“Picnic on Nearside”

1974 Varley, John [Herbert] (1947-2025). “Picnic on Nearside.” The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction 47.2 (279) (August 1974): 94-115. Rpt. in his The Barbie Murders (New York: Berkley Books, 1980), 236-60; book reissued as Picnic on Nearside (New York: Berkley, 1984), 236-60; and in Humanity 2.0. Ed. Alex Shvartsman (Rockville, MD: Phoenix Pick/Arc Manor, 2016), 111-35. PSt

The story takes place on the moon in a world where it is possible to change body type, gender, and so forth many times and many other technological changes, generally presented favorably. The protagonist, a boy, and a friend, who has recently had the change from male to female, visit to an undeveloped part of the moon, called Nearside, where they find an old man living, the last human on Nearside, and even though undeveloped and abandoned, Nearside is also presented mostly positively.