5 Solarpunk Books for Summer

Solarpunk is a genre and art movement heavily focused on environmental philosophy and climate change with aesthetics heavily inspired by Art Nouveau and ecomodernism. Instead of the cynical outlook on humanity's future presented in works of cyberpunk and other speculative fiction set in the near future, Solarpunk is an optimistic genre about problem solving and encouraging the banding together of mankind. Like other -punk genres, themes often include anti-consumerism, civil rights, and anti-authoritarianism.

1. Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin - N.K. Jemisin is a master of writing in the genre of Climate fiction, her Hugo-Award winning Broken Earth Trilogy is a great example of that but provides a much darker story than found in Emergency Skin. Emergency Skin is a short story less than 40 pages long but well worth the read, it tackles subjects such as class and racial inequality, propaganda, and the exploitation of laborers in society.

2. Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach -

3. Island by Aldous Huxley - This is the optimistic alternative to Huxley's own Brave New World.

4. Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers edited by Sarena Ulibarri - This one is a collection of 17 short stories by various authors.

5. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler - Set in the near future, this book is possibly the bleakest entry on this list and