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Afterglow: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors
Hopeful and forward-looking futuristic short stories that explore how the power of storytelling can help create the world we need
“This is a glorious book that challenges our conceptions of bookmaking as much as it questions our conceptions of world-building. We, as earthlings, will be better to the earth after experiencing this book. That is not hyperbole.”
—New York Times bestselling author Kiese Laymon
Afterglow is a stunning collection of original short stories in which writers from many different backgrounds envision a radically different climate future. Published in collaboration with Grist, a nonprofit media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions, these stirring tales expand our ability to imagine a better world.
Inspired by cutting-edge literary movements, such as Afrofuturism, hopepunk, and solarpunk, Afterglow imagines intersectional worlds in which no one is left behind—where humanity prioritizes equitable climate solutions and continued service to one’s community. Whether through abundance or adaptation, reform, or a new understanding of survival, these stories offer flickers of hope, even joy, as they provide a springboard for exploring how fiction can help create a better reality.
Afterglow welcomes a diverse range of new voices into the climate conversation to envision the next 180 years of equitable climate progress. A creative work rooted in the realities of our present crisis, Afterglow presents a new way to think about the climate emergency—one that blazes a path to a clean, green, and more just future.
“This is a glorious book that challenges our conceptions of bookmaking as much as it questions our conceptions of world-building. We, as earthlings, will be better to the earth after experiencing this book. That is not hyperbole.”
—New York Times bestselling author Kiese Laymon
Afterglow is a stunning collection of original short stories in which writers from many different backgrounds envision a radically different climate future. Published in collaboration with Grist, a nonprofit media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions, these stirring tales expand our ability to imagine a better world.
Inspired by cutting-edge literary movements, such as Afrofuturism, hopepunk, and solarpunk, Afterglow imagines intersectional worlds in which no one is left behind—where humanity prioritizes equitable climate solutions and continued service to one’s community. Whether through abundance or adaptation, reform, or a new understanding of survival, these stories offer flickers of hope, even joy, as they provide a springboard for exploring how fiction can help create a better reality.
Afterglow welcomes a diverse range of new voices into the climate conversation to envision the next 180 years of equitable climate progress. A creative work rooted in the realities of our present crisis, Afterglow presents a new way to think about the climate emergency—one that blazes a path to a clean, green, and more just future.
245 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 7, 2023
96 people are currently reading
2979 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
April 23, 2023
inspiring, beautiful, magical, and hopeful.
“the secrets of the last Greenland shark” made me weep. the beauty represented in the interconnected lives of every creature in the story really hit me. the story poignantly captured the feeling of Interbeing. appreciate who and what is here now. maybe reincarnation exists? life is so full of magic.
“afterglow” was a great first story in this collection! i loved the non-binary representation and the acknowledgment that we need to stick around on earth, not escape to space to keep colonizing. always in the mood for a gardeny, commune tale 🐝
“the secrets of the last Greenland shark” made me weep. the beauty represented in the interconnected lives of every creature in the story really hit me. the story poignantly captured the feeling of Interbeing. appreciate who and what is here now. maybe reincarnation exists? life is so full of magic.
“afterglow” was a great first story in this collection! i loved the non-binary representation and the acknowledgment that we need to stick around on earth, not escape to space to keep colonizing. always in the mood for a gardeny, commune tale 🐝
July 14, 2024
A collection of short stories.
It is so important to imagine a possible future, so that we know what we can work toward. My favorite of them was the last — An idea of Lasts that breaks my heart but fills me with love and comfort.
I feel hope and curiosity from the possible futures we could pursue, some of them with rebuilding, and some with changes that i purely dislike, where we dont necessarily learn from our mistakes, but where someone (at least one) will always work forward to fixing the world.
I disliked many of the more metaphysical/metaphorical short stories. I found them hard to follow, and impossible to imagine, which felt like a flaw in the effort of ‘visualization’. Unrealistic even if in a magical future.
It is so important to imagine a possible future, so that we know what we can work toward. My favorite of them was the last — An idea of Lasts that breaks my heart but fills me with love and comfort.
I feel hope and curiosity from the possible futures we could pursue, some of them with rebuilding, and some with changes that i purely dislike, where we dont necessarily learn from our mistakes, but where someone (at least one) will always work forward to fixing the world.
I disliked many of the more metaphysical/metaphorical short stories. I found them hard to follow, and impossible to imagine, which felt like a flaw in the effort of ‘visualization’. Unrealistic even if in a magical future.
November 24, 2025
2.5
This felt like a fever dream. Also, it is clear I'm not a fan of short stories - by the time I thought I understood what I was reading, the story ended and a new one began.
Some of the stories were creative and really got you in a hopeful mindset. Some were just, creative. And some were creative, but unfathomable.
This felt like a fever dream. Also, it is clear I'm not a fan of short stories - by the time I thought I understood what I was reading, the story ended and a new one began.
Some of the stories were creative and really got you in a hopeful mindset. Some were just, creative. And some were creative, but unfathomable.
April 11, 2023
Short stories with an optimistic look at climate change remediation in the future. Most of these would fall into the Solarpunk category. This is the first such collection I've read. As stories go, they were good, but I like the philosophy behind them.
September 4, 2024
it's funny because talking with goodreads user ancientreader recently sparked a conversation about whether or not speculative fiction is obligated to be hopeful (my take: no, but it's nice if it is at least some of the time). having finished this: would that hope were enough!!!!
but I'm a picky bitch and I want quality too, god damn it. handful of good'uns in here but I am forever maddened by the inescapable unevenness of anthologies. rip!
also adrienne maree brown talking about "movement work" this "movement worker" that...either it's fucking organizing or I'm extremely out of touch (I am definitely out of touch) and somebody is going to come educate me!
(my genuine best guess before anyone assumes I haven't done so much as a cursory google search is that "movement work" is meant to indicate that there are other roles valuable to Movements other than those roles we usually think of, but when brown writes that "my movement work was primarily facilitation, holding space and process for groups of change-makers—people who see injustice in the world and take responsibility. I have facilitated rooms full of people committed to changing the world, listening as they dreamed together a future[...] I have held rooms in which people debated over the priorities of the future," I'm like. babe. okay. also to test the waters I asked two friends, one of whom is an organizer [not as their job] and one of whom works in labor law, what they thought "movement work" meant and they both said, "...like yoga?")
anyway, lots of really heartfelt and well intentioned ideas in here, but god, did that first story lose me. how I hate linguistic determinism!!!!!! 'english only has one word for river but the passamaquoddy have soooo many words for river and that's what will save the earth!' like
a) you are literally just retelling the '[outdated exonym for inuit and other indigenous peoples of the arctic] have thirty words for snow!!111!!' "fun" "fact"
b) english has SEVERAL words for what you're describing actually and lastly
c) THAT HASN'T SAVED US YET AND IT WON'T BE WHAT SAVES US EVER. LINGUISTIC DETERMINISM WILL NOT SAVE US!!!!!
I guess it's not surprising to see the author putting forth this bizarre 'noble savage' misrepresentation of how language functions given that that's the basis of the so-called sapir-whorf hypothesis, anyway!
will I gladly read sci-fi that shatters the rules of physics biology chemistry aerospace engineering YES and yet this is still the hill I'm willing to die on. sorry!!!!!!!!! BUT ALSO NOT
man. this book doesn't deserve my wrath. there really were some good nuggets in here!!
see, I liked that bit! I am not trying to filter cruelty downward! I just need quality of writing alongside my hopefulness of idea. :(
what else did I like and dislike? let us consider:
- I liked the rich larson story, "tidings." they talk to animals in that one and that didn't grind my linguistic gears, so see, I CAN be fun at parties. :')
- I was intrigued by tehnuka's "el, the plastotrophs, and me" and would certainly have checked out a novella-length version of it.
- I did NOT like when a different author described something as "hard, shiny, glimmering like some kind of horcrux." I am begging us not to do this. I am begging us not to do this!
- I mean it as the utmost compliment when I say that the furby mention in "the secrets of the last greenland shark" took me OUT lmao. ty <33333
in sum: 2.5? 2 feels too mean, but 3 feels like a betrayal of my TRUTH. contemplated leaving it starless again but then I went back and counted how many stories I actually liked out of how many stories total...and...yeah, 2 it is.
but I'm a picky bitch and I want quality too, god damn it. handful of good'uns in here but I am forever maddened by the inescapable unevenness of anthologies. rip!
also adrienne maree brown talking about "movement work" this "movement worker" that...either it's fucking organizing or I'm extremely out of touch (I am definitely out of touch) and somebody is going to come educate me!
(my genuine best guess before anyone assumes I haven't done so much as a cursory google search is that "movement work" is meant to indicate that there are other roles valuable to Movements other than those roles we usually think of, but when brown writes that "my movement work was primarily facilitation, holding space and process for groups of change-makers—people who see injustice in the world and take responsibility. I have facilitated rooms full of people committed to changing the world, listening as they dreamed together a future[...] I have held rooms in which people debated over the priorities of the future," I'm like. babe. okay. also to test the waters I asked two friends, one of whom is an organizer [not as their job] and one of whom works in labor law, what they thought "movement work" meant and they both said, "...like yoga?")
anyway, lots of really heartfelt and well intentioned ideas in here, but god, did that first story lose me. how I hate linguistic determinism!!!!!! 'english only has one word for river but the passamaquoddy have soooo many words for river and that's what will save the earth!' like
a) you are literally just retelling the '[outdated exonym for inuit and other indigenous peoples of the arctic] have thirty words for snow!!111!!' "fun" "fact"
b) english has SEVERAL words for what you're describing actually and lastly
c) THAT HASN'T SAVED US YET AND IT WON'T BE WHAT SAVES US EVER. LINGUISTIC DETERMINISM WILL NOT SAVE US!!!!!
I guess it's not surprising to see the author putting forth this bizarre 'noble savage' misrepresentation of how language functions given that that's the basis of the so-called sapir-whorf hypothesis, anyway!
will I gladly read sci-fi that shatters the rules of physics biology chemistry aerospace engineering YES and yet this is still the hill I'm willing to die on. sorry!!!!!!!!! BUT ALSO NOT
man. this book doesn't deserve my wrath. there really were some good nuggets in here!!
eli's ammá told him, later in the tent, that cruelty filters downward—like the mercury in the fish she used to study. she said the hardest thing in the world to do is absorb someone else's cruelty and not pass it along.
see, I liked that bit! I am not trying to filter cruelty downward! I just need quality of writing alongside my hopefulness of idea. :(
what else did I like and dislike? let us consider:
- I liked the rich larson story, "tidings." they talk to animals in that one and that didn't grind my linguistic gears, so see, I CAN be fun at parties. :')
- I was intrigued by tehnuka's "el, the plastotrophs, and me" and would certainly have checked out a novella-length version of it.
- I did NOT like when a different author described something as "hard, shiny, glimmering like some kind of horcrux." I am begging us not to do this. I am begging us not to do this!
- I mean it as the utmost compliment when I say that the furby mention in "the secrets of the last greenland shark" took me OUT lmao. ty <33333
in sum: 2.5? 2 feels too mean, but 3 feels like a betrayal of my TRUTH. contemplated leaving it starless again but then I went back and counted how many stories I actually liked out of how many stories total...and...yeah, 2 it is.
Read
November 21, 2024I’m not exaggerating at all saying I found something of value in each and every story within “Afterglow: Climate Fiction For Future Ancestors”, edited by Grist, with a foreword by adrienne maree brown. Collecting stories of climate hope, drawing inspiration from Afrofuturism, solarpunk and indigenous, queer imaginations, the book binds together a few of the Imagine 2200 stories from their yearly contest. Putting them side by side, these stories tell of multiple ways of looking at climate “solutions”, of engaging speculative fiction as fuel for our struggles and of the impacts, and responses, climate disasters might pose to diverse communities.
In “Afterglow” by Lindsay Brodeck, the main character is torn between choosing to leave Earth with their partner or stay on this devastated landscape and care for it.
❤️ In “The Cloud Weaver’s Song” by Saul Tanpepper, we are told the stories of the Sky People, waving water out of clouds in deserted lands - I particularly adored the poetic language and imagination of this one.
“Tidings” by Rich Larson dips into various moments in which characters face discoveries in tech that might be really useful.
❤️ “A worm to the wise” by Marissa Lingen tells the character-changing story of a journalist who, looking for a story about land restoration, becomes a restorer themselves.
“A seance in the anthropocene” by Abigail Larkin deals with memory, a grandmother’s story, and what we should do with the ghosts of the past.
“A tree in the backyard” by Michelle Yoon is about a daughter’s grief and her capacity to be connected to spirits.
❤️ “When it’s time to harvest” by Renan Bernando is about responsibility to community and the need to rest and care for the self, telling the story of an old couple who works on a vertical farm that feeds countless people.
❤️ “Broken from the colony” by Ada M. Patterson is a superbly poetic account of a trans woman surviving after the flooding of an island.
“The case of the turned tide” by Savitri Putu Horrigan tells us about a mother-daughter detective duo knowing when to solve a case, and how.
“El, The Plastotrophs, and me” by Tehnuka shows us an indigenous, mixed community, surviving in a low-tech, scarce future, as best they can.
“Canvas - Wax - Moon” by Ailbhe Pascal is about magic, women’s bodies and their right to decide.
Finally, ❤️ “The secrets of the last greenland shark” by Mike McClelland ends the collection with a grief-stricken, yet powerful, story of extinction and survival.
You can listen to most of these online on Grist, where they are also illustrated. I deeply recommend it! I added little emojis to my favorites, but really, all of them had a glimmer of hope that can be useful in these dark times.
In “Afterglow” by Lindsay Brodeck, the main character is torn between choosing to leave Earth with their partner or stay on this devastated landscape and care for it.
❤️ In “The Cloud Weaver’s Song” by Saul Tanpepper, we are told the stories of the Sky People, waving water out of clouds in deserted lands - I particularly adored the poetic language and imagination of this one.
“Tidings” by Rich Larson dips into various moments in which characters face discoveries in tech that might be really useful.
❤️ “A worm to the wise” by Marissa Lingen tells the character-changing story of a journalist who, looking for a story about land restoration, becomes a restorer themselves.
“A seance in the anthropocene” by Abigail Larkin deals with memory, a grandmother’s story, and what we should do with the ghosts of the past.
“A tree in the backyard” by Michelle Yoon is about a daughter’s grief and her capacity to be connected to spirits.
❤️ “When it’s time to harvest” by Renan Bernando is about responsibility to community and the need to rest and care for the self, telling the story of an old couple who works on a vertical farm that feeds countless people.
❤️ “Broken from the colony” by Ada M. Patterson is a superbly poetic account of a trans woman surviving after the flooding of an island.
“The case of the turned tide” by Savitri Putu Horrigan tells us about a mother-daughter detective duo knowing when to solve a case, and how.
“El, The Plastotrophs, and me” by Tehnuka shows us an indigenous, mixed community, surviving in a low-tech, scarce future, as best they can.
“Canvas - Wax - Moon” by Ailbhe Pascal is about magic, women’s bodies and their right to decide.
Finally, ❤️ “The secrets of the last greenland shark” by Mike McClelland ends the collection with a grief-stricken, yet powerful, story of extinction and survival.
You can listen to most of these online on Grist, where they are also illustrated. I deeply recommend it! I added little emojis to my favorites, but really, all of them had a glimmer of hope that can be useful in these dark times.
October 17, 2024
Reviewing a short story collection is awkward because how do you give an overall rating for so many different perspective and voices? I do wish I had written down some notes so I could go over each one of the short stories and say what I liked and didn't like of each of them. I think it's fairly obvious (and comes with the territory) that I enjoyed some stories more than others.
Most of the stories I didn't like felt more like the first act of a greater narrative that was never finished. The most unique story was Broken from the Colony by Ada M. Patterson, but unfortunately, it's the one I least liked. It was a densely poetic story that was more description than substance and left me feeling confused.
Ultimately, I admired the creativity of all of these stories, but there where only two which I can say I genuinely enjoyed. Those are The Secrets of the Last Greenland Shark by Mike McClelland and The Cloud Weaver's Song by Saul Tanpepper. I thought these two had really creative and intriguing premises and used the short story format to actually tell a compelling narrative rather than a vignette.
Most of the stories I didn't like felt more like the first act of a greater narrative that was never finished. The most unique story was Broken from the Colony by Ada M. Patterson, but unfortunately, it's the one I least liked. It was a densely poetic story that was more description than substance and left me feeling confused.
Ultimately, I admired the creativity of all of these stories, but there where only two which I can say I genuinely enjoyed. Those are The Secrets of the Last Greenland Shark by Mike McClelland and The Cloud Weaver's Song by Saul Tanpepper. I thought these two had really creative and intriguing premises and used the short story format to actually tell a compelling narrative rather than a vignette.
January 31, 2024
My Evangelical upbringing taught me that Apocalypse was the end, futurism is teaching me Apocalypse is the beginning. This is a hopeful collection about the grace of change and the many creative ways we persist.
The final story was heartbreaking in its solitude.
“They all firmly believed survival was something you bought in a store” (135).
“Local and tourist alike had been claimed by the sea, but death never seemed to play fair when it came to the lives of her people. From this, she reasoned that death must be a tourist too” (138).
“…but what does a fish know of four hundred years of colonization?”(178).
“…I wondered if the Earth had simply grown tired of carrying us” (207).
The final story was heartbreaking in its solitude.
“They all firmly believed survival was something you bought in a store” (135).
“Local and tourist alike had been claimed by the sea, but death never seemed to play fair when it came to the lives of her people. From this, she reasoned that death must be a tourist too” (138).
“…but what does a fish know of four hundred years of colonization?”(178).
“…I wondered if the Earth had simply grown tired of carrying us” (207).
May 8, 2024
Very strong collection that makes good on its abolitionist vision. If nothing else (and as long as you have tissues onhand) read the final story, "Secrets of the Greenland Shark." Holy shit.
June 7, 2023
My thanks to the publisher for an advance copy for review (even though I didn't get to it until now) - my opinions are my own.
A beautiful anthology, in concept and (mostly) execution - it was genuinely refreshing to read hopeful, familiar stories of a future where things are going alright. The quality of stories varies, of course, but they're generally interesting. It gets a little rough near the end with a run of mediocre stories, but "The Secrets of the Last Greenland Shark" is definitely an incredible closer.
Individual story ratings under the spoilers.
A beautiful anthology, in concept and (mostly) execution - it was genuinely refreshing to read hopeful, familiar stories of a future where things are going alright. The quality of stories varies, of course, but they're generally interesting. It gets a little rough near the end with a run of mediocre stories, but "The Secrets of the Last Greenland Shark" is definitely an incredible closer.
Individual story ratings under the spoilers.
October 13, 2024
God, so frustrating. So many of these stories are *almost* so good. I can’t even finish it. Anthologies maybe just suck? I really can’t even begin to place what’s going wrong here. It just, isn’t good! There are stories and turns of phrase in here that are SO good and SO fun! And then there’s pretentious nonsense and dead end narratives :(
Killer. I HAVE to move on. Maybe I’ll come back to this one and finish the last third of the stories and decide it’s actually a perfect work of fiction, but, uh, idk.
TLDR: this book feels like the realization at the meeting of the democratic socialists that everyone in attendance is a disney adult using the words “movement building” and “grassroots” instead of “capitalism” and “fascism.”
Killer. I HAVE to move on. Maybe I’ll come back to this one and finish the last third of the stories and decide it’s actually a perfect work of fiction, but, uh, idk.
TLDR: this book feels like the realization at the meeting of the democratic socialists that everyone in attendance is a disney adult using the words “movement building” and “grassroots” instead of “capitalism” and “fascism.”
August 16, 2025
Most climate fiction I read tends to be dystopic but even something along the likes of Octavia Butler’s excellent Earthseed books have a degree of hope to them. “Afterglow: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors” is my attempt to expand more into the optimistic(-ish) side of climate fiction. Edited by Grist, Afterglow consists of short stories based around potential climate futures that won a contest that Grist held. Like any other collection of short stories, the quality will vary from story to story in Afterglow but overall the stories were a nice read and blend of climate/environmental issues and speculative fiction. Some of the stories’ hopeful and progressive/leftist content does bring to mind Becky Chambers’ “Monk & Robot” series although truthfully I prefer these stories to Chambers’ slightly over-saccharine nature in her stories. Most don’t shy away from how the Climate Crisis will cause apocalyptic conditions and loss of biodiversity and culture. But in general most still had an optimistic look at how humans and other species can be resilient and adapt to a rapidly changing environment either through cool sci-fi tech or indigenous beliefs.
As I said some of the stories were better than others, "The Secrets of the Last Greenland Shark” being the best. Other stories still had well written passages which hit particularly hard like “the hardest thing to do in the world is absorb someone else’s cruelty and not pass it along” from Rich Larson’s “Tidings”. So even if I wasn’t completely wowed by everything in Afterglow, it was still showing the variety and strength of climate fiction that tries to nurture some degree of hope for the next century or so.
All in all, “Afterglow” delivers on the most part for its promised goods of a cautiously optimistic look at a future(s) where humans get their act together and be better at being environmentally friendly. Perhaps this collection can inspire that future and have its readers work towards achieving it.
As I said some of the stories were better than others, "The Secrets of the Last Greenland Shark” being the best. Other stories still had well written passages which hit particularly hard like “the hardest thing to do in the world is absorb someone else’s cruelty and not pass it along” from Rich Larson’s “Tidings”. So even if I wasn’t completely wowed by everything in Afterglow, it was still showing the variety and strength of climate fiction that tries to nurture some degree of hope for the next century or so.
All in all, “Afterglow” delivers on the most part for its promised goods of a cautiously optimistic look at a future(s) where humans get their act together and be better at being environmentally friendly. Perhaps this collection can inspire that future and have its readers work towards achieving it.
March 14, 2023
This is a beautiful anthology ! I really love that it exists and that the cover is so beautiful it will attract readers ! All the stories are on point with the theme : fiction around climate change for future ancestors. They all made me feel like the ancestor I will be and I think this is awesome as it helps us grasp the reality of our impact, the idea that we can start change and begin the momentum future générations will continue.
All the stories are hopeful - wether it be because they explore ways humans changed to thrive or wether we are extinct but the earth thrives and the remains of human culture mingle with earth's créatures.
All beautiful nuggets of thoughts to feed our imagination !
All the stories are hopeful - wether it be because they explore ways humans changed to thrive or wether we are extinct but the earth thrives and the remains of human culture mingle with earth's créatures.
All beautiful nuggets of thoughts to feed our imagination !
April 4, 2024
Such a beautiful anthology! It exemplifies so many possibilities!
October 8, 2023
Falling in love with anthologies was not on my list for 2023, but they’re so fun and easy when life is hard and busy. This one really struck me. An amazing collection of authors, a gripping selection of stories…and a powerful theme throughout.
December 15, 2025
I’m not huge on short stories (I get invested and then I feel like it’s hard for me to switch to a new one) but three stories here really stood out to me, one of which I have thought about since I read it six months ago.
My top 3, in order:
1) The Cloud Weaver’s Song (incredible mythical tale and imbued a lot of hope in me regarding the climate crisis)
2) The Secrets of the Last Greenland Shark (riveting, had me from the first line)
3) Broken from the Colony (really unique! Go coral!)
Overall, these stories represent so many intersections of the climate crisis — trans rights, reproductive rights, the right of free prior and informed consent, island nations in rising seas, rebuilding after natural disasters, revolutionizing agriculture, giving Land Back. And so much more.
I loved that every story reminded me that we, as a species, absolutely have the capability to make a just energy transition. We CAN have a better world. And while many days, the lack of political will just depresses me, sometimes, I see that lacking as such a simple problem. We can do amazing things, if we just want it enough (and by we, I mean everyone, and by want it enough, I mean if we [redacted] some billionaires)
My top 3, in order:
1) The Cloud Weaver’s Song (incredible mythical tale and imbued a lot of hope in me regarding the climate crisis)
2) The Secrets of the Last Greenland Shark (riveting, had me from the first line)
3) Broken from the Colony (really unique! Go coral!)
Overall, these stories represent so many intersections of the climate crisis — trans rights, reproductive rights, the right of free prior and informed consent, island nations in rising seas, rebuilding after natural disasters, revolutionizing agriculture, giving Land Back. And so much more.
I loved that every story reminded me that we, as a species, absolutely have the capability to make a just energy transition. We CAN have a better world. And while many days, the lack of political will just depresses me, sometimes, I see that lacking as such a simple problem. We can do amazing things, if we just want it enough (and by we, I mean everyone, and by want it enough, I mean if we [redacted] some billionaires)
May 9, 2023
The publisher, the New Press, provided me an electronic advanced reader copy to review via NetGalley. Thank you for this opportunity.
Climate change is here. Humanity is at risk. Grist set a global contest where authors from all over the world submitted short stories to envision what our collective future could look like. Some are hopeful, most are haunting, all are different than a future I've dreamed of.
The stories are all interesting. Some of them are better executed that others. Most of them had me thinking about the individuals and stories for days. From a soil reclamation farm to a mystery of tide generation plans, each story asks readers to engage with the idea that we are responsible for our futures and how we build a future on such unstable ground.
From worm farms to trans girls transforming into corals to the last of everything, the stories paint a picture of a world changed, but not gone. If you are looking for a collection of diverse voices talking about the future, this is a good work to pick up.
Climate change is here. Humanity is at risk. Grist set a global contest where authors from all over the world submitted short stories to envision what our collective future could look like. Some are hopeful, most are haunting, all are different than a future I've dreamed of.
The stories are all interesting. Some of them are better executed that others. Most of them had me thinking about the individuals and stories for days. From a soil reclamation farm to a mystery of tide generation plans, each story asks readers to engage with the idea that we are responsible for our futures and how we build a future on such unstable ground.
From worm farms to trans girls transforming into corals to the last of everything, the stories paint a picture of a world changed, but not gone. If you are looking for a collection of diverse voices talking about the future, this is a good work to pick up.
April 28, 2025
A love letter to tiny little robots that turn plastic into energy
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Always tough to rate a book of short stories, particularly with different authors, but I think the variety of both content and style was a strength. I found myself enjoying the less metaphorical / more practical imagining of the future, but reflecting more afterwards on the more emotional stories as to how the future might feel rather than look. That being said, The Secrets of the Last Greenland Shark by Mike McClelland and The Cloud Weaver's Song by Saul Tanpepper were my standouts.
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"hard, shiny, glimmering like some kind of horcrux." is a crazy thing to write in a story set 100 years into the future
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Always tough to rate a book of short stories, particularly with different authors, but I think the variety of both content and style was a strength. I found myself enjoying the less metaphorical / more practical imagining of the future, but reflecting more afterwards on the more emotional stories as to how the future might feel rather than look. That being said, The Secrets of the Last Greenland Shark by Mike McClelland and The Cloud Weaver's Song by Saul Tanpepper were my standouts.
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"hard, shiny, glimmering like some kind of horcrux." is a crazy thing to write in a story set 100 years into the future
November 30, 2022
The focus here is climate, and this is a pretty good set of stories. While I could tell these are not experienced authors, the stories are mostly well done, and hopeful overall. I don't think this will garner a large audience, those that pick it up will likely enjoy it.
I really appreciate the free ARC for review!!
I really appreciate the free ARC for review!!
February 15, 2023
A unique and optimistic perspective that is rare even among the solarpunk genre, afterglow mixed the hopefulness of a world free from fossil capitalism with one free of institutionalized racism. Among the doomerist tendencies of cli-fi fiction, this stands as a happy light among them.
Disclaimer: this reviewer has received a copy of this book through the Goodreads Giveaways program.
Disclaimer: this reviewer has received a copy of this book through the Goodreads Giveaways program.
February 29, 2024
Most stories in this volume are absolutely brilliant. There were only like 2 I could not get into. So highly recommend if you like hopeful imaginative stories from a wide range of authors.
November 29, 2025
"She never wanted to be that - a colony. She wanted a family, sure, but not whatever this was. Rooted and bound to your species. Repeating and repeating an ideal body. An ideal mind. Not allowed to have your own thoughts."
[2.5 stars] 'Afterglow' is an anthology that promises hopeful & decolonized themes through its diverse stories, and as interesting as some of the stories are, their cohesiveness as a whole falls short for the most part. Every time I start being somewhat sucked in a story, it just abruptly ends. It doesn't really feel as hopeful either, which would have been fine if the foreword had kind of emphasized acceptance/realism instead of ideating positive change. I did appreciate the Indonesian story by Savitri Putu Harrigan that touched on Balinese culture/heritage because I rarely come across English fiction that explores it (but I wish the story continued a little further).
My favorite stories are The Cloud Weaver's Song by Saul Tanpepper, The Tree in the Back Yard by Michelle Yoon, and The Secrets of the Last Greenland Shark by Mike Clelland.
[2.5 stars] 'Afterglow' is an anthology that promises hopeful & decolonized themes through its diverse stories, and as interesting as some of the stories are, their cohesiveness as a whole falls short for the most part. Every time I start being somewhat sucked in a story, it just abruptly ends. It doesn't really feel as hopeful either, which would have been fine if the foreword had kind of emphasized acceptance/realism instead of ideating positive change. I did appreciate the Indonesian story by Savitri Putu Harrigan that touched on Balinese culture/heritage because I rarely come across English fiction that explores it (but I wish the story continued a little further).
My favorite stories are The Cloud Weaver's Song by Saul Tanpepper, The Tree in the Back Yard by Michelle Yoon, and The Secrets of the Last Greenland Shark by Mike Clelland.
January 24, 2025
This was an awesome collection of solarpunk-themed short stories. I didn’t know what to expect when I picked up this book, but it gave me hope that a better future is possible. If you like any of Becky Chambers’ works, you’d probably really like some of these stories.
My favorites were The Cloud Weaver’s Song, A Worm to the Wise, and When it’s Time to Harvest, but all of the stories were unique and interesting.
My favorites were The Cloud Weaver’s Song, A Worm to the Wise, and When it’s Time to Harvest, but all of the stories were unique and interesting.
January 3, 2026
I will begin with the harshness of my review. I think most of the stories here are badly written, badly executed, and don't achieve what they set out to achieve. You can't write sociopolitical fiction and then have sociopolitical contradictions and inconsistencies that completely break the cohesion of the story. The language in most, is also, somewhat plain and weak. Most stories read more as virtue-signaling combined with an insecure plea to matter.
Nevertheless, I think it's a collection well worth reading for the same reason. It really illustrates, obliquely and perhaps a bit emergently, the culture of pessimism and blame, the fear, frustration, and worry that climate change has brought upon, and how different voices engage with their place in such a world. While that is not what the intention seems to have been, it is captured nevertheless - directly sometimes, in the in-between at other times.
Nevertheless, I think it's a collection well worth reading for the same reason. It really illustrates, obliquely and perhaps a bit emergently, the culture of pessimism and blame, the fear, frustration, and worry that climate change has brought upon, and how different voices engage with their place in such a world. While that is not what the intention seems to have been, it is captured nevertheless - directly sometimes, in the in-between at other times.
January 19, 2024
A unique collection of stories. Each one a meditative jewel of imagination that fed part of me that I didn’t even realize was starving.
August 26, 2024
A creative collection of writing that I had high hopes for but was more based in capitalism than I had hoped for. Especially the story of how our adaption to green energy that saved the world. Although the stories explore Indigenous narratives, the authors are overwhelmingly white.
November 29, 2023
This is a truly beautiful collection of short stories. amb’s foreword sets this up as a practice of political imagination, dreaming into being a future that radically changes the world.
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August 24, 2023I picked up this intersectional cli-fi collection because of @queerthology and it did not disappoint.
Although the stories all involved climactic disaster 🙃, the tone of the anthology was overall optimistic, and I really enjoyed reading about all the creative solutions these future humans came up with to either stave off the end of civilization as we know it, or to adapt once everything collapsed 😅.
My absolute favorite stories, no contest, were:
🪱 "A Worm To the Wise" by Marissa Lingen
🐝 "When It's Time To Harvest" by Renan Bernardo
🦈 "The Secrets Of the Last Greenland Shark" by Mike McClelland
But honestly? I enjoyed reading all of the pieces, if only to see what each author's vision for a future Earth was.
So. If you've been on the fence about AFTERGLOW: CLIMATE FICTION FOR FUTURE ANCESTORS, this is your sign to pick it up! And definitely come hang with us virtually on 9/1 when we discuss it. You don't need to have read the whole thing 🌍❤️.
Although the stories all involved climactic disaster 🙃, the tone of the anthology was overall optimistic, and I really enjoyed reading about all the creative solutions these future humans came up with to either stave off the end of civilization as we know it, or to adapt once everything collapsed 😅.
My absolute favorite stories, no contest, were:
🪱 "A Worm To the Wise" by Marissa Lingen
🐝 "When It's Time To Harvest" by Renan Bernardo
🦈 "The Secrets Of the Last Greenland Shark" by Mike McClelland
But honestly? I enjoyed reading all of the pieces, if only to see what each author's vision for a future Earth was.
So. If you've been on the fence about AFTERGLOW: CLIMATE FICTION FOR FUTURE ANCESTORS, this is your sign to pick it up! And definitely come hang with us virtually on 9/1 when we discuss it. You don't need to have read the whole thing 🌍❤️.
August 19, 2023
Overall I enjoyed these stories, found most of them very interesting, creative and provocative.
September 4, 2023
A couple stories that will stay with me for a long time.
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