Fiction Reviews
Solarpunk
(2024) Francesco Verso, Flame Tree Press,
£16.99 / Can$34.99 / US$26.99, hrdbk, 414pp, ISBN 978-1-804-17935-2
Science-fiction is no stranger to various ‘punk’ sub-genres – most obviously cyberpunk and steampunk – so what is solarpunk? This anthology of the same name attempts to answer that question, both literally in the case of the introduction by editor Franceso Verso and then figuratively in the fourteen short stories that follow.
My personal attempt at a definition: solarpunk is SF which imagines how our world might survive, revive and maybe even thrive after the climate crisis; it lays out a breadcrumb trail to a sustainable future; it combines a back to nature aesthetic with human-centred technological solutions.
Given the above, it’s often political, sometimes a little didactic, and more interested in the potential of science and technology to actually help people than any genre fiction I’ve read in a long time. Verso’s introduction covers this territory at greater length and with considerable political acuity and stakes out a claim for solarpunk’s importance.All of these things combine to make me (as at least a part-time tree-hugger and political activist) interested in the potential this micro-genre offers. And I’m not alone in this: the fact that contributors to this collection come from many nations underlines its global appeal.
But does this anthology live up to this potential? The answer is a qualified yes – with around a third of the stories fully delivering on the premise:
- 'Byzantine Empathy' by Ken Liu – comfortably the best story in the set, imagining how blockchain and crypto might be repurposed to disrupt charitable giving (arguably) for the better. Not a gimmick story, genuinely thought-provoking and provocative in a good way.
- 'Rules for a Civilisation' by Jerri Jereat – a crafty exercise in world-building, using the setting of a school to express new values in a post-climate crisis world.
- 'Anticipation of Hollowness' by Renan Bernardo – fun with android companions and a dynamic pricing economy; perhaps more cyberpunk than solarpunk if we’re being picky but still very engaging.
- 'The Maestro of Small Things' by Francesco Verso – anyone familiar with Verso’s The Roamers will be unsurprised to hear that he’s back on his home territory – to wit, reducing humanity’s dependency on food as a solution to overproduction and systems of corporate control. Of all the stories other than the Liu, this is the one that makes the best claim for solarpunk as a literature of ideas.
- 'The Spider and the Stars' by D. K. Mok – how one scientist’s love for spiders shapes the future of space exploration in unexpected ways.
As to the rest of the stories, there are no real duds among them, though it sometimes feels like they exist to showcase the idea at their heart rather than enthral the reader, a peril of any work concerned to include a lesson or teachable moment within it. This reviewer wonders, however unfairly, if this is an inherent flaw in the approach. Considered as a collection and introduction to the field, Solarpunk certainly stands up. Whether it can bear the weight of expectation I’ve given it is another matter, but if I step aside from that then I can acknowledge it’s a solid piece of work.
Tim Atkinson
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