Solarpunk discussion

In a world with an uncertain future, do you imagine for the best or for the worst case scenario? Twelve writers tackle extreme utopias and dystopias--and the grey areas in between--in Biketopia, the fourth volume of the Bikes in Space series of feminist science fiction stories about bicycling. Some find love and fierce resistance in the end times; others imagine an ecological future of saving technology, with solarpunk ecotopian visions, at times paired with crushing social control. Whatever your own future or present reality, these stories will motivate and inspire you to envision something different... and maybe even better.

We are moving this up a month to give Termination Shock a little more time.

I’ve already finished this one. I started to read it in December, just to have a look, and ended up finishing it. I liked it, but I thought it was more dystopian than solarpunk. As a series of books I think this idea of bicycle themed sci fi is interesting, and I think I read more of it.

Thanks for the heads up, Hákon! I'll be skipping the dystopian stories. :)

Kalin wrote: "Thanks for the heads up, Hákon! I'll be skipping the dystopian stories. :)"

The good news is that some of the stories are solarpunk and I thought they were pretty good. 🙂

Thanks for the heads up Hakon! Glad to hear that there's some good Solarpunk in there too :)

Fiona wrote: "Thanks for the heads up Hakon! Glad to hear that there's some good Solarpunk in there too :)"

There is, at least from my point of view. 🙂

Thank you for letting us know! Solarpunk is new and we take our best guess as to which books will fit.

Can someone find an e-version of _Biketopia_ in a bookstore that doesn't use DRM? I can't read DRM ebooks on my Linux, so I may need to sit out this one.

Kalin wrote: "Can someone find an e-version of _Biketopia_ in a bookstore that doesn't use DRM? I can't read DRM ebooks on my Linux, so I may need to sit out this one."

I bought a prink copy through amazon, but the publisher sells this book through their website as e-book. You can see it here:

https://microcosmpublishing.com/catal...

I don't know if it uses DRM or not. I tried to find out on the site, but couldn't. Maybe you can find it.

Lena wrote: "Thank you for letting us know! Solarpunk is new and we take our best guess as to which books will fit."

Yes, I've noticed that it is a bit hard to find solarpunk sometimes. I've looked a couple of times for solarpunk books on amazon, and the stuff that comes up is not always solarpunk. Some of it is steampunk, or some other genre. :-)

Thank you, Hákon!

I sent them a question about DRM via their online form: https://microcosmpublishing.com/faq

The book was not available on Scribd, Kindle Unlimited, or the library so I just paid the $9.71. I wish that was the end of the story. They didn’t give me an ebook it was a damn pdf or something equally as bad. I couldn’t highlight, my kindle fire said the whole thing was an image! I sent the publisher an angry note and requested a refund from Amazon.

I've hit exactly the same problem Lena - Kindle Oasis did NOT like the PDF at all.
That is really unfortunate - and I'm a bit reluctant to purchase the ebook via their site as I imagine it's the same format.

Has anyone been reading anything recently they'd be keen to share with the group? :D

We should have looked into Kalin’s issue more closely. I assumed, as it was available on Amazon, there would be a standard.mobi version. I can only apologize. I’m currently reading To Catch the Sun, you can get a free digital copy here: https://tocatchthesun.com/

Fiona wrote: "Has anyone been reading anything recently they'd be keen to share with the group? :D"

My reading has been not been very solarpunk lately. Right now I'm reading Animal Liberation by Peter Singer, and a cozy mystery.

Lena wrote: "I’m currently reading To Catch the Sun, you can get a free digital copy here: https://tocatchthesun.com/ "

Thanks for the link Lena, I'm definitely going to read this one. :-)

Yes, sorry team - I'm glad you got to read and enjoy it though Hakon :)

I've not been reading much Solarpunk either - I finished Termination Shock pretty far into the second month we read it, and have a group read of Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers coming up this month. Excited to revisit that one!

Oh yes! Please feel free to join: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
These stories are what inspired me to start the group!

The first issue of _Solarpunk Magazine_ just came out. Seems like that will be my next solarpunk reading. :)

... and I quite liked it: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Definitely a recommendation for our next polls.

Kalin, it looks quite interesting.

We're in luck - it won the poll, so we'll be checking it out in March! :)

I’m crossing my fingers it’s not another Biketopia, I can’t find it on Amazon.

It should be available here: https://solarpunkmagazine.com/product...
It should also be included with the kickstarter rewards for anyone who joined that

Yes, but what is that? If it is not a .mobi it’s not much good. Kalin, is it available as a kindle?

I know they had epub and mobi versions to send to backers who couldn't use the pdf - I'll investigate their site and see if I can find out :)

Cool!

Hmm, just comes in PDF, though it will convert via calibre. Why do places just offer the one format?

As a Kickstarter backer, I got MOBI, EPUB and PDF.

Let me ask on their Discord server.

Here's what their staff said:

"We do have pdf, epub, and mobi formats. We probably should have mentioned that in the update on Kickstarter, but we didn't think of it until after Kickstarter's 30 minute edit window ended. Sorry for the hassle. Everything will go more smoothly with Issue #2 in March!"

So they will have those choices available for purchase for issue one if we… ask nicely?

If I understood correctly, they should already be there.

Fiona, did you purchase the first issue?

I did, and the only available option was PDF - do we need to contact them to request a different format after purchase maybe?

I just asked them about that.

Kalin wrote: "I just asked them about that."

Thanks Kalin - I appreciate you taking the time!

Now they're looking into it.

Thank you Kalin.

Nomination for next month! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
It's tangential to Solarpunk, but it looks really interesting :)

Choosing a Sustainable Future: Ideas and Inspiration from Ithaca, NY is my nomination!

Here is mine: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...