Sarena Ulibarri

Another anthology of climate-change short fiction, interspersed with art. The fiction was good, the art I thought more than a bit meh (coloured art on a grey-scale 300 dpi eInk screen is always going to be meh). The other problem I found with the art was that it came across as unrelated to the climate-change theme; it was more along the line of rather twee crafts. Linking the art as illustrations to specific stories would have worked far better. The stories themselves were the usual mixture of good, indifferent and bad. Overall, I thought the quality wasn't as good as the previous collection; this may have been related to the inclusion of the art which came across as padding. An OK read, but nothing particularly memerable about it.… (altro)

Solarpunk Creatures by Christoph Rupprecht (e-book) is part of a series of books containing Science Fiction short stories on ecology and interspecies relationships that reflect today’s issues. Based on the Introduction, you might expect it to be a scholarly literary work, but I got no such vibe from it. Instead, it was a set of engaging tales made to draw you in and make you consider where we are and where we may go.

Each piece is set somewhere around Earth, with a couple off-planet, predominantly in the US. Most feature young female protagonists. They are equally setting-based and character-based, with vivid descriptions of the settings. The stories are interspersed with nature-based art in various media.

There are several related themes throughout the book. Primarily, the stories are about Earth's ecological demise and possible renewal. Many are optimistic, but not all. Some are trying to resurrect the current society, while others chart a path to an evolution of society. Key is that everyone and everything contributes to life and whether or not it survives the Anthropocene period.

They all reflect different parts of nature communicating, how humans have impacted the biosphere from varying points of view. There’s the hope that, in the future, humans will learn from their mistakes and use their brains and tech to fix Earth for all, or accept help from those who know better, before it's too late.

I quite enjoyed the book, although it’s not my regular fare. I decided to read it to acquire different perspectives and styles, and it certainly met my expectations. I recommend it to anyone interested in Science Fiction or science, especially biology or ecology, or looking for entertaining prose with food for thought.

Below are brief synopses of each story, but BEWARE! They contain spoilers!

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THREADLOOM
Weaves (no pun intended!) together tech and nature into a pleasant tale of young & old people changing their views when confronted by unprecedented change, even when stressed by deadlines.

SONORA'S JOURNEY
A wistful story of the rejuvenation of an ever-growing desert thanks to ecological reclamation work, almost too late, reflected by a mother's death-defying journey to find water for her children.

KELP GARDENS AND STORMWATER STREAMS
Amusing brief piece from the future of 100+ years from now, describing how we seem to finally learn how to coexist.

THE COLORFUL CROW OF WEB-OF-LIFE PARK
An intriguing and hopeful tale of cross-species acceptance, offering hope that tech will benefit nature, not decimate it.

THE BUSINESS OF BEES
A cat discovers that bees have somehow learned to bend human tech to their purposes, whatever they are.

NIGHT FOWLS
Humans and fauna work together intelligently and find that interspecies communication is the key, while relearning old lessons about conflict and sacrifice.

WATER CYCLE
The climate crisis from water's point of view.

MICROBIA
Another alternative future showing how some brave and creative people have worked to salvage hope from a bleak world after ecological disaster.

RABBITS, RIVERS AND PRICKLY PEARS
Two teens and a sentient hare find fruit and hope at the edge of their world.

HUNTING FOR RAIN
There are no more dogs, but Hunter is a good boy, helping his people survive.

AI DREAMS OF REAL SHEEP - MORE AT 8
The first sentient AI just wants to herd sheep and write poetry. Not much to ask for.

AN INCONVENIENT UNICORN
The farm is now desert. So what if we sell it for energy production and housing? Can even a unicorn bring things back?

QUORUM SENSING
A refugee to Europa, in pain from a war not hers, makes peace with her gift, despite the fear of an alien organism.

FLYBY
Comet Izumi watches and listens to life over the eons of its existence in the solar system.

QUARROPTS CAN'T DANCE
Every sentient species has dancers and con-artists.

THANK GEO
Society has collapsed, then we found out that we're just one part of an intelligent global network of life, working together for all. How will humans, with a really bad history, and others interact?

OUR MINDS SHARE A CITY
This new job requires a unique relocation.

HOPDOG
Humans can be cruel and uncaring, so they train dogs to be the same. But dogs still remember the joy of the pack and desire its safety.

SOLAR MURDER
Crows can be nasty and intelligent creatures, with good memories. But securing energy is just too important.

MOTH CITY (DIVERSITY) - Project entry #17 and KOMBUCHA ATOLL (ADAPTATION AND INGENUITY) - Project entry #21
Pockets of humanity start to learn about the true web of life, but there’s a long way to go.

THE WETLANDS VS THE MAYOR
We can still learn from foolish old-fashioned political priorities and save nature... and ourselves.

LEAF WHISPERS, OCEAN SONGS
A love story between two people and the whole planet. Very deep and moving.… (altro)

One of the most impressive things about Solarpunk Creatures was the international scope of the writers and the editing team. Any topic as broad as a post-climate crisis world demands a view from across the globe and spanning many cultures.

The stories ranged from science fiction to science fantasy. While some writers were more polished, there is a sincerity throughout. The inclusion of art in a book on world-wide futures is an excellent idea. Unfortunately in the epub version it was not possible to view a larger version of these images. It made it a little hard to appreciate the artwork, especially those that had blended text and visual imagery.… (altro)