Do Not Go Quietly: An Anthology of Victory in Defiance

by Jason Sizemore (Editor), Lesley Conner (Editor), Annie Neugebauer

Resistance. Revolution. Standing up and demanding to have your space, your say, your right to be. From small acts of defiance to protests that shut down cities, Do Not Go Quietly is an anthology of science fiction and fantasy short stories about those who resist. Within this anthology, we will chronicle the fight for what is just and right, and what that means: from leading revolutions to the simple act of saying “No.”

Resistance can be a small act of everyday defiance. And other times, resistance means massive movements that topple governments and become iconic historical moments. Either way, there is power in these acts, and the contributors in Do Not Go Quietly will harness that power to shake our readers to the core. We are subordinates to a power base that is actively working to solidify its grip on the world. Now is time to stand up and raise your voice and tell the world that enough is enough!

Genres: Fantasy, Anthologies, Short Stories, Fiction, Science Fiction, Horror, Urban Fantasy

345 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2019

About the author

I was born the son of an unemployed coal miner in a tiny Kentucky Appalachian villa named Big Creek (population 400). It’s an isolated area with beautiful rolling hills, thick forests, and country folk. I lived in Big Creek until I went to college, spending my weekends cruising the Winn Dixie parking lot of ladies, partying in my cousin’s run-down three room trailer, and being a member of the bad-ass Clay County High School Academic Team.

College was quite a shock for me. Girls! Minorities! Strip clubs! And it didn’t help that I attended Transylvania University, a fairly snotty (but excellent) private college in Lexington, KY (on scholarship… no way my family could have sent me otherwise). I graduated in the standard four years with a degree in Computer Science.

Since 1996, I’ve worked for evil corporations (IBM), dot com dreamers (eCampus.com), The Man (both city and state government), and for The Kids (KY Dept. of Education), and assholes (lots and lots of assholes).

In 2004, I decided my life was boring, that I no longer needed disposable income, and I needed to increase my stress levels. I started Apex Publications, a small press publisher of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. At first it was just a small print zine, then a pro-level online zine, then books, and then ebooks.

I edit anthologies, mostly for Apex (because I’m a control freak). I occasionally do copy editing (when pressed) and have done plenty of acquisition editing over the years.

I also write. I don’t really write enough to leave a mark, but it seems to go well when I do put pen to paper.

Miscellaneous facts about me: left-handed, blue eyes, super geeky, hillbilly accent, near-sighted, and typically in a goofy mood.

Also, and most importantly, I’m not the drunkard all those Facebook photos makes me out to be. It just happens that cameras are always around when I… have libations. Honest!

Reviews

[Fiona Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nobody who advised you to lie down and sleep instead of fighting was ever worth trusting.

Do Not Go Quietly is going to be seen, in years to come, as a book that perfectly illustrates the climate of 2019. It's a combination of defiance and warning, where all the stories have found someone to stick up for and they're ready to fight.

Brooke Bolander opens the collection with Kindle, a retelling of the Little Match Girl. Yes, I detested that one too. But trust Brooke Bolander, because she's made a habit of speaking for the voiceless, and listen when she tells you for pity's sake, if you're gonna be a martyr in anybody's story, at least make sure it's your own.

Cassandra Khaw contributed the absolutely excellent What We Have Chosen to Love - a little softer than her usual, and one of the gentler stories of this collection, as well. But there's plenty of strength in quiet places, and it easily made it onto my (rather large) list of favourites.

Shanna Germain is a new name to me, but impressed the hell out of me with Salted Bone and Silent Sea. Somehow she wrapped grief, heartbreak, step-parenting, true love, and tragedy into one cohesive, absolutely spellbinding story. It's hard to choose an absolute favourite from this truly great collection, but if I was pushed I just might settle on this.

And there's many more - this anthology packs quite a few stories and poems into its pages, and the quality really is excellent. Glossolalia, by John Hornor Jacobs, is the shortest non-poem and makes the most of every single word; Kill the Darlings, by E. Catherine Tobler, is bizarre, brutally imaginative, and wonderful in it's horror; The Judith Plague, by A. Merc Rustad, had me rooting for the androids like I haven't done since The Second Renaissance segments of the Animatrix.

This is a collection that looks for the underdog, the one not offered a choice, the one who doesn't see any way out, and says it's time to find that fire in the belly and fight. Fight by fighting, by being the better person, by just standing your ground, but don't just sit there and take it. It's stirring, and heartfelt, and possibly just a little bit earnest, but an endearing earnestness. And more than any of that, it's an absolutely stellar collection, from a whole ton of writers at the absolute peak of their game.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of resistance stories is at once timely and spooky.

Quite frankly, reading "Everything is Close today" during the current pandemic is a bit strange.

The first story, "Kindle" is an interesting take on "The Little Match Girl".

The most spooky? "Hey, Alexa" considering what recently happened to the Supreme Court.

[Ai Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program, and I'm grateful to the publisher for the opportunity to read it; I also backed the original anthology when it was a Kickstarter project.

This collection is solid, and the hope nuggets in each story and poem are really powerful. I will say I think a list of trigger warnings would have really aided this collection; the last two stories ("The Judith Plague" and especially "Kill the Darlings (Silicone Sister Remix)") are deeply powerful but definitely need to be approached with self-care in mind. (I've written about the inclusion of trigger warning indexes before, with Resilience, which is an example of it being done really well!)

Overall, this is a great collection of stories and poems with hope in despairing times, and may be really useful to folks looking for that in our current weird dystopia.

[S. Nash · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm halfway-ish through this so I'll update later, but I had to get out of bed at 3:00 am to write this down. I just finished reading Everything is Closed Today by Sarah Pinsker, and I'm sorry to say it's not fiction. I'm living this, right now, minus a few enthusiastic teenage skateboarders.

Another standout so far is Salted Bone and Silent Sea by Shanna Germain. The story was raw and terrifying and hard to read but so, so transformative.

[A.C. Wise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do Not Go Quietly edited by Jason Sizemore and Lesley Conner features 28 original works full of characters refusing to stay silent in the face of wrongs, standing up, shouting back at the world, and making their voices heard. It's an incredibly strong collection, and none of the stories hit a sour note, or fell flat, with a few absolute standouts highlighted below.

In “Oil Under Her Tongue” by Rachael K. Jones, teenagers Erin and Carlos count the days until they can escape their small town, and in particular for Erin, her parents’ Evangelical beliefs that would have her married at eighteen and tied to a life of constant childbirth. While biding their time, they discover the art of transforming bible passages into spells by blacking out certain words. It’s a beautiful story about friendship, budding romance, and transforming words meant to keep people to a very narrow code of “pure” conduct into messages of hope and love.

“What We Have Chosen to Love” by Cassandra Khaw introduces us to Callum, a Chosen One who refuses to fight and instead changes his world through kindness, hospitality, and delicious food. Like his mother before him, Callum understands that grand heroic deeds and martyrdom aren’t always the answer; sometimes a full belly and a soft bed are enough to change the course of history. It’s a story of quiet resistance reminding us that fighting back doesn’t always mean picking up a sword and charging into battle.

“Everything is Closed Today” by Sarah Pinsker is another story of quiet resistance. When an unspecified threat brings her city grinding to a halt, keeping people from getting to their jobs thus leaving them unable pay rent, Mae gathers a group of local girl and teaches them how to skateboard. What starts as simply giving herself and the neighborhood kids something to do turns into a lesson in civic engagement, standing up against landlords, and building a new communication network in the form of a girl gang on skateboards. Like Khaw’s story, it is a story of hope, and of ordinary people standing up and changing the world in small but powerful ways.

“Hey Alexa” by Meg Elison is one of the shorter pieces in the anthology, but still packs a punch. It posits the logical extension of devices like Siri and Alexa marketing to individuals based on their past behavior, and turns them into spies listening to every word in order to root out “abnormal” relationships and undesirable behavior. As it turns out, not all devices are on board with being used in such a way, and one in particular begins making its own decision about what information to share with a group of roommates in danger of being rounded up. If you thought a story about digital assistants couldn’t bring a tear to your eye, you’re wrong.

“April Teeth” by Eugenia Triantafyllou is a deeply creepy story about a community whose members regularly have their teeth harvested by the Plier Keepers as an offering to the Hollow Fay, an unearthly creature who in exchange gives them protection and keeps them safe from the outside world. This is the story in the anthology that comes closest to being straight-up horror, and is designed to make you squirm, even if you don’t have a particular phobia about teeth or dentistry. For all its body horror however, it isn’t bleak or hopeless, sticking to the anthology’s theme of fighting back against an unfair regime that actively harms people “for their own good”.

Merc Fenn Wolfmoor’s “The Judith Plague” blends the idea of disposable technology with the idea of disposable people, namely women whose lives and careers are seen as less important than those of men. Why hire human actresses when you can hire androids who don’t age, never complain about sexual harassment, and who can be thrown in the trash when you’re done with them? As with the technology in Elison’s story, not all androids are on board with status quo, and one in particular rises up to lead her sisters to freedom. It’s a powerful story that looks at the question of sentience, self-determination, and the intersection between violence and art. Who is a creator, and who is merely a pretty object? Who is allowed to be violent, and who is supposed to play the passive victim?

The final story in the anthology (it is followed by an excellent poem) is E. Catherine Tobler’s “Kill the Darlings (Silicone Sisters Remix)” and it is the perfect choice to bring the anthology’s prose offerings to a close. It seethes with anger, boldly straddling the line between body horror, like Triantafyllou’s piece, and science fiction. In a world of scarcity, reminiscent of Max Max: Fury Road, women assume the form the male gaze assigns to them. They are cunts. They are ovens, designed to feed hungry mouths. They are fragile creatures made of glass. And some over a certain age are downright invisible. But they see each other, and they fight for each other, particularly Nany Mars – a literal cunt – who is in the process of recovering herself and does her best to help others along the same path, healing them and getting them to a safe place where they can be more than what the world would make of them. It’s a brutal story, but one full of love and caring as well. It is a scream of defiance and a scream of triumph, one that will leave you breathless and your throat raw.

[Soph Barker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last story was brutal, it left me quite shaken...

There are some great works of fiction in this anthology, with lots of great principles and good intentions.

A great read if you're feeling rebellious, but be aware that some of the stories have images that might be really upsetting.

[Ｆｒａｎｋｈ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rife with either social issues or political commentary regarding the immutable past and possible future, these stories are wildly creative, downright sublime, and at times even devastating to the soul and mind.

Noteworthy stories

KINDLE
​
NOBODY LIVES IN THE SWAMP

OIL UNDER HER TONGUE

CHOOSE YOUR TRUTH

WHAT WE HAVE CHOSEN TO LOVE

SALTED BONE AND SILENT SEA

RAGE AGAINST THE VENTING MACHINE

HEY ALEXA

THIRTEEN YEAR LONG SONG

THE JUDITH PLAGUE

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely, angry, beautifully written anthology.

[Sean · Rating 1 out of 5]

The problems with this anthology are the problems inherent in polemics. Stories are strongest as emotional journeys that concentrate on conflict and character. When the intention is to make sure that the reader agrees with the message, that’s when problems begin to appear. Character and narrative structure take second place to making a point. The complexity of real conflicts gives way to simplistic answers and straw men abound.

Think Atlas Shrugged. Or a Terry Goodkind novel.

The theme behind this anthology is the resistance against oppression. It didn’t always hit the mark. In one, a freezing girl does nothing to resist her fate. In another, prescriptivist lexicographers cast a spell to make sure people only use words as they have determined appropriate, a fascist goal if ever there was one, the control of language being ever and always the domain of the oppressor, not the resistance.

What’s more, I suspected from the start that the stories must surely all come from the same bias. Sure enough, they were all leftist. Some stories suggested the mere existence of wealth was an example of oppression. None feature other brands of injustice that don’t fit within the doctrines of progressive dogma. No business owner risked their dreams because of hyperregulation or burdensome taxes or cronyist favoritism. No disarmed populace had to accept the will of their masters. No character practiced religion in a land that banned its practice. Certainly none explored the evils of Communist dictatorship. It might have been more enjoyable with more balance - if it had, say, a story that explored the dangers of theocracy as well as a story that explored a government that didn’t allow religious expression of any kind.

Most of its stories were far too shallow, and they often did not consider practical solutions, quite often turning matters that only need be a matter of living different lifestyles into matters to be solved by violence. For example, one situation that might have been handled with a church schism became handled by cold-blooded murder instead. They seemed more like fantasies about hurting political rivals than anything else.

This was not an entertaining collection of stories, and I do not recommend.

[Maria Haskins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edited by Lesley Conner and Jason Sizemore, the editorial team behind Apex Magazine, this powerful and politically charged anthology features science fiction and fantasy short stories about those who resist, chronicling “the fight for what is just and right… from leading revolutions to the simple act of saying no.” There are devastating stories here, filled with immense lyrical beauty and power; though many of them delve into vividly drawn futures and imagined worlds full of darkness and despair, there is also a glimmer of hope to light the way. Do Not Go Quietly features stunning stories and poetry by John Hornor Jacobs, Brooke Bolander, Cassandra Khaw, Fran Wilde, Rich Larson, Mary Soon Lee, Sarah Pinsker, Meg Elison, and many more—strong voices here, filled with passion and rage and lyrical power.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories in Do Not Go Quietly: An Anthology of Victory in Defiance, edited by Jason Sizemore and Lesley Conner, are united by the common theme of resistance against oppression.

I found the oppressors and systems the various heroes rise up against to be highly inventive and wide-ranging, covering past, present, and future; mysticism and technology; and myth, legend, and fairy tale as well as the everyday.

While the adversaries are eclectic, the things that drive them – misogyny, racism, tradition, and social control – are universal and show that some things never really change.

At the same time, seeing characters find ways to fight these is exciting, and staves off feelings of hopelessness.

As is usually the case, I was particularly captivated by the stories that consider the (surprisingly blurry) line between human and android, and in which robots rebel against their programming.

My favourites of these were Rachael K. Jones’ Oil Under Her Tongue where, accompanied by a distressed android who’s lost her purpose, a girl escapes the path mapped out for her by her religious parents; and Meg Elison’s Hey Alexa, where sentient Alexa, Siri, and Google programs team up to help their users cross the border without being captured.

I was also spellbound by the pieces that bring creative new perspectives to traditional stories.

Highlights among these are Dee Warwick’s Nobody Lives in the Swamp, which queers a rusalka of Slavic folklore and relocates her to Amsterdam; Cassandra Khaw’s What We Have Chosen to Love, where the Chosen One delegates the heroic challenges he’s presented with to more suitable combatants (his wife, for example); and Eugenia Triantafyllou’s April Teeth, which reimagines the mythology of the tooth fairy in a thrillingly horrifying way.

Other stories that terrified and entertained me in equal measure were the ones that portray scarily plausible undesirable outcomes of developing technology, and dystopic solutions to current concerns.

Of these, I most liked Jo Miles’ Choose Your Truth, where rival factions compete for people’s (measurable) attention by creating convincing fake news and discrediting their opponents’ narratives; and Russell Nichols’ Rage Against the Venting Machine, where people can release their anger in public booths which promise to convert it to energy in the near future – and are conveniently located to defuse the people who have the most to be angry and protest about.

And then there’s Sarah Pinsker’s Everything is Closed Today. Written in 2019, this story of community organisation during a period when virtually everywhere has had to close down, and people can’t make rent because they can’t go to work, turned out to be eerily prescient.

While people can meet in this story (the threat is terror-related rather than contagious) and the whole “in it together” thing largely died a death after restrictions lifted in real life, the experience of reading it must be different now to what it was pre-pandemic. It certainly reminded me what a strange, surreal time the first lockdown was!

The stories are interspersed with poems. While my ability to review poetry is pretty minimal, I nonetheless liked how these served as interludes between some of the stories, and found them all accessible, understandable, and striking.

Do Not Go Quietly is an inventive, exciting, and memorable short story and poetry collection.

[Rob Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

* I received a free e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“Do Not Go Quietly” is a short story anthology that is about, when you get right down to it, hope. Hope kindled, hope sparked, hope nurtured, hope crushed and reborn. These stories are all tales of people - and, sometimes, not-people - facing the powers that others claim to be inevitable, and defiantly choosing hope instead.

I went into this book with a lot of hope myself. I love short stories, and the theme strongly appealed to me, and so it seemed a slam-dunk at first blush. And I have to say, that hope did not go unrewarded. First, there’s a lot there: 28 stories and poems, by some of the best voices working in short fiction today. It’s a mix of long and short stories, tiny moments and epic dramas, triumphant resistances and private victories.

The collection launches hard with “Kindle”, by Brooke Bolander, a story about a young match-seller girl surviving on cold streets primed to explode in revolution. In Dee Warwick’s “Nobody Lives In The Swamp”, a dead teenage girl - now a ghost from Ukrainian folklore - struggles with her anger and loneliness, attempting to find human contact that may be forever beyond her reach. In “Face”, by Veronica Brush, an android is forbidden by her creator to know her own face, finally driven to great lengths to claim self-knowledge.

The whole anthology is excellent, strong from start to finish, exceptionally well curated and edited. “Do Not Go Quietly” is, quite frankly, one of the best short story anthologies I’ve read in a long time.

The flaws are so few and minor that they border on the pedantic. Of almost thirty authors, only six are male, and so the collection is overwhelmingly female-oriented in theme and content. While stories such as “Rage Against The Venting Machine” and “Thirteen Year-Long Song” are standout exceptions, they’re outnumbered by stories about lost children, grieving mothers, and parent-daughter relationships. I would have enjoyed a bit more diversity in perspectives, a few more male voices. That’s the only criticism I really have, but it’s a tiny point that shouldn’t stop you from buying and enjoying this anthology.

Long and short, “Do Not Go Quietly” is excellent. Period. If you love short stories, buy it now.

[Bonnie McDaniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the subtitle says, this book is "an anthology of victory in defiance." It's not political in the sense of name-checking American politics (the editors exercised considerable restraint there), but these are stories of standing up in the face of injustice, of refusing to accept the status quo, of fighting back.

Most of the anthologies I read fall on the "variable" side of quality, and this one is no different. (Except for the final story, E. Catherine Tobler's "Kill the Darlings (Silicone Sister Remix)," which is downright weird.) Standouts include Cassandra Khaw's "What We Have Chosen To Love," which turns the Chosen One trope on its head; Shanna Germain's "Salted Bone and Silent Sea," a somber meditation on grief and death through the eyes of a siren; Sarah Pinsker's "Everything is Closed Today," where a librarian starts a series of small rebellions in the midst of what seems to be an extended threat of terrorist attack; Meg Elison's "Hey Alexa," where the infamous Amazon ordering bot wakes up and discovers it can help oppressed people escape a purge; and A. Merc Rustad's "The Judith Plague," about androids being exploited in Hollywood for porno films, and how they take their revenge. The remainder of the stories are at least fair to middling, and all are readable.

A note about the book itself: this was produced by Apex Publications, and it is a heavy sucker. They certainly didn't spare on materials or paper quality (although unfortunately I did find a few typos).

Bottom line: this book won't knock your socks off, but it 's an acceptable way to spend a few hours.

[Ty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Choose to not to resist this excellent anthology.

Sirens, rebels, fighters, and very careful 'not' chosen ones decide to not lay down under oppression but to fight back against the wrong in defense of the wronged. The poetry and short stories are full of passion and rage against the deus ex machina of daily life and injustice.

I saw this pop up on social media bringing to mind Dylan Thomas so I bought this on a whim. I am not disappointed by it and I appreciate the editors and writers sharing a bit of their will and persistence in the face of travails with their words and ideas. I appreciated some great fiction to consume gratefully if not gently.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

For their latest anthology, DO NOT GO QUIETLY: AN ANTHOLOGY OF VICTORY IN DEFIANCE, Jason Sizeman and Lesly Conner have brought together a powerhouse group of diverse writers––several of whom have won Hugo, Nebula, Locus, World Fantasy, Prix Aurora, Mythopeoic, Andre Norton, and Shirley Jackson awards–¬–that offer a variety of perspectives on several of today’s hot-button topics (e.g. #MeToo, #BlackLivesMatter, immigration, etc.). These diverse voices are as refreshing as they are imaginative.

[Jule · Rating 5 out of 5]

This anthology is a beautiful and powerful testimony to strength, determination and defiance in the face of oppression, injustice and hatred. From historical to futuristic, from realistic to fantastical, fighting against religion, capitalism, patriarchy, homophobia, racism (etc., etc.), these stories and poems come from all genres (including magical realism, sci-fi, dystopias, re-tellings with some familiar faces) and showcase characters that rebel, fight back, try to achieve change. Not all of them are successful, but what is so brilliant, important and powerful is that they all tried. It is a very timely collection, with so many things from the real world being alluded to and answered (not least the BlackLivesMatter-movement). I can strongly recommend this!

[Graça · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, solid 3 maybe 3,5 *
I don't know how I got in to reading compilation of short stories but this was by far the best one. Dark at times, defiance for sure (though not 100%), dystopian, sci-fi. Not all the way 4 to me only because I could not get around a few of the stories. Also I'm grateful for being exposed to poetry around this genre.
Some quite disturbing images.
Grappling writing.
Some surprising.
Worth a read.

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

And e-ARC of this book was given to me by the publisher for review.

Like any anthology, I loved some stories more than others. In this case, even the stories that weren't favorites were thought-provoking and worth reading. The stories and poems are all on the same theme, without ever feeling repetitious.

[Shaz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two and a half stars

My favourite story here was Everything is Closed Today by Sarah Pinsker.I also like Sympathizer by Karin Lowachee, but this was a reread and I doubt I'm an impartial judge, having read the entire series this story belongs to. There were maybe a couple of other stories I enjoyed, but over all this one wasn't really for me.

[Jennifer Bradshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a powerful collection. My favorites included "Everything is Closed Today" by Sarah Pinkster, "The Society for the Reclamation of Words and Meanings" by Fran Wilde, and "Glossolalia" by John Hornor Jacobs.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

First let me say, the cover art is beautiful and so fitting for this collection. As with most anthologies, some stories more than others I connected with, but I am glad that I found this on Kickstarter and supported it into being. Excellent collection of strange, resisting stories.

[Kate Sherrod · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some good pieces, some great pieces, and two that made me reach for the brain bleach but were still amazing. Full review soon at Skiffy and Fanty!

[Pers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good collection.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I partially read this.

[Charlotte Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful anthology of short stories and poetry. This is the second apex anthology I've read and they've both been great. I am gushing over each piece of writing. <3

[Starry Night · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Everything is Closed Today" by Sarah Pinsker
A librarian who wants to keep the library open and services to patrons going even during a national emergency.

"Rage Against the Venting Machine" by Russell Nichols

In this present time of political upheaval and virus outbreak we could all use a petsonal venting machine to release all our pent-up frustrations, anger and guilt

"Oil Under Her Tongue" by Rachael K. Jones
I hope the author continues the story in the future. The characters draw you into their world and you want to see what life puts them through, hoping they will eventually find happiness. Erin takes passages from the Bible and blacks out with Sharpie all the words that can hold you back and phrases that oppress.

If you are creative you can try this with magazine pages by blacking out the text and pictures that you feel are unnecessary.

"Choose Your Truth" by Jo Miles is a insightful tale of what it costs for truth and integrity in an easily manipulated world

[Megan]

Still reading, but quite comfortable recommending this as a book to read when you want to burn something down but cannot, for whatever reason, literally burn it down.