**"**A Planet for Rent is the English-language debut of Yoss,
one of Cuba's most lauded writers of science fiction. Translated by
David Frye, these linked stories craft a picture of a dystopian future:
Aliens called xenoids have invaded planet Earth, and people are looking
to flee the economically and socially bankrupt remains of human
civilization. Yoss' smart and entertaining novel tackles themes like
prostitution, immigration and political corruption. Ultimately, it
serves as an empathetic yet impassioned metaphor for modern-day Cuba,
where the struggle for power has complicated every facet of society"
--NPR, Best Books of 2015
Out of the modern-day dystopia of Cuba comes an instant classic from the
island's most celebrated science fiction author: a raucous tale of a
future in which a failing Earth is at the mercy of powerful capitalist
alien colonizers.
In A Planet for Rent, Yoss critiques life under Castro in the '90s by
drawing parallels with a possible Earth of the not-so-distant future.
Wracked by economic and environmental problems, the desperate planet is
rescued, for better or worse, by alien colonizers, who remake the planet
as a tourist destination. Ruled over by a brutal interstellar
bureaucracy, dispossessed humans seek better lives via the few routes
available--working for the colonial police; eking out a living as black
marketeers, drug dealers, or artists; prostituting themselves to
exploitative extraterrestrial visitors--or they face the cold void of
space in rickety illegal ships.
This inventive book marks the English-language debut of an astonishingly
brave and imaginative Latin American voice.
