A review by rubybastille
Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation by Brontë Christopher Wieland, Phoebe Wagner

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This was my first time reading cli-fi or solarpunk and it was a pretty solid and diverse introduction. I was surprised by the level of “punk” in solarpunk, but then as Audre Lorde put it, “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” 

I would like to have seen more stories that imagine a healthy environment accomplished through human intervention, more in line with the definitions of solarpunk, as opposed to the mostly postapocalyptic stories about a post-environmental-crisis Earth and the struggle to repair it. I associate solarpunk with hope, and not very many of these stories left me feeling hopeful.

Highlights for me were the pieces by C. Samuel Rees, Tyler Young, Chloe N. Clark, Maura Lydon, Sara Norja, and A. C. Wise.