r/solarpunk • u/Scared_Lobster_1913 • 1d ago
Literature/Fiction Looking to expand my library - more book recommendations
I picked up and read Psalm from Monk and Robot, and most recently Free People's Village by Sim Kern (still reading) - I just wondered if folks had any other good recommendations to expand my knowledge / thinking in this area. Dispossessed is already on my list, and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress was also recommended to me, but my a friend who is a staunch libertarian, which isn't something I'm necessarily aligned with.
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u/A_Guy195 Writer,Teacher,amateur Librarian 1d ago
You can check out the sequel to the book you read, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy.
Ecotopia and Ecotopia Emerging by Ernest Callenbach. A bit dated in some regards but they still hold. Ecotopia can also be found as a free PDF form here.
The Works of Kim Stanley Robinson, mostly the Mars Trilogy. New York 2140 is more dystopian but is still in the broader SP category I believe.
Ursula K. LeGuin’s works, like The Dispossessed and Always Coming Home. (trigger warning for the first book, there's a s*xual assault scene. Other than that, it's amazing).
There are also several SP short story anthologies like Solarpunk Summers, Solarpunk Winters, Wings of Renewal and others. I haven’t read those, But I’ve heard they are quite good.
Also the manga series Yokohama Shopping Log (Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou) which again,is more on the dystopian side,but contains many Solarpunk themes/elements. It's also a great read imho.
I wouldn't call The Moon is A Harsh Mistress Solarpunk at all. More like libertarian conservative propaganda.
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u/FunConsequence404 1d ago
Thanks, I'm gonna check the manga one. Always coming home is my favourite, it is a very good recomendation.
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u/Expert_Ad3923 8m ago
really recommend the dispossessed I would push it to the front and also Ursula leguin in general the ministry of the future by Kim Stanley Robinson , also
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u/Chalky_Pockets 1d ago
There's a second book in monk and robot that really caps off the story well.
Becky has another series called wayfarer that is honestly my favorite work of art in all of human history. First book is called the long way to a small angry planet.
She has another book called to be taught, if fortunate. It is not solar punk in the slightest but it is an amazing book and, like her other work, leaves you a different person than you were before you read it.
It's debatable whether or not the wild robot movie is solar punk (there's literally a debate post in this sub with conflicting but valid arguments on both sides) but the consensus seems to be that the books at least are. I only just downloaded them today so I can't really say.
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u/johnabbe 1d ago
I'm not up on more recent reads, but can't recommend Octavia Butler enough. Parable if the Sower if you want something about 2025.
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u/Scared_Lobster_1913 1d ago
Ah I saw the 'A Few Rules for Predicting the Future' in the bookstore earlier, I almost picked it up!
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u/johnabbe 1d ago
There's also a collection of more recent short stories inspired by her, Octavia's Brood, edited by adrienne maree brown and Walidah Imarisha. (Mentioning both because they are worth checking out as well.)
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u/Speckhen 1d ago
Besides the many already recommended, I‘d suggest Cory Doctorow’s The Lost Cause. It’s transitioning from our world (recognizable with Maga types and a Green New Deal) to net-neutral building, bike shares, a people’s housing scheme, guaranteed jobs… It’s not depicting a fully realized ideal future, but it’s a good exercise in “how do we get there from here?” We will have to start somewhere to get to a solar punk future!
Spoiler alert: initially the situation is pretty dreadful and it looks like things are just going to be awful conflict between “us and them,” but it works hard at preventing that mindset and looking towards solutions. I found it quite hopeful in the end!
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u/Scared_Lobster_1913 10h ago
Oh nice. I read Context a long time ago, but nothing more from him. I'll check it out, thanks!
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u/AllyClyde 1d ago
Definitely Starhawk's The Fifth Sacred Thing. Blackfish City by Sam J Miller too. I'm also working on a book in the genre myself :)
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u/Scared_Lobster_1913 1d ago
Nice! I'll keep an eye out for your post about it when I can read it :)
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u/bluespruce_ 1d ago
If you like fun mysteries in a vibrant, thriving solarpunk future, A.E. Marling's Solarpunk Mysteries are great: Murder in the Tool Library, and Missing Mermaid. If you like solarpunk scifi with detailed Earth communities plus space/aliens, A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys is very good. I'm also a big fan of Kim Stanley Robinson's work, especially the Mars Trilogy, though it's a slower read, very detailed discussion of developments across many scientific fields (physical and social) needed to get to a solarpunk future.
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u/Solo_Camping_Girl Environmentalist 23h ago
Try "Con Nuestros Propios Esfuerzos" (With Our Own Efforts) printed and distributed in Cuba. The book is a self-help manual that teaches the Cuban people how to jerry-rig and make do with what little they have by being in an embargo. It has lots of interesting stuff such as using an electric fan motor as a washing machine, using fruit rinds as a meal, and even farming. Nothing says solarpunk like learning how prevail under oppressive conditions. I just hope you know how to speak spanish or can find a way to translate text. There's most likely a free online copy of this circulating online. If you can find an english copy, please send me one!
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u/Scared_Lobster_1913 10h ago
Additionally, I got a few Spanish-speaking friends and i'm a graphic designer - might be something we can typeset and translate and release in an English edition.
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u/Solo_Camping_Girl Environmentalist 36m ago
I'd be looking forward to that! The graphics in the book is either black and white photographs or hand-drawn diagrams. I'd be great if this book gets a revamp after almost 80 years.
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u/After_Sweet1997 1d ago
Author name: Saud T.
Book name: Savannah Dominion: The Duel of Lions and Cheetahs. It is on amazon
I would easily recommend you to read this book
This book is about lions and cheetahs who are fighting for survival with no Oceans on the planet and the police are the ants, crazy world that will blow your mind!
This is the best fiction story I have read in my whole life. Everything about it from the beginning until the end was fantastic, it made me feel that I'm a living in a different planet.
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u/FunConsequence404 1d ago
If you want to read fiction: Always coming home, by Ursula k le Guin And non fiction: Less is more by Jason Hickel
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