Bioluminescent: A Lunarpunk Anthology

Norton-Kertson introduces this fascinating anthology of 21 lunarpunk shorts by attempting to define the fledgling genre, which, she writes, has “a lack of clear boundaries,” but is marked by “a dark and glowing aesthetic” and shares its sister genre solarpunk’s preoccupation with climate change. Most of these 21 stories and poems offer hopeful visions of the future even after some kind of ecological breaking point, imagining the community that comes from calamity and exploring humans’ connection to the Earth. An underground community uses bioluminescent mushrooms for light and recycles the waste from the aboveground community in “A Chant for Circularity” by Aaron Willmott, while BrightFlame’s “When the Web Went Down” explores a very literal connection between people and plant life. Some stories feel oddly out of place, however: “October in the Chair” by Neil Gaiman might be better placed in a horror anthology, while Eljay Vaughn’s witchy “The Exhalation” lacks the earthy vibe of the other tales. These outliers are perhaps to be expected, given the newness and as yet hazily defined nature of the subgenre, but they don’t detract from enjoyment of the anthology as a whole. Anyone interested in exploring lunarpunk should snap this up. (Jan.)