This is a nice collection of short stories, most of them featuring trans men as main characters. If you like Sci-Fi and stories with trans MCs this is a great analogy to check out. Quite a few of the stories are ownvoices, but not all. All of the stories are set before a Sci-Fi background with a lot of variety. There are some really good short stories and others that weren't as good, as is the case with every anthology. If you want to read my full review: Read on. This could be a bit spoiler-y though. I've also added all specific trigger warnings to the stories.

According to His Substance by K.C. Ball 4./5. Stars

Spoiler

A Sci-Fi story about second chances and staying alive. I actually kind of liked this short story and it has a really nice hopeful ending, but there is some hard stuff going on as well. I would have liked some more explanation of the Sci-Fi part of the story, but all in all I still really enjoyed this.

TW: transphobia (expressed in violence), transphobic assault, suicide attempt

Spoiling Veena by Keyan Bowes: 2./5. Stars

Spoiler

This story is set in a futuristic India where parents can design their perfect children. It is a shock for Vikrum's family when they find out they probably selected the wrong gender for their son. And while it would be quite easy to get his gender changed, the mother refuses, worried that it might just be a phase. I have to admit, that I didn't really like this story. While it features a trans man, this story mostly focuses on the worry his mother has to undergo. For the most part of the story, Vikrum is also misgendered by his family and only in the end, they accept him. There is also not a lot going on, except the explanation what the mother is feeling now that she has a son. All in all I just didn't enjoy this story all that much.

TW: transphobia (expressed in non-accepting speech)

Fluidity by Eric Del Carlo: 3/5. Stars

Spoiler

Set in a world in which one's gender changes every three months or so, Xen wants nothing more than to finally stay in the phase where he is a man. After hurling himself off a cliff, he is put in a hospital for people who tried to interrupt their Cyclings. There he meets a man, who might be able to help him. This story is actually quite fascinating, but I think some parts of the story could have been explained more clearly.

TW: suicide attempt, transphobia

My Brother, The Horsehead by Rafael S.W.: 1/5. Stars

Spoiler

In this story, the main character misses his brother, who has left home for college a while ago. Trying to find a way to deal with this feelings, he learns to code and makes his own vrideo game (virtual reality games). While I liked the futuristic technology in this, it is simply not fleshed out enough. All in all this story is quite confusingly written, with jumps back and forth, and I couldn't find the thread holding it together. It was too short to make me really care about the brother's relationship (which was the best part of the story) and the other parts of the story (f..e the horsehead) were simply too confusing for me to follow.

Liner Notes For the Crash by Brit Mandelo: 4./5. Stars

Spoiler

A story about a bunch of queer punk kids set in a futurist world, where it is possible to establish a link between people. Originally only intended to be used with caution and a few people, they hacked it and are using it now for their concerts. This story is a love story to the punk scene and the people in it. You really feel as if you're at a concert and it was awesome.

TW: f slur, q slur

Boy Rescue by Ace Lo: 4/5. Stars

Spoiler

In a world in which androids have taken over dangerous jobs, such as rescuing people from dangerous places, some things are different. But some are not. Most androids are young women in the hope that it would put children, who needed rescuing, at ease. But there is one notable exception. This story is quite short but super sweet and I really liked it.

Sindali by Deven Balsam: 4/5. Stars

Spoiler

Shay is a good Ingenieur. One of the best. His job is to build a creature that could fix their transportation problem. Since they live in the middle of the desert, it's hard to get around. But one day his radio picks up a signal from out in the desert. There are people out there, nomads. And Shay really wants to join them. This story is really amazing. I liked it a lot. The writing is nice and even though it's short, I think the world building was actually done quite well. The ending is very open so there's still many questions left open.

TW: abusive relationship

Deadhead Chemistry by J. Daniel Stone: 2/5. Stars

Spoiler

This story is about a boy who looks into a mirror and sees something different from his own reflection. He sees a genderless being caught in purgatory. For him, the mirror looks deeper than just the eye. This is a bit of a hard story for me to review? It wasn't bad per se, but I was a bit bothered by the fact that Corey misgendered himself a lot. While trans people's experiences regarding self-identification and coming out differ a lot, it felt really weird and uncomfortable to read about Corey referring to himself by his old name and with she/her pronouns, while asking strangers to call him his true name. That aside I have to say that the story also didn't really interest me.

TW: q slur cw

Choice Cuts by Edd Vick: 1/5. Stars

Spoiler

In this story, humanity has found a way to live indefinitely. They leave their old bodies and switch their mind into a new one. Because of this giving birth is highly prohibited and only allowed when somebody dies. I didn't like this story at all. It was too short to interest me with its premise, which could have been super fascinating. I would have liked more background, to know where they get the bodies from (you find out what happens to the bodies after the human leaves it), but there's very little details and so this story couldn't hold my interest.

TW: cannibalism

Robinson Faces the Music by Ryan Kelly: 1/5. Stars

Spoiler

Ryan is the butler of the rich alien Robinson. When his master is called to visit his aunt regarding an arranged marriage Ryan must come with him and try to keep his master alive. But the fact that he is read as multiple genders in this world, makes this task a bit difficult. I have to say I didn't like this story at all? The trans part (if it can even be judged as that) was very short and only used so that Ryan couldn't go anywhere. I also didn't much care about the story at all. The writing wasn't bad, a bit victorian, but it couldn't save the story for me.

TW: animal cruelty

The Three Ways of the Sword Man by Jaap Boekestein: 4/5. Stars

Spoiler

Lord Jessam's brother died a day ago. After striking a deal with aliens, he gets the male body he always wanted. Pretending his sister died that day - which she kind of did - he takes on the place as Lord. But being a Lord is not easy in this war-ridden place. This story was quite nice and interesting. I would have liked some more background story, but the characters were fascinating.

TW: misogyny, war, character death

LGB(T) by Maverick Smith: 4/5. Stars

Spoiler

In a league of superheroes solely made up of LGB people wanting to transition could destroy one's career. This story was interesting, even though it kind of felt more like a satire than anything else at times. The ending was sweet.

Flipside by Nicole Jinks-Fredrick: 4/5. Stars

Spoiler

Dorian is a Seeker, but she is not well liked recently. When she has to stop at a station to get her ship repaired, she ends up kicked off, but with a new mysterious passenger aboard. This story is really nice, but I would have liked some more background info. There is a past relationship that is constantly hinted at but not really explained. All in all, still quite good.

The Next Great Race by Jes Rausch: 4/5. Stars

Spoiler

Colin lives on Pluto and works for a dog kennel. In his free time, he takes care of huskies and races with them. This year his partner Hector and he seem to have a good shot at winning. But his papers still having the wrong name, due to him being unable to legally transition, could very well destroy everything. This story is fascinating and I really liked the setting (sled races on Pluto? yes please!). The writing is also amazing and I adored the ending. This is a nice story.

Coyote Dog Bitten by Dave Riser: 5/5. Stars

Spoiler

Walker, the Coyote, survives in his desert world by scavenging and stealing. After getting hurt on one of his trips and developing an infection, he is sure he will die. After all his only friend is the ghost girl Vanessa from a ship crash side near him. But then he meets Jack, the Jackal, who doesn't really speak. Together they are reaching for the stars. This story is action packed and interesting. While there isn't a lot of dialogue and parts of the story are confusing (mainly the naming part? I didn't really get that, but I still love the characters), this is a super interesting story and I enjoyed it a lot.

The Three Planters by Everett Maroon: 4/5. Stars

Spoiler

Hax and Marnie work on making Valus habitable. They have to plant trees so that people will be able to breathe there. In a world, where humans have to take hormones to achieve gender. Hax wonders if he made the right choice by going with Testosterone. This kind of confuses me because this story seems to feature a trans woman as MC and not a trans man? It was a nice enough story, but this confused me a bit.

If You Can by Bo Balder: 3/5. Stars

Spoiler

Peony is a Wan, a tree-like creature. Wans don't have gender, but all Peony wants to do is to become a human man. With his body wanting to plant itself and his wife pregnant by another, he decides to search out the mother who abandoned him when she found out he was not human enough. I really liked the idea that knowledge was stored in body parts and could quite literally be devoured. This story is kind of mystical, but I found it really interesting.

Trans Mare Cognitum by Michael Takeda: 3/5. Stars

Spoiler

After the moon had become habitable and the government had claimed their share, the rest of the moon was opened up to common settlers as long as they based it on commonalities. Simon joins one in which only trans people live. Simon thinks he could make a good life here with his boyfriend, but soon young men start disappearing. I didn't like that one character was implied to have OCD for being tidy. The rest of the story was well written, with a terrifying setting.

TW: transphobia, t slur, f slur, suicide attempt, abusive relationship

Fire Fills the Belly by Noa Josef Sperber: 5/5. Stars

Spoiler

A young fire-breather earns his living on the streets. He remembers his family, who are lost, but he also makes new friends. This is a really lovely story and I could very well imagine it as a book if it was longer. In this story, there is also a non-binary character. The writing is really great too.

Edge of Everything by M. Raoulee: 4/5. Stars

Spoiler

Idris lives near the desert and ferries people where they need to go. Ansil wants him to take him to the Edge, a place on the other side of the planet. This was a nice story and the ending is really sweet, I liked it.