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NEU Senior Regional Support Officer
Flawed visions of unwelcome times ahead
An anthology of dystopian fiction disappoints ANDY HEDGECOCK

Welcome to Dystopia: Forty-five Visions of What Lies Ahead
Edited by Gordon Van Gelder
(OR Books, £16)

WITH jobs automated out of existence, Facebook used to influence elections and computer programmes managing state surveillance, military invasion and social control, the late Stephen Hawking rightly warned us about technology, particularly that it is driving “ever-increasing inequality.”

Unsurprising, then, that there has been a spate of dystopian fiction anthologies, with the Morning Star in recent months covering two relentlessly pessimistic and impressive collections, 2084 (Unsung Stories) and Exit Earth (Storgy).

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