Frederick Gault's Reviews > Metallic Realms

Although there is Science Fiction in this book, it is really about a group of writers getting together to create the Science Fiction stories presented. It is all told from the point of view of one of the most clueless characters since A Confederacy of Dunces. It is a deep dive into what it must be like to be a 30 something artist in today's chaotic world. Mountains of student debt, parental encouragement to get a "real" job, humiliating soul-sucking low paying jobs, the reality of never getting benefits and the big one - having roommates.

Consider this quote, "Our age is one in which imaginations are squashed. The previous generation sucked the country dry and left us a desiccated rind. A time of doom, depression, and pointless jabbering on social media."

And this one, "That [being an artist] is the most sacred and beautiful calling in the world. We may live in a broken, greedy society of sycophants who don't value real art. A society that wants us to work bullshit jobs and numb our brains with bland entertainments. A culture where only Ivy League nepo babies can sell a novel and movies are all adapted from children's toys. That only makes the calling higher."

Not really Science Fiction, more social commentary I think.