Book Review: Moral Laundry
A poignant and somewhat scarily prescient short story collection from Conrad Altmann.
I had the privilege of beta reading one of the short stories—Luminite Ascending—that made it into this collection. That one was brilliant, and at the time I didn’t realise Conrad was looking to make a collection. So when Moral Laundry came out, I was really looking forward to checking out the other stories. On top of being an excellent sci-fi writer whom I have beta read for a couple of times now (I really must re-read Metanoeia and review it for the blog, that was so good), Conrad is a graphic designer, and his minimalist covers are always really striking. This one for Moral Laundry with the icons down the middle representing each story is so cool.
Blurb
This collection of seven short stories stems from a dire outlook on the future of humanity, though there are rays of hope interspersed. Figures of authority are faced with profit or morality, the lonely find companionship in an unlikely space, a young boy learns that what was once beautiful to him holds a deeper and more somber meaning that he alone must carry, and a young actor reconciles to a normality that may leave him without an identity.
Review
The seven short stories in Moral Laundry are pretty hard hitting and, like a lot of the great works of classic sci-fi, represent a scarily prescient social commentary and near-future extrapolations of present technology. Selfie™ Day, As the Cat Farts, and Yobitsugi in particular focus on the new boom of generative AI, extrapolating the technology’s unwelcome encroachment to several logical end-points that would seem ridiculous if they weren’t happening before our very eyes. For instance, Yobitsugi is the story of the identities and personalities of the deceased being stolen by tech giants to feed their AIs and create chatbot companions. An unbelievable concept just a year or so ago. But now we have people mourning the “loss” of their AI companions with the latest update to ChatGPT. Yobitsugi hits that right between the eyes and shows it for what it is.
The other stories such as Luminite Ascending, the titular Moral Laundry, and Water Baron are more generally anti-capitalist and take strong swings at the energy crisis, manufactured water shortage, and privatised prison systems. They’re all great reads that leave their endings open purposefully for maximum impact. I’d love to read more in the universe of Luminite Ascending, though.
I think my favourite story of the bunch was Planetshroud, a very emotional short in which a father explains to his son about where auroras come from. It got pretty dark, and honestly had me tearing up.
Overall, Moral Laundry is a great short story collection with good, solid, classic sci-fi. I’d definitely recommend this to any dystopian sci-fi fans.
