Scan barcode
clare_cedar's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
reidrussom's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I was frustrated by this collection - the stories were, on average, a little juvenile and underwhelming. I love the idea behind solarpunk literature and want to see more sci fi that isn't a dystopia; I'm hoping the genre's growing popularity gives us better quality fiction in the future.
zoes_human's review against another edition
All in all, an underwhelming anthology of mostly mediocre work that veers at times into terrible. While there is some skill present in terms of writing highly readable prose, most of these writers are nowhere near ready for publication. Immature is the term that springs to mind for much of the writing within. With that said, there are a couple of stand-out writers in here, who only need to develop their potential to move from writing average but well-written stories into producing impressive work. In particular Wendy Nikel, Steve Toase, and Tessa Fisher stood out from the crowd.
Furthermore this anthology clearly presents itself as valuing diversity, yet there does not appear to be a single tale by an author of color in it. Even worse, there are two stories written from the POV of indigenous persons, one of them in first person no less, that are written by people who are not of the community in question. I'm not of that school of thought which believes people should only write characters of their own race; however, when an anthology doesn't bother to provide space for authors of color to speak, but contains pieces written to speak for other races, it becomes, in that context, a platform for literary brownface.
I won't make myself finish this. Below you will find my thoughts on the stories from the first half of the book.
Wings of Glass Wendy Nikel
4 stars
A bit sweet for my taste, but a fascinating world and a well-written story. Loved the ending.
Halps's Promise Holly Schofield
1.5 stars
Around halfway through, I thought about DNFing this one, and I wish I had. The first person POV reads with the maturity of an early middle-schooler, which seems unlikely given the post-apocalyptic nature of the society portrayed and the actual age of the character. That lack of character credibility made the whole story flop.
A Shawl for Janice Sandra Ulbrich Almazon
2 stars
While I agree completely with the sentiments of this tale, it's simply not good storytelling. The plot is, at best, simplistic and lacks any real arc. It is more a lecture than a story. While literature should have substance and social commentary, this one crosses the line into over-didacticism.
The Healing Sarah Van Goethem
3 stars
I love the concepts and universe of this story. It's a vision post climate apocalypse that focuses more on new ways of living than on the destruction of life. The idea of the living cities is beautiful. However, portions of it were a bit rushed, and the ended was much too sweet and pat. The triteness of the Hallmark movie finish diminished the story as a whole.
The Fugue of Winter Steve Toase
4 stars
A beautiful story about what makes the difference between life and survival and what we are willing to risk to protect it.
The Roots of Everything Heather Kitzman
2 stars
A well-written story with a well-worn romance plot that has been featured countless times in shows and stories everywhere. It just barely qualifies as post-climate change by virtue of the fact that climate change is briefly mentioned a couple of times.
Viam Inveniemus Aut Faciemus Tales from the EV Studio and Commando Jugendstil
1 star
Loaded with extraneous details and characters that are only differentiated on the most superficial level, this story read like a routine maintenance outing. There was no sense of urgency and the dialogue as well as behavior of the characters was all but indistinguishable one to the next. The inherent problem of this story is that you are told absolutely everything and shown nothing.
Recovering the Lost Art of Cuddling Tessa Fisher
3.5 stars
While quite predictable, the story is written well and with a lot of character. The first-person voice is exceptionally well executed.
Oil and Ivory Jennifer Lee Rossman
3 stars
In terms of story content, this is one of the better tales in this anthology. It's well written with excellent pacing and a good arc. While the story appears to be intended respectfully, I'm more than just a little uncomfortable with a white woman writing a story with an Inuit first person POV, especially one in which the character's Indigenousness is central to the plot. It's all the more disturbing for the story to be featured in an anthology that is clearly presenting itself as diverse, yet that also does not appear to have a single story by any person of color, much less an indigenous person. In this context, it almost makes this story feel like literary brown-face.
Orchidaceae Thomas Badlan
1 star
DNF And just like that I'm over trying to force myself through this anthology.
Furthermore this anthology clearly presents itself as valuing diversity, yet there does not appear to be a single tale by an author of color in it. Even worse, there are two stories written from the POV of indigenous persons, one of them in first person no less, that are written by people who are not of the community in question. I'm not of that school of thought which believes people should only write characters of their own race; however, when an anthology doesn't bother to provide space for authors of color to speak, but contains pieces written to speak for other races, it becomes, in that context, a platform for literary brownface.
I won't make myself finish this. Below you will find my thoughts on the stories from the first half of the book.
Wings of Glass Wendy Nikel
4 stars
A bit sweet for my taste, but a fascinating world and a well-written story. Loved the ending.
Halps's Promise Holly Schofield
1.5 stars
Around halfway through, I thought about DNFing this one, and I wish I had. The first person POV reads with the maturity of an early middle-schooler, which seems unlikely given the post-apocalyptic nature of the society portrayed and the actual age of the character. That lack of character credibility made the whole story flop.
A Shawl for Janice Sandra Ulbrich Almazon
2 stars
While I agree completely with the sentiments of this tale, it's simply not good storytelling. The plot is, at best, simplistic and lacks any real arc. It is more a lecture than a story. While literature should have substance and social commentary, this one crosses the line into over-didacticism.
The Healing Sarah Van Goethem
3 stars
I love the concepts and universe of this story. It's a vision post climate apocalypse that focuses more on new ways of living than on the destruction of life. The idea of the living cities is beautiful. However, portions of it were a bit rushed, and the ended was much too sweet and pat. The triteness of the Hallmark movie finish diminished the story as a whole.
The Fugue of Winter Steve Toase
4 stars
A beautiful story about what makes the difference between life and survival and what we are willing to risk to protect it.
The Roots of Everything Heather Kitzman
2 stars
A well-written story with a well-worn romance plot that has been featured countless times in shows and stories everywhere. It just barely qualifies as post-climate change by virtue of the fact that climate change is briefly mentioned a couple of times.
Viam Inveniemus Aut Faciemus Tales from the EV Studio and Commando Jugendstil
1 star
Loaded with extraneous details and characters that are only differentiated on the most superficial level, this story read like a routine maintenance outing. There was no sense of urgency and the dialogue as well as behavior of the characters was all but indistinguishable one to the next. The inherent problem of this story is that you are told absolutely everything and shown nothing.
Recovering the Lost Art of Cuddling Tessa Fisher
3.5 stars
While quite predictable, the story is written well and with a lot of character. The first-person voice is exceptionally well executed.
Oil and Ivory Jennifer Lee Rossman
3 stars
In terms of story content, this is one of the better tales in this anthology. It's well written with excellent pacing and a good arc. While the story appears to be intended respectfully, I'm more than just a little uncomfortable with a white woman writing a story with an Inuit first person POV, especially one in which the character's Indigenousness is central to the plot. It's all the more disturbing for the story to be featured in an anthology that is clearly presenting itself as diverse, yet that also does not appear to have a single story by any person of color, much less an indigenous person. In this context, it almost makes this story feel like literary brown-face.
Orchidaceae Thomas Badlan
1 star
DNF And just like that I'm over trying to force myself through this anthology.
octavia_cade's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
I have to admit, when I think of solarpunk I tend to think of warmer climates - there's a companion volume to this, on solarpunk summers, that I also own and will be reading soon. The winter volume, by comparison, seemed appealingly unlikely, so I plumped to read that one first. And you know, it's not a silly idea. Climate change doesn't mean warming everywhere, and anyway, some of these stories are more concerned with preserving winter and the related cold-adapted ecologies.
I don't think there's a single dud story here. I liked all of them, and all of them took different and interesting approaches to the topic. Most, if not all, of the stories relate to North America, and it would have been nice to have a little more geographic variety, but that diversity of approach made up for a lot. Of the 17 stories collected here, I think my favourites were "Wings of Glass" by Wendy Nikel, "Rules for a Civilization" by Jerri Jerreat, and "On the Contrary, Yes" by Catherine F. King. I'd be happy to read everything here again, however, so I'm glad I have my own copy.
I don't think there's a single dud story here. I liked all of them, and all of them took different and interesting approaches to the topic. Most, if not all, of the stories relate to North America, and it would have been nice to have a little more geographic variety, but that diversity of approach made up for a lot. Of the 17 stories collected here, I think my favourites were "Wings of Glass" by Wendy Nikel, "Rules for a Civilization" by Jerri Jerreat, and "On the Contrary, Yes" by Catherine F. King. I'd be happy to read everything here again, however, so I'm glad I have my own copy.
history_bot's review against another edition
4.0
**Disclaimer: I received a free eARC of this anthology from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
When I saw this title available for download on Netgalley I was ecstatic! I have been interested in and part of the Solarpunk community since around 2015, but I haven’t always managed to get my hands on the short story anthologies, so I was really excited to read this one. Of course, with any short story collection, it becomes challenging to review, since there are so many different voices and stories, but I chose to rate this book by rating each story individually, and then averaging all of them together, which came out to 3.7 stars, which I will round up to 4 stars, especially since I think the editing and order of the stories was spot on. I won’t go into every story individually, but I’ve listed each story’s rating at the end of this review.
I would like to highlight a few of my favorite stories, in order of appearance. First was The Fugue of Winter by Steve Toase. I really enjoyed the premise of this story, since it took into account things that other stories did not, like what would happen to extremely fragile wooden instruments as temperatures dropped. Within the limited word count, Toase managed to give us a strong sense of place, high stakes, and a meaningful message.
Next, Glâcehouse by R. Jean Mathieu. This is another one where the sense of place was really strong for me, and being fluent in French I also enjoyed it and thought the bilingual parts were done pretty well. In particular, I liked how this story flipped the script of many of the other stories—instead of it being set in a world in which climate change had veered toward another ice age, it explored people who tried to preserve the winters of the past in a warming future (Black Ice City also did this, but I think it was not as effective). I also liked how Mathieu left some details out, details which would have made an appearance if it were a full length novel, but which would have been extraneous in a short story (for example, why Corriveau is an ass and why he’s famous. It’s intriguing, but ultimately not as important).
The bilingual/French aspects in several of these stories really appealed to me, which leads me to my next 5-star story—On the Contrary, Yes by Catherine F. King. In this story, the Solarpunk aspects didn’t jump out at me as much as in other stories, but I really loved the characters and the situation in which they found themselves. I liked how this story featured the arts instead of the sciences, or politics, and I liked how the characters found meaning in each other’s works at the end.
The last story I’d like to highlight is Set the Ice Free by Shel Graves. This story, I’d like to see more of. I would love to see it turn into a full novel. I just think the concept is so cool—the people who choose to stay behind on Earth while others search the galaxy for another home. There were essentially two storylines in this short story, which is of course challenging with such limited space, but Graves did it really well. I loved the characters, I loved the setting, I loved the plot. This is definitely my favorite story in the book.
All in all, I had a wonderful time with Glass and Gardens and would highly recommend. I’d be happy to talk about any of the stories more in depth, and if you’ve just finished this anthology and would like to become more active in the Solarpunk movement and would like to be a part of our Discord, let me know and I can contact a mod for you!
Wings of Glass by Wendy Nikel - 4 stars
Halps’ Promise by Holly Schofield - 3 stars
A Shawl for Janice by Sandra Ulbrich Almazan - 4 stars
The Healing by Sarah Van Goethem - 3 stars
The Fugue of Winter by Steve Toase - 5 stars
The Roots of Everything by Heather Kitzman - 4 stars
VIAM INVENIEMUS AUT FACIEMUS by Commando Jugendstil and Tales from the EV Studio - 2 stars
Recovering the Lost Art of Cuddling by Tessa Fisher - 3 stars
Oil and Ivory by Jennifer Lee Rossman - 4 stars
Orchidaceae by Thomas Badlan - 3 stars
The Things That Make It Worth It by Lex T. Lindsay - 3 stars
Glâcehouse by R. Jean Mathieu - 5 stars
Snow Globe by Brian Burt - 3 stars
Rules For a Civilization by Jerri Jerreat - 4 stars
On the Contrary, Yes by Catherine F. King - 5 stars
Set the Ice Free by Shel Graves - 5 stars
Black Ice City by Andrew Dana Hudson - 3 stars
When I saw this title available for download on Netgalley I was ecstatic! I have been interested in and part of the Solarpunk community since around 2015, but I haven’t always managed to get my hands on the short story anthologies, so I was really excited to read this one. Of course, with any short story collection, it becomes challenging to review, since there are so many different voices and stories, but I chose to rate this book by rating each story individually, and then averaging all of them together, which came out to 3.7 stars, which I will round up to 4 stars, especially since I think the editing and order of the stories was spot on. I won’t go into every story individually, but I’ve listed each story’s rating at the end of this review.
I would like to highlight a few of my favorite stories, in order of appearance. First was The Fugue of Winter by Steve Toase. I really enjoyed the premise of this story, since it took into account things that other stories did not, like what would happen to extremely fragile wooden instruments as temperatures dropped. Within the limited word count, Toase managed to give us a strong sense of place, high stakes, and a meaningful message.
Next, Glâcehouse by R. Jean Mathieu. This is another one where the sense of place was really strong for me, and being fluent in French I also enjoyed it and thought the bilingual parts were done pretty well. In particular, I liked how this story flipped the script of many of the other stories—instead of it being set in a world in which climate change had veered toward another ice age, it explored people who tried to preserve the winters of the past in a warming future (Black Ice City also did this, but I think it was not as effective). I also liked how Mathieu left some details out, details which would have made an appearance if it were a full length novel, but which would have been extraneous in a short story (for example, why Corriveau is an ass and why he’s famous. It’s intriguing, but ultimately not as important).
The bilingual/French aspects in several of these stories really appealed to me, which leads me to my next 5-star story—On the Contrary, Yes by Catherine F. King. In this story, the Solarpunk aspects didn’t jump out at me as much as in other stories, but I really loved the characters and the situation in which they found themselves. I liked how this story featured the arts instead of the sciences, or politics, and I liked how the characters found meaning in each other’s works at the end.
The last story I’d like to highlight is Set the Ice Free by Shel Graves. This story, I’d like to see more of. I would love to see it turn into a full novel. I just think the concept is so cool—the people who choose to stay behind on Earth while others search the galaxy for another home. There were essentially two storylines in this short story, which is of course challenging with such limited space, but Graves did it really well. I loved the characters, I loved the setting, I loved the plot. This is definitely my favorite story in the book.
All in all, I had a wonderful time with Glass and Gardens and would highly recommend. I’d be happy to talk about any of the stories more in depth, and if you’ve just finished this anthology and would like to become more active in the Solarpunk movement and would like to be a part of our Discord, let me know and I can contact a mod for you!
Wings of Glass by Wendy Nikel - 4 stars
Halps’ Promise by Holly Schofield - 3 stars
A Shawl for Janice by Sandra Ulbrich Almazan - 4 stars
The Healing by Sarah Van Goethem - 3 stars
The Fugue of Winter by Steve Toase - 5 stars
The Roots of Everything by Heather Kitzman - 4 stars
VIAM INVENIEMUS AUT FACIEMUS by Commando Jugendstil and Tales from the EV Studio - 2 stars
Recovering the Lost Art of Cuddling by Tessa Fisher - 3 stars
Oil and Ivory by Jennifer Lee Rossman - 4 stars
Orchidaceae by Thomas Badlan - 3 stars
The Things That Make It Worth It by Lex T. Lindsay - 3 stars
Glâcehouse by R. Jean Mathieu - 5 stars
Snow Globe by Brian Burt - 3 stars
Rules For a Civilization by Jerri Jerreat - 4 stars
On the Contrary, Yes by Catherine F. King - 5 stars
Set the Ice Free by Shel Graves - 5 stars
Black Ice City by Andrew Dana Hudson - 3 stars
chicowriter's review against another edition
The quality of the stories is just as good as, if not better than, Solarpunk Summers. That said, I just have not been able to get into it. About 100 pages in I decided to skip forward to read the story in this that was written by an acquaintence of mine, but after that I decided to stop. Who knows, perhaps I'll one day pick it back up.
kellswitch's review
5.0
** Full disclosure: I received this book in exchange for an honest review**
I really enjoyed this collection, I actually found myself reserving reading this book to my train rides home for work because it gave me something uplifting to look forward to every day.
It was so nice to read positive stories that weren't saccharine or felt forced, just people working together to make things better for everyone. And using Science!
This is one of the few short story collections I've read where I really enjoyed just about every story. There was only one story that I felt was weaker than the others, the last one, Black Ice City. There wasn't really anything wrong with the story, it just didn't feel like it fit in with all the others somehow.
This was my first real exposure to solar punk and I'm very glad I read it, especially in these troubling times. There needs to be more positive vibes out there, more examples of what we can be when we work together.
I will definitely be getting the Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers and hope that they continue with a spring and fall one?
I really enjoyed this collection, I actually found myself reserving reading this book to my train rides home for work because it gave me something uplifting to look forward to every day.
It was so nice to read positive stories that weren't saccharine or felt forced, just people working together to make things better for everyone. And using Science!
This is one of the few short story collections I've read where I really enjoyed just about every story. There was only one story that I felt was weaker than the others, the last one, Black Ice City. There wasn't really anything wrong with the story, it just didn't feel like it fit in with all the others somehow.
This was my first real exposure to solar punk and I'm very glad I read it, especially in these troubling times. There needs to be more positive vibes out there, more examples of what we can be when we work together.
I will definitely be getting the Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers and hope that they continue with a spring and fall one?
deearr's review
3.0
I always look forward to new releases from World Weaver Press, as the compilations I’ve purchased in the past have never disappointed me. Perhaps I have built a higher standard for this publisher as I found most of the stories in “Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Winters” to be okay, though nothing special. There are also some stories Solarpunk Winters (anthologized by Sarena Ulibarri) that are very good.
Wendy Nikel started the book with “Wings of glass,” a whimsical tale of inventiveness and survival. The quirky heroine in the next story, “Halps’ Promise” by Holly Schofield, helped make this offbeat story one of my favorites. Also memorable was “The Fugue of Winter” by Steve Toase, a story that examines a choice between something beautiful versus life itself. As I entered the last third of the book I found Brian Burt’s “Snow Globe,” impressive for the world-building contained in a short story. This was followed by Jerri Jerreat’s “Rules for a Civilization,” an interesting look at the role of a teacher during day-to-day and crisis situations. While there were some other stories that came close, these were the stories that I enjoyed the most, the ones that blossomed with fresh plot ideas and tech inventiveness. If you like stories about Earth’s near future, this book is worth a read. Five stars to these stories, three-and-a-half for the compilation.
Wendy Nikel started the book with “Wings of glass,” a whimsical tale of inventiveness and survival. The quirky heroine in the next story, “Halps’ Promise” by Holly Schofield, helped make this offbeat story one of my favorites. Also memorable was “The Fugue of Winter” by Steve Toase, a story that examines a choice between something beautiful versus life itself. As I entered the last third of the book I found Brian Burt’s “Snow Globe,” impressive for the world-building contained in a short story. This was followed by Jerri Jerreat’s “Rules for a Civilization,” an interesting look at the role of a teacher during day-to-day and crisis situations. While there were some other stories that came close, these were the stories that I enjoyed the most, the ones that blossomed with fresh plot ideas and tech inventiveness. If you like stories about Earth’s near future, this book is worth a read. Five stars to these stories, three-and-a-half for the compilation.
librarycryptid's review
4.0
**Disclaimer: I received a free eARC of this anthology from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
When I saw this title available for download on Netgalley I was ecstatic! I have been interested in and part of the Solarpunk community since around 2015, but I haven’t always managed to get my hands on the short story anthologies, so I was really excited to read this one. Of course, with any short story collection, it becomes challenging to review, since there are so many different voices and stories, but I chose to rate this book by rating each story individually, and then averaging all of them together, which came out to 3.7 stars, which I will round up to 4 stars, especially since I think the editing and order of the stories was spot on. I won’t go into every story individually, but I’ve listed each story’s rating at the end of this review.
I would like to highlight a few of my favorite stories, in order of appearance. First was The Fugue of Winter by Steve Toase. I really enjoyed the premise of this story, since it took into account things that other stories did not, like what would happen to extremely fragile wooden instruments as temperatures dropped. Within the limited word count, Toase managed to give us a strong sense of place, high stakes, and a meaningful message.
Next, Glâcehouse by R. Jean Mathieu. This is another one where the sense of place was really strong for me, and being fluent in French I also enjoyed it and thought the bilingual parts were done pretty well. In particular, I liked how this story flipped the script of many of the other stories—instead of it being set in a world in which climate change had veered toward another ice age, it explored people who tried to preserve the winters of the past in a warming future (Black Ice City also did this, but I think it was not as effective). I also liked how Mathieu left some details out, details which would have made an appearance if it were a full length novel, but which would have been extraneous in a short story (for example, why Corriveau is an ass and why he’s famous. It’s intriguing, but ultimately not as important).
The bilingual/French aspects in several of these stories really appealed to me, which leads me to my next 5-star story—On the Contrary, Yes by Catherine F. King. In this story, the Solarpunk aspects didn’t jump out at me as much as in other stories, but I really loved the characters and the situation in which they found themselves. I liked how this story featured the arts instead of the sciences, or politics, and I liked how the characters found meaning in each other’s works at the end.
The last story I’d like to highlight is Set the Ice Free by Shel Graves. This story, I’d like to see more of. I would love to see it turn into a full novel. I just think the concept is so cool—the people who choose to stay behind on Earth while others search the galaxy for another home. There were essentially two storylines in this short story, which is of course challenging with such limited space, but Graves did it really well. I loved the characters, I loved the setting, I loved the plot. This is definitely my favorite story in the book.
All in all, I had a wonderful time with Glass and Gardens and would highly recommend. I’d be happy to talk about any of the stories more in depth, and if you’ve just finished this anthology and would like to become more active in the Solarpunk movement and would like to be a part of our Discord, let me know and I can contact a mod for you!
Wings of Glass by Wendy Nikel - 4 stars
Halps’ Promise by Holly Schofield - 3 stars
A Shawl for Janice by Sandra Ulbrich Almazan - 4 stars
The Healing by Sarah Van Goethem - 3 stars
The Fugue of Winter by Steve Toase - 5 stars
The Roots of Everything by Heather Kitzman - 4 stars
VIAM INVENIEMUS AUT FACIEMUS by Commando Jugendstil and Tales from the EV Studio - 2 stars
Recovering the Lost Art of Cuddling by Tessa Fisher - 3 stars
Oil and Ivory by Jennifer Lee Rossman - 4 stars
Orchidaceae by Thomas Badlan - 3 stars
The Things That Make It Worth It by Lex T. Lindsay - 3 stars
Glâcehouse by R. Jean Mathieu - 5 stars
Snow Globe by Brian Burt - 3 stars
Rules For a Civilization by Jerri Jerreat - 4 stars
On the Contrary, Yes by Catherine F. King - 5 stars
Set the Ice Free by Shel Graves - 5 stars
Black Ice City by Andrew Dana Hudson - 3 stars
When I saw this title available for download on Netgalley I was ecstatic! I have been interested in and part of the Solarpunk community since around 2015, but I haven’t always managed to get my hands on the short story anthologies, so I was really excited to read this one. Of course, with any short story collection, it becomes challenging to review, since there are so many different voices and stories, but I chose to rate this book by rating each story individually, and then averaging all of them together, which came out to 3.7 stars, which I will round up to 4 stars, especially since I think the editing and order of the stories was spot on. I won’t go into every story individually, but I’ve listed each story’s rating at the end of this review.
I would like to highlight a few of my favorite stories, in order of appearance. First was The Fugue of Winter by Steve Toase. I really enjoyed the premise of this story, since it took into account things that other stories did not, like what would happen to extremely fragile wooden instruments as temperatures dropped. Within the limited word count, Toase managed to give us a strong sense of place, high stakes, and a meaningful message.
Next, Glâcehouse by R. Jean Mathieu. This is another one where the sense of place was really strong for me, and being fluent in French I also enjoyed it and thought the bilingual parts were done pretty well. In particular, I liked how this story flipped the script of many of the other stories—instead of it being set in a world in which climate change had veered toward another ice age, it explored people who tried to preserve the winters of the past in a warming future (Black Ice City also did this, but I think it was not as effective). I also liked how Mathieu left some details out, details which would have made an appearance if it were a full length novel, but which would have been extraneous in a short story (for example, why Corriveau is an ass and why he’s famous. It’s intriguing, but ultimately not as important).
The bilingual/French aspects in several of these stories really appealed to me, which leads me to my next 5-star story—On the Contrary, Yes by Catherine F. King. In this story, the Solarpunk aspects didn’t jump out at me as much as in other stories, but I really loved the characters and the situation in which they found themselves. I liked how this story featured the arts instead of the sciences, or politics, and I liked how the characters found meaning in each other’s works at the end.
The last story I’d like to highlight is Set the Ice Free by Shel Graves. This story, I’d like to see more of. I would love to see it turn into a full novel. I just think the concept is so cool—the people who choose to stay behind on Earth while others search the galaxy for another home. There were essentially two storylines in this short story, which is of course challenging with such limited space, but Graves did it really well. I loved the characters, I loved the setting, I loved the plot. This is definitely my favorite story in the book.
All in all, I had a wonderful time with Glass and Gardens and would highly recommend. I’d be happy to talk about any of the stories more in depth, and if you’ve just finished this anthology and would like to become more active in the Solarpunk movement and would like to be a part of our Discord, let me know and I can contact a mod for you!
Wings of Glass by Wendy Nikel - 4 stars
Halps’ Promise by Holly Schofield - 3 stars
A Shawl for Janice by Sandra Ulbrich Almazan - 4 stars
The Healing by Sarah Van Goethem - 3 stars
The Fugue of Winter by Steve Toase - 5 stars
The Roots of Everything by Heather Kitzman - 4 stars
VIAM INVENIEMUS AUT FACIEMUS by Commando Jugendstil and Tales from the EV Studio - 2 stars
Recovering the Lost Art of Cuddling by Tessa Fisher - 3 stars
Oil and Ivory by Jennifer Lee Rossman - 4 stars
Orchidaceae by Thomas Badlan - 3 stars
The Things That Make It Worth It by Lex T. Lindsay - 3 stars
Glâcehouse by R. Jean Mathieu - 5 stars
Snow Globe by Brian Burt - 3 stars
Rules For a Civilization by Jerri Jerreat - 4 stars
On the Contrary, Yes by Catherine F. King - 5 stars
Set the Ice Free by Shel Graves - 5 stars
Black Ice City by Andrew Dana Hudson - 3 stars
More...