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A review by thereadingrambler
Another Life by Sarena Ulibarri
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Environmental fiction tends to be dark, and for good reason: We are careening toward environmental collapse, carbon-based capitalism is destroying people's physical and mental health and is a source of endless traumas, and there are no real solutions available to use. The CEO of one of the biggest and richest oil companies in the world has been instated as the leader of the UN's major climate summit this year. But what all the books from Stelliform Press do (and this one is no exception) is find the alternatives, the places where they might be hope and love.
Another Life by Sarena Ulibarri focuses on Galacia (ga-lace-e-a) Aguirre and the community of Otra Vida in Death Valley of the new, independent country of California (which comprises California and Nevada). The United States has collapsed and separated into smaller, often warring, countries. The environmental issues California currently faces have increased significantly, especially with the new Rocky Mountain Republic limiting the water supply. To combat this, Galacia and her friends developed a new technology that led to establishing a community based on radical communist (although there is debate over calling themselves that) principles.
The political, economic, and environmental collapse everyone is living in was sped up by Thomas Ramsey, one of the last of the ultra-wealthy who promises people a techno-fix for the impending environmental disaster that...does not go well. So when Galacia finds out she was Ramsey in her past life, this throws her authority within the community into question.
This book is, at its core, about how to build sustainable communities—and I mean that in the environmental and social contexts because the two are inextricably intertwined. Communities that don't have renewable energies and healthy ecological practices will not be able to have social cohesion and community spirit. This is what this book exemplifies more than anything else. The conflict between Galacia and some of the younger members of the community encapsulates both the resistance of an older generation to trust and include younger people as they come of age, but they need to be included—this is their world too. They are the ones who will primarily suffer because of previous generations' environmental, political, and economic policies, after all.
The book is very short (just over 150 pages), so there wasn't as much time to develop all of the different elements that Ulibarri addressed. I think the book could've been 50-100 pages longer and benefitted quite a bit. Ulibarri works well in the novella format nonetheless, and the reader won't walk away feeling cheated but maybe a bit sad that there wasn't more. The characters are well-drawn, but there are quite a few, and I wish they had more space to develop and breathe. Particularly when the climax happens at the end, which is suddenly much more action-y than anything else had been in the book up to that point. This felt a little sudden and could've been set up more.
Overall, if you're someone who enjoys slower-paced books that are also quick reads which focus on community and the environment, you'll enjoy this book. The characters are diverse in gender, sexuality, and racial inclusion, and the community seems to have excised itself of homophobia, transphobia, and racism, so reading a book without hate speech/crimes was refreshing as well.
Another Life by Sarena Ulibarri focuses on Galacia (ga-lace-e-a) Aguirre and the community of Otra Vida in Death Valley of the new, independent country of California (which comprises California and Nevada). The United States has collapsed and separated into smaller, often warring, countries. The environmental issues California currently faces have increased significantly, especially with the new Rocky Mountain Republic limiting the water supply. To combat this, Galacia and her friends developed a new technology that led to establishing a community based on radical communist (although there is debate over calling themselves that) principles.
The political, economic, and environmental collapse everyone is living in was sped up by Thomas Ramsey, one of the last of the ultra-wealthy who promises people a techno-fix for the impending environmental disaster that...does not go well. So when Galacia finds out she was Ramsey in her past life, this throws her authority within the community into question.
This book is, at its core, about how to build sustainable communities—and I mean that in the environmental and social contexts because the two are inextricably intertwined. Communities that don't have renewable energies and healthy ecological practices will not be able to have social cohesion and community spirit. This is what this book exemplifies more than anything else. The conflict between Galacia and some of the younger members of the community encapsulates both the resistance of an older generation to trust and include younger people as they come of age, but they need to be included—this is their world too. They are the ones who will primarily suffer because of previous generations' environmental, political, and economic policies, after all.
The book is very short (just over 150 pages), so there wasn't as much time to develop all of the different elements that Ulibarri addressed. I think the book could've been 50-100 pages longer and benefitted quite a bit. Ulibarri works well in the novella format nonetheless, and the reader won't walk away feeling cheated but maybe a bit sad that there wasn't more. The characters are well-drawn, but there are quite a few, and I wish they had more space to develop and breathe. Particularly when the climax happens at the end, which is suddenly much more action-y than anything else had been in the book up to that point. This felt a little sudden and could've been set up more.
Overall, if you're someone who enjoys slower-paced books that are also quick reads which focus on community and the environment, you'll enjoy this book. The characters are diverse in gender, sexuality, and racial inclusion, and the community seems to have excised itself of homophobia, transphobia, and racism, so reading a book without hate speech/crimes was refreshing as well.