Solarpunk fiction focus

We look at longer and shorter stories for sunnier futures

Mar 20, 2023

We’re thrilled to say there’s an increasing amount of art and short stories that could fairly be described as solarpunk.

Our shade of solarpunk art [IMAGE: Crown Heights Bodega EcoHaven Olalekan Jeyifous]

There have been far fewer longer-form fiction reads for us to get our teeth in to though.

In this forntight’s Substack we look at two texts. Gamechanger by L.X. Beckett and Another Life by Sarena Ulibarri.

The first really solarpunk novel?

When SolarPunk Stories Squad member Alastair heard Gamechanger was a thrilling tale from a greener future his ears picked up with interest.

In a new post on our blog, he explores whether or not Gamechanger really is solarpunk or just another text that has been mislabelled as it. Read it now by clicking here.

A solarpunk pioneer’s novella

Sarena Ulibarri is the editor who has curated seminal solarpunk short story anthologies. As well as being a champion of the many different shades of of our scene she has now written her own solarpunk novella, Another Life.

Below is what its publisher Stelliform Press has to say:

Finding out who you were in a previous life sounds like fun until you’re forced to grapple with the darkness of the past. Galacia Aguirre is Mediator of Otra Vida, a quasi-utopian city on the shores of a human-made lake in Death Valley.
She resolves conflicts within their sustainable money-free society, and keeps the outside world from meddling in their affairs. When a scientific method of uncovering past lives emerges, Galacia learns she’s the reincarnation of Thomas Ramsey, leader of the Planet B movement, who eschewed fixing climate change in favor of colonizing another planet.
Learning her reincarnation result shakes the foundations of Galacia’s identity and her position as Mediator, threatening to undermine the good she’s done in this lifetime.
Fearing a backlash, she keeps the results secret while dealing with her political rival for Mediator, and outsiders who blame Otra Vida for bombings that Galacia is sure they had nothing to do with. But under the unforgiving sun of Death Valley, secrets have a way of coming to light.

You can help solarpunk pioneer Sarena by pre-ordering Another Life through her site here.

A number of you brilliant people have been asking if SolarPunk Stories accept submissions. We plan to in the future but not until we’ve got SolarPunk Detective #2 published.

We’re looking for the right professional fiction editor who can help us get the manuscript tighter for your reading pleasure.

If you can recommend anyone who’s had experience line editing mystery or action thrillers please put them in touch via email on solarpunkstories AT gmail DOT com.