My last three reads, in order, were Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s Chain-Gang All-Stars, Annalee Newitz’s Autonomous, and Agustina Bazterrica’s Tender Is the Flesh.  (It was a terrifying experience, I assure you.)

Beyond intense gore/body-horror, they share a common theme: humans owning other humans (or pieces thereof). Eventually, my head spun off and I had to get it out: here’s my take on how the authors—or you might, in your own story— make it work.

Part 1: Plausibility & Mechanisms