Jassmine’s Reviews > Multispecies Cities: Solarpunk Urban Futures > Status Update

Crew by E.-H. Nießler 4,5⭐
I'm very easy for the marine stories apparently, especially if they have grouchy whales.

The Songs That Humanity Lost Reluctantly to Dolphins by Shweta Taneja 3⭐
Very metaphorical, very literary, not my cuppa, but there was objectively nothing wrong with this one.


The last one to go!

Wandjina by Amin Chehelnabi 3,5⭐
Story about rescuing animals set in Australia gone extreme thanks to climate change.

The Streams Are Paved With Fish Traps by Octavia Cade 4⭐
There are eels under the city... This story kind of reminded me of No Man's Land which is definitely because of the eels. There is also marriage in crisis. It was good, but didn't really resonate with me personally.

Arfabad by Rimi B. Chatterjee ⭐⭐
Didn't enjoy this one. Not entirely sure why.

The Mammoth Steps by Andrew Dana Hudson ⭐⭐⭐
I wanted more from this one. It was really short and... yeah, it felt more like a snippet.


Five last short-stories to go!

In Two Minds by Joel R. Hunt 4,5⭐
Oh my god, this one was good! And so tense... The ending was a bit abrupt, could have been a bit longer probably, but this was good. Made me think of Feed Them Silence, again...

"I tell my children, imagine the river is a person." Aster Magat tells me. "Would you throw garbage at a person just because you're too lazy to find a bin?"

Children of Asphalt by Phoebe Wagner 4,5⭐
Made me cry...

When we asked our children why, they said the crying landrus had been asking for help. Hadn't we heard?

A Life With Cibi by Natsumi Tanaka 4⭐
!!! This story read like a cozy take on cannibalism. Kind of reminded me of Sayaka Murata just a little bit, would read more by this author...

Mariposa Awakening by Josep F. Nacino 3,5⭐
Mangroves against climate change induce floods! I quite enjoyed this one, although there wasn't much of a plot and since this story is supposed to be by a more experienced author (compared to others in this collection) I would have expect more polished prose.

Iron Fox in the Marble City by Vlad-Andrei Cucu ⭐⭐⭐
This was okay. I suspect that not reading it in one (or two, or three...) goes didn't really help the story much. I was confused by some bits but overall definitely solid and well written idea.

Posters with graphics are plastered all over the wall, warning of dire consequences. The birds are protected. So many species have died.