Cover Reveal: Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation

Last year, Upper Rubber Boot Books ran a Kickstarter for an anthology of solarpunk stories, and backers (like me!) got to see the cover art before the rest of the world. If you saw my announcement last Monday, you'll understand that I have a very strong interest in this emerging science fiction subgenre.

There's a lot of discussion about what solarpunk is or isn't, but the truth is there just hasn't been enough written to set the tropes and expectations yet. Some of what has been called "climate fiction" could be called solarpunk as well, if it presents an optimistic view of the future (which much of it does not). How do Sunvault editors Phoebe Wagner and Brontë Christopher Wieland define solarpunk? Here's from the Sunvault website:

Solarpunk follows in the tradition of steampunk and cyberpunk as the embodiment of a counterculture ideology: innovating a way of life that is better for the present and ultimately better for the future. Concepts like clean energy and sustainability are integral to solarpunk as they are outlets for societal reform. The fight for positive change is where -punk comes into play.

There are various communities online that are imagining and building solarpunk as an idea and an aesthetic, but as a literary movement, it is as yet largely undefined. That’s where you come in. Sunvault is the SF community’s opportunity to define the solarpunk genre. We want to see your conceptions and interpretations of the genre. We want to see what solarpunk looks like to you.

Sunvault will contain stories by Jaymee Goh, Lev Mirov, Kristine Ong Muslim, Daniel José Older, Nisi Shawl, Bogi Takács, Lavie Tidhar, A.C. Wise, and a whole bunch of others.

Ready to see the cover? Here it is:

Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation will be available August 29, 2017 from Upper Rubber Boot Books. You can follow them at their blog or social media for updates.