This is an entire collection of short stories, but I am only focusing on the titular short story for this review. “The Memory Librarian” follows Seshet, the Director Librarian of New Dawn who monitors citizens’ memories. In New Dawn, the government cleanses citizens of troublesome memories that cause pain, fear and confusion. It allows people to remember only what the Librarians deem acceptable in this new world to keep order.
The story is not subtle about what it’s trying to say. It’s about a world that suppresses and hides all outliers, whether it’s queerness, neurodivergence or emotions. In this urban dystopia, there is the pristine city in the center, and there’s Old Town literally on the outskirts filled with marginalized people. New Dawn mostly leaves them alone unless their deviance threatens the status quo.
Seshet embodies the concept of respectability politics holding her office as Director Librarian. She polices social deviance while being considered a social deviant herself, but keeping it hidden. Her peers know about her queerness, but as long as she keeps her private life to herself, they look the other way.
When “junk memories” start to flood the system, Seshet becomes aware of an old nemesis who got away from her once. All signs point to the return of drug dealers Doc Young and MC Haze. But her superior, Terry, plays games to set her up for failure. As a Black woman in a position of power, she knows she can’t let it happen again, because for her, there are rarely second chances.
Seshet takes on a lover, Alethia, a transgender woman who underwent Counseling, making her “acceptable.” But Seshet finds herself in a difficult position when the story reveals Alethia’s true identity and how it will affect her position as Director Librarian.
Monáe incorporates an interesting view of the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Seshet’s AI, Dee, mimics a human personality while helping her monitor and police humans’ behavior. The writing deftly creates a character from this AI, making the reader question if it has its own intentions and if it is actually helping Seshet.
This story is definitely written for fans of Monáe’s music who are already familiar with the idea of the Dirty Computer. But even if you aren’t familiar with this, you can still read and enjoy the story for what it brings to the table. Overall, it didn’t feel entirely developed, but it had some beautiful passages and left you wondering how some plot points would unfold.
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