WHAT YOU CALL by germ lynn

$10.00

A story that explores the limits of consciousness, identity, and artificial intelligence.

Description

Radix Media is proud to present the fifth title from our science fiction series, Futures: What You Call by germ lynn. You can read an excerpt of the story on our blog.

In the year 2061, the government launches an initiative to create support units for the sick and the vulnerable. They say it’s to care for those in need, to show compassion. But without warning, the program is discontinued, and the support units are dismantled, weaponized, and shipped to other worlds for reasons only the government knows. This recall forces the caregiving robots to run for the hills in an act of self-preservation.

The narrator makes their escape, but as they wander through the woods in search of their companion, they begin to wonder what kind of life they will make for themselves now that they are separated from the person they are programmed to care for.

What You Call explores the limits of consciousness, identity, and artificial intelligence.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

What You Call is an empathetic exploration of what it means to care for another person, told from the outside of humanity looking in. germ lynn’s writing is pithy and immediate, whether its form is a transmission from a cyborg or a conversation around a campfire.” —Tenacity Plys, Contributing Editor of Queerly Reads

“This chapbook is an ode to the fallen and the fallen world; at once redemptive and bleak, hopeful and fearful, like returning home after a long time away to see everything changed. Lynn disarms with a body of difficult questions, and invites you to accept fracture, to find humanity in corruption, redemption in grief. How much damage to yourself would you be willing to take, refusing to let go of what is lost?” —Daniel Warner, author of Shadow Work

“A document of obsessive love cut with oblique meditations on ability, on posthuman bodies, and on the emotional afterlife of obsolete labor: Germ Lynn has written a very sad and very recommended postcard from a future that’s coming.” —Jeanne Thornton, author of The Dream of Doctor Bantam and The Black Emerald

“[In germ lynn’s What You Call], readers are prompted—ironically, through the travails of a friendly robot—to juxtapose rosy teleological characterizations of progress with the dangers of technological dependencies. A take-away lesson is the need for humans to retain and embrace their existential resilience.” —Jennifer Robertson, author of Robo Sapiens Japanicus: Robots, Gender, Family and the Japanese Nation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

germ lynn (they/them) is a cellist and writer from Tampa, Florida. As a journalist, they have published in SlateBroadly, and Playboy. As a poet, they have published in a number of DIY zines (Whiny FemmesAchey Breaky HeartCracked on the Rock) and most recently in a collection from Trapart Books titled Rendering Unconscious: Psychoanalytic Perspectives, Politics, and Poetry. Follow them at germlynn.wordpress.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 oz
Dimensions 8.5 × 5.5 × 1 in
Size:

5" x 8"

ISBN:

978-0-9997137-7-8

Format:

Saddle-Stitched Chapbook

Pages:

28

Date:

August 30, 2019