mother by Hal Y. Zhang. You can read an excerpt of the story on our blog.

The story follows Ellery Lang, whose mother Valerie has abruptly left their home after several days of spouting increasingly strange conspiracy theories. In a near future world where citizens are always watched and where “personalization” is part of every day life, Valerie has managed to stay in an era long gone. This makes her a mystery to Ellery, who realizes how little she actually knows about her, and the search for her stirs up painful childhood memories that Ellery can now choose to erase.

Hard Mother, Spider Mother, Soft Mother is a story about the imprecise nature of memories and how they affect our relationships.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

“In this unexpected sci-fi tale, set in a not-too-futuristic surveillance state, Hal Y. Zhang renders Chinese mother-daughter relationships with tenderness and empathy. Come for the brain-eating fungal infections, stay for the insights on generational losses and memory.” —Ling Ma, author of Severance

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hal Y. Zhang is an international transplant and former physicist who writes science, science fiction, and fiction, in no particular order. Her prose and poetry have appeared in publications such as UncannyStrange Horizons, and Fireside. She splits her time between the East Coast and the Internet. Follow her at halyzhang.com.

ABOUT THE SERIES

Futures: A Science Fiction Series utilizes the chapbook format—a saddle-stitched pamphlet—as a vehicle to explore the stories more fully. Whereas the first project in our publishing program was an anthology, collecting a variety of stories into a single book, this format is more intimate. The chapbooks are thinner and lighter, and when you turn the final page, your journey with that individual story is complete.

Through this format, the reader is more immersed in the stories themselves. We believe that good science fiction reflects the dreams and nightmares of the present day. By exploring the issues contained in these stories, we hope that the reader gains a better understanding of our world today so that they can build the future they want to see.

The Production

We know that good design can take beautiful words to the next level, that’s why we design and print all of our titles in-house. This gives us much more control over the process and allows us to create a more cohesive final product. We strive to make each book an object that is enjoyable to hold and look at, in addition to bringing the reader great content.

Each title in the Futures Science Fiction series has offset printed interiors, and a two-color letterpress printed cover.

The Titles

Futures is comprised of seven stories that will publish between April and October 2019 as listed below. Check this page periodically for updates as they become available! You can also subscribe to the series and get each story delivered right to your door every month, along with some fun extras!

Always Blue by John Dermot Woods (April 2019)

Guava Summer by Vera Kurian (May 2019)

Muri by Ashley Shelby (June 2019)

Hard Mother, Spider Mother, Soft Mother by Hal Y. Zhang (July 2019)

What You Call by Germ Lynn (August 2019)

A Point of Honor by Aeryn Rudel (September 2019)

Milo (01001101 01101001 01101100 01101111) by Alexander Pyles (October 2019)

Additional information

Weight 2.5 oz
Dimensions 8.5 × 5.5 × 1 in
Size:

5" x 8"

ISBN:

978-0-9997137-6-1

Format:

Saddle-Stitched Chapbook

Pages:

32

Date:

July 31, 2019