Solarpunk Starter Reading List

5 texts to kick you off with solarpunk fiction

Wondering what solarpunk stories to begin with? Then carry on friend as we we’ve put together a list of four books and one short story to get you started.

These are in order of release date rather than how super they are :)

1:Solarpunk: Ecological and Fantastical Stories in a Sustainable World (2012)

This is the Brazilian short story series that really kicked solarpunk fiction off in 2012.

One thing that makes this anthology stand out compared to more recent ones is how many of the stories are the more thrilling shade of solarpunk we describe in our deep-dive article.

Some of these tales feature murders, riots and even cannibalism.

2: New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson (2017)

Though not described this way by Kim Stanley Robinson this book lays a fair claim to being the first solarpunk novel.

Sea level rises have submerged much of Manhattan leading to some partly abandoned buildings being taken over by residents and turned into cooperatives.

If this sounds all sunny there’s darkness here too.

As we argue in ‘What is solarpunk? One thing or many?’, New York 2140 is an edge case when it comes to being our genre or not.

Nonetheless, it’s well worth reading not least for a climate-impacted, but not devastated, New York.

3 & 4: The Glass and Gardens Summer and Winter Anthologies by Worldweaver Press (2018 & 2020)

These are probably the most diverse anthologies for solarpunk short fiction covering all the different shades.

You get everything from mini thrillers to love stories in these collections.  

They are edited by Sarena Ulibarri who has a novella coming out soon available to pre-order now.

5: The Prodigal - SolarPunk Detective #1 (2021)

Our very own thrilling tale from a better future.

Detective Inspector Russo is one of the last murder detectives in a solarpunked future London.

In this story he investigates the killing of a suspected black market ‘Q-jumper’.

Ten per cent of sales of SolarPunk Detective Episode One go to Transition Town Brixton, a South London activist group building a more sustainable and socially just future.

Would you add any?

These are our ideas for a starter solarpunk fiction reading list. Are there any texts you’d add to this?

Let us know in the comments below.

Until Next Time

That's all for this update. If you like what we’re trying to do here and know someone else who might do too then please share. 

See you in the sunshine,

Alex Holland

SolarPunk Stories