Trans-Galactic Bike Ride edited by Lydia Rogue

Genre | Anthology of Science Fiction Short Stories
Page #s | 156
Publishing Date | December 2020

What would the future look like if we weren’t so hung up on putting people into boxes and instead empowered each other to reach for the stars? Take a ride with us as we explore a future where trans and nonbinary people are the heroes.

In worlds where bicycle rides bring luck, a minotaur needs a bicycle, and werewolves stalk the post-apocalyptic landscape, nobody has time to question gender. Whatever your identity you’ll enjoy these stories that are both thought-provoking and fun adventures.

Featuring brand-new stories from Hugo, Nebula, and Lambda Literary Award-winning author Charlie Jane Anders, Ava Kelly, Juliet Kemp, Rafi Kleiman, Tucker Lieberman, Nathan Alling Long, Ether Nepenthes, and Nebula-nominated M. Darusha Wehm. Also featuring debut stories from Diana Lane and Marcus Woodman.

Goodreads

I don’t typically like anthologies of short stories, but apparently I just needed to read short stories about space bikes with trans narratives! Each story was unique, from werewolves and mailmen to launching a bike into space like a rocket, but the anthology was edited perfectly into a cohesive whole with, well, bikes and trans characters!

This is a book that distinctly feels written for a trans audience. That isn’t to say I felt excluded in any way! It was saturated in trans themes and issues, and it wasn’t going to pander to my ignorance. It was my job to do the work to keep up, and I really enjoyed doing so!

I was constantly amazed at how most of the books I read AREN’T aimed at trans audiences. The casual mentions of dysphoria during pregnancy, of partners reminding each other to take their meds, or noticing a woman’s legs because the protagonist just increased their testosterone level made me realize how so many essential details of a trans person’s life are erased in most literature. Of course, every book doesn’t need to cover every person’s perspective, but I am now fully on board for a huge increase in books featuring trans and non-binary characters. Emphasis on plural, since one of the most revolutionary things about this anthology is that more characters are trans than not. Down with tokenism!

It’s hard to choose a favorite story, but two that have stuck with me are Juliet Kemp’s “Riding for Luck,” which captured the magical feeling of timing your ride to hit all green lights in such an evocative way and the final story “Beyond” by Nathan Alling Long. It felt perfect, after ten other short stories made of excellence, for the book to end with a story of trans people biking away from earth and saying, “We’re not coming back, but you can join us if you want to!”

Who Would I Recommend This Book To?

Trans-Galactic Bike Ride is a great gift for your favorite sci-fi geek who needs a break from books that double as bricks.

Find more books nominated for Lambda Literary Awards reviewed here.