Review of “The Galactic Tourist Industrial Complex” (2019)

Text

Tobias S. Buckell (writer).

Read in 2022.

Multiple non-human civilizations with more advanced technology have reduced Earth to a tourist attraction. The locals, that is humans, hope for a generous tip, but the aliens all want to preserve the planet’s “authentic” poverty. The protagonist is about to fall off the edge of poverty into destitution when a customer falls out of his cab.

A simple allegory, well executed.

text fiction