Exploring Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity with Lee Mandelo
Author: Lee Mandelo (editor)
Publication Date: May 27, 2025 by Erewhon Books
Genres: Sci-fi, Fantasy
Representation: LGBTQIA+
Before I get into my review, I’d like you to take a look at the two covers for this book. The first (on the left) is the one that accompanied the advance review copy. The second (on the right) is the one that seems destined to accompany the final published book.
Can you see what’s missing? Joy and Survival. In a book described as revolutionary and visionary, one that promises to explore the vast potentialities of our queer and trans futures, one that celebrates itself as moving and hopeful, that omission of joy and survival is significant. Had I gone into it without that expectation, been prepared to stoke my anger and my sorrow in light of current affairs, I may have appreciated Amplitudes more on an intellectual level… but when I went into it fixated on joy and hope, the emotional letdown was hard to overcome.
Of the 22 stories chosen by Lee Mandelo, there are only 7 that stood out for me, and they are all lacking in joy and hope.
The Orgasm Doula by Colin Dean does have a romantic twist that gives it a sliver of hope, but it’s about a world where the number of orgasms allotted to you may (or may not) be limited, and the final twist slams the door on what could have been hope. Well-written and interesting, yes, but it suggested this was not going to be the collection I was hoping for.MoonWife by Sarah Gailey is another well-written, interesting story by an author I’ve enjoyed before, dealing with digital seances, identity theft, death, and grieving… and well, still no joy.There Used to Be Peace by Margaret Killjoy is where it became impossible to deny the thematic direction of the collection, with a story of a civil war between knights and fascists that felt underwhelming, like too small a slice of the narrative. Fettle & Sunder by Ramez Yoakeim takes that theme one step further, one step darker, doubling down on the themes of fascism and violence that only space station billionaires can escape. Yeah, hits way too close to home. They Whom We Remember by Sunny Moraine presents a future I would describe as joyous and hopeful, one where gender is completely fluid, able to be altered and expressed on a whim, but the author turns it into something cynical and tragic by exploring it through the eyes of one person with a desire to permanently fix themselves to a single gender. When The Devil Comes From Babylon by Mars Deane is another of those stories that I would have loved in a dystopian collection… a weird, almost magical (post) apocalyptic story of belief and transformation… but it suffers under the bludgeoning weight of religious cult-like intolerance that demands suicide over transition. pocket futures in the present past by Katharine Duckett is a weird, trippy story about time, parallel times, time travel, and paradoxes, one that was fun to read and follow the back-and-forth of cause-and-effect, but it’s almost afraid to commit to making a positive impact.Thinking of the stories again, reflecting on how they impacted me, that same anger and sorrow I was looking to escape when I picked this collection up washes over me anew. I’ve really had quite enough of stories about trans people suffering, being the targets of hatred and violence, and having to fight just to survive.
Perhaps I’m just on a different wavelength, but if you’ll forgive me mixing metaphors, Amplitudes left me feeling drained when I was hoping for a joyous shock to the system.
Rating: 
1/2
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
