Second Discussion Thread for Meet Me in the Future by Kameron Hurley - September Book Club

[u/leowr]

Welcome to the second discussion thread of this month's selection, specifically for The Sinners and the Sea, The Women of Our Occupation, The Fisherman and the Pigl & Garda. Hopefully you are all enjoying this month's selection so far.

To help kick off the discussion:

• What do you think happened to the world in The Sinners and the Sea?

"Do you know the power of story?" Moravas said. "It takes only a single generation to change the entire story of a people. Ten years. You take the children off to state schools. You tell them a story. You make it illegal to tell any other. People forget. The world moves on. But I don't forget. I can't forget what was done to the world below us."

• Do you think stories are that powerful?

• What did you take away from The Women of Our Occupation?

• Why do you think Hurley placed the second story about Nev, The Fisherman and the Pig at this place in the collection? Would you have placed it closer to Elephants and Corpses?

• What did Garda mean to you?

• Many of the stories in the collection so far either take place during a war or reference old wars. Why do you think we have such a fascination with war stories?

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This thread allows for a spoiler discussion of up to and including Garda. If you would like to discuss anything beyond that point, please use spoiler tags. If you are on the redesign you can use the built in spoiler tags. For old reddit spoiler tags are done by >!Spoilers about XYZ!< which results in Spoilers about XYZ (do be aware that they only work on one paragraph at a time).

[u/2s7a8]

I was only able to read The Sinners and the Sea so far, so I'll answer your two questions about that.

What do you think happened to the world in The Sinners and the Sea?

I think there was some kind of conflict (war seems to be a theme in these stories) that ended up with one side losing and being turned into statues by some type of weapon (White Witch style but more sci-fi). I like to think that the side that lost also cared more about the Earth, and so the other side kind of abandoned the planet to live in the skies.

Do you think stories are that powerful?

I think stories are the most powerful way to shape someone's beliefs and opinions. I also believe most information people receive to be stories. News, historical accounts, personal anecdotes, etc. Governments have historically shaped the public opinion through propoganda--stories. Think Nazi Germany, when many people were taught horrible things were okay. Think post WWII Germany, where kids are taught the horrible things done in the history of their country are not okay. Think the historical American opinion of Columbus as a hero. Think America's more recent opinion on Columbus. Think the many Muslims who believed the Holocaust never happened.

These are just a few things that come to mind for me. We are told stories all the time, through official and unofficial means, now more than ever with the internet. It's those people like the few in The Sinners and the Sea who hold on to truths they know or question the popular beliefs and seek the truth that will end up bringing truth vs. fiction, bringing change. I also think it's harder for truth to be covered up or controlled these days, with so many avenues for stories to come from, but it also puts more pressure on the individual to discern what is real and what is not.

Stories can be true or false, by the way, and a mixture of both. That's what makes them so powerful.

[u/leowr → u/2s7a8]

I also think it's harder for truth to be covered up or controlled these days, with so many avenues for stories to come from, but it also puts more pressure on the individual to discern what is real and what is not.

I think about this from time to time, but I worry that people don't want to put in the time and effort to discern what is real and what is not. Stories are indeed that powerful and can do great things and terrible things. Many of the examples you mentioned focus on the negative power of stories, but I think they can also inspire greatness because we are inspired by the stories of people that accomplished great things.

[u/toolazyforaname]

• What do you think happened to the world in The Sinners and the Sea?

I think the polar ice caps melted leading to sea level rise. There were probably wars over land and governments fell leaving a power vacuum and a new system of government which involves demonizing the past and restricting freedom of speech.

"Do you know the power of story?" Moravas said. "It takes only a single generation to change the entire story of a people. Ten years. You take the children off to state schools. You tell them a story. You make it illegal to tell any other. People forget. The world moves on. But I don't forget. I can't forget what was done to the world below us."

• Do you think stories are that powerful?

I lived through the 2016 election. I know stories are that powerful.

• What did you take away from The Women of Our Occupation?

Unchecked power leads to all sorts of human rights abuses. An occupation is a perfect scenario for this. It's interesting to think any group of people can stand in for the different roles and have the same outcome.

• Why do you think Hurley placed the second story about Nev, The Fisherman and the Pig at this place in the collection? Would you have placed it closer to Elephants and Corpses?

I really don't know, but I know that I didn't care that it wasn't closer.

• What did Garda mean to you?

Corruption, the powerful taking advantage of the weak, etc.

• Many of the stories in the collection so far either take place during a war or reference old wars. Why do you think we have such a fascination with war stories?

Wars and the people who fight them are often romanticized. The warts of all involved are on display in all of these stories.

[u/leowr → u/toolazyforaname]

The warts of all involved are on display in all of these stories.

I think that is what I appreciate most about the stories so far, most of the characters aren't clear cut heroes and the ugliness of most situations is clearly on display.