Episode 79---DEAD NEON ---An Interesting and Important Book

  The 14 contributors to this insubstantial anthology, most of whom lack science fiction publishing credentials, bypass focused extrapolation in favor of satire surrealism, and vaguely hinted catastrophes. The best of the lot is Chris Niles's "Sin's Last Stand," in which Las Vegas is finally overwhelmed by the tyranny of the religious right, sort of like The Handmaid's Tale condensed to 12 pages. Felicia Campbell's "4/18" destroys Vegas with a mysterious toxin that freezes gamblers, revelers, and debauchees in place forever. Vu Tran's "Kubla Khan" is genuinely haunting, and there is even a parody of Harlan Ellison in C.J. Mosher's "A Girl and Her Cat," but longtime SF readers looking for a richness of ideas won't find it here. This is an interesting and important book. It blends serious literary intentions with what have been typically called genre concerns to make a collection that really speaks to contemporary fears in our culture.