Solarpunk Creatures by Christoph Rupprecht (editor)

January 16, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Solarpunk Creatures by Christoph Rupprecht (editor)
Publisher: World Weaver Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A newly sentient AI inhabits a Roomba to escape from their research office, and a robotic dog hunts for rain in a drought-ridden world. A murder of crows disrupts production on a solar farm, and a young woman communes with a telepathic fungal network to protect a forest. A suspicious cat follows bees across the rooftops of a solarpunk city, and a rabbit hitches a ride to the Grand Canyon to fulfil a prophecy. The path toward better futures is one we must walk alongside other creatures, negotiating the challenges of multispecies justice. Solarpunk Creatures introduces a whole new cast of more-than-human organic and digital, alien and fantastic, tiny and boundlessly large.

A better world is possible.

“The Colorful Crow of Web-of-Life Park” showed what happened after an epidemiologist’s pet parrot was accidentally released and went to live with a murder of crows in a ecologically-friendly city just as a dangerous new strain of the flu began circulating in the avian population there. I enjoyed the rising tension in this story as Veronica attempted to create a vaccine for this type of flu and find her lost bird. She had a limited amount of time to fulfill her goals, and I couldn’t wait to see if she succeeded. The ending was also well written and suited all of the characters nicely.

As someone who is fascinated by those communication buttons some people have trained their pets to use, I loved the fact that “The Business of Bees” was written from the perspective of a cat who was frustrated by the lack of choices in her buttons and her humans’ inability to understand how concerned she was about the weird bees in their yard. When she left home to follow the bees and see where they went, I imagined all sorts of scenarios she might find herself in. The author’s imaginative take on how cats think and why bees could be so alarming made it hard for me to stop reading.

The title of “Quarropts Can’t Dance” was just as good as the storyline itself. Li desperately wanted to use a boombox and some fresh dance moves to entertain those who passed by, but not everyone was interested in that sort of Earthling tradition. It was amusing to see how the various species reacted to this spectacle and how Li changed once they realized that their act maybe wasn’t having the effect they hoped it might.

One of the biggest reasons why I gave this anthology a five-star rating had to do with the wide variety of creatures and writing styles that were included in it. Some of them appealed to me more than others because everyone’s tastes are different, but I can’t help but to admit that all of them were well written and compelling. There were no weak spots here in my opinion, and that’s an incredibly difficult thing to accomplish. The editor did an excellent job of curating this collection. I can’t wait to see what he and all of the contributors might release next.

Solarpunk Creature was the perfect distraction.

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Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers by Kate Wolford

April 19, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers by Kate Wolford
Publisher: World Weaver Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Historical, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

We remember her best as the generous fairy who dresses Cinderella and handles transportation while she’s at it. But that’s just the most famous fairy godmother’s tale. With a little imagination, you’ll find that fairy godmothers and godfathers appear in many varied forms. The authors in this anthology have crafted new tales that re-imagine the fairy godmother and her role.

A young fairy grapples with imposter syndrome as she takes up her new appointment as godmother. Immortal sisters bestow blessings and curses on princesses as a way to battle the patriarchal fairy godfathers. A struggling artist receives a godmother’s help to impress at her high school reunion. Sparing the life of a moth leads to magical help from an unexpected protector.

Retellings of Pinocchio, Rumpelstiltskin, Beauty and the Beast, and The Frog Prince show the magic of these stories in a whole new light. Infused with modern sensibilities but honoring the tradition of fairy tales, these dozen stories will enchant and inspire you.

Magic is for everyone.

“Face in the Mirror” was one of my favorite stories in this anthology because of how cleverly it reinterpreted Beauty and the Beast. The Beast was just as belligerent and spoiled as he should have been when I first met him, but the real magic happened after the spell was cast upon him and he had to earn the love of someone else in order to break it. I can’t go into much detail about how the later portions of the storyline unfolded, but I was impressed with how much effort Ms. de Soto put into finding a fresh perspective to describe him and his adventures. This could have easily been the first chapter or two of a full-length novel, and yet I was quite satisfied by how everything was resolved at the same time.

I enjoyed every retelling in this book, but there were a small number of them that I did wish had been given more time to develop. “In the Name of Gold” was one of them. A retelling of Rumplestiltskin intrigued me, especially since the author chose such an uncommon narrator for it. I only wish that it had been longer and dove deeper into the themes and characters of this world. There simply wasn’t enough space to show how this retelling was different from the original, and that made it tricky for me to remain as interested as I would have otherwise been.

Fairy godmothers rarely show up in contemporary settings, so “Modern Magic” grabbed my attention as soon as I realized the main character was standing in a Starbucks waiting for her Frappuccino to be made in the first scene. It was such an unusual way to introduce this sort of character, and somehow the plot only became better from there! I loved seeing how a fairy godmother would behave in an urban setting among people who don’t always necessarily believe in magic or that anyone is looking out for them. The heartwarming moments were only surpassed by the surprises that were in store for everyone this protagonist met during an ordinary day of granting wishes and making dreams come true.

Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers was an imaginative anthology that I’d recommend to anyone who loves fairy tale retellings.

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Trenchcoats, Towers, and Trolls: Cyberpunk Fairy Tales by Edited by Rhonda Parrish

January 11, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Trenchcoats, Towers, and Trolls: Cyberpunk Fairy Tales by Edited by Rhonda Parrish
Publisher: World Weaver Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, LGBTQ, Contemporary, Historical
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

What do you get when you take the high tech/low life settings of cyberpunk and sprinkle them with the magic and possibilities of fairy tales? Trolls under teleportation bridges, masquerades held in virtual reality, princely avatars, giants and dwarves alongside hackers and androids. From retellings of traditional tales such as Rumpelstiltskin, in which a young woman is tasked with writing code instead of spinning gold, to original tales like the changeling-inspired story of a formless machine intelligence that hijacks human bodies, these cyberpunk fairy tales form a unique collection that is sure to satisfy connoisseurs of both genres.

Original stories from Thomas Badlan, Suzanne Church, Beth Goder, Sarah Van Goethem, Nicola Kapron, V.F. LeSann, Angus McIntyre, Wendy Nikel, Ana Sun, Michael Teasdale, Alena Van Arendonk and Laura VanArendonk Baugh.

Everyone should have a chance to live happily ever after.

In “***********SK.IN,” a young woman named Sam must write an impossible sequence of code for some old computer chips in order to avoid a jail sentence that will lead the authorities to discover a secret she must keep hidden at any cost. She was such an intelligent and resourceful character. As soon as I met her, I earnestly began hoping she’d find a way to slip out of the clutches of those who wished to harm her. This feeling only intensified as she continued to face more obstacles in her path. I couldn’t stop reading until I’d learned her fate!

Nara discovered a tiny seedling in a neighborhood where no plants had grown in a few generations in “Neon Green in D Minor.” I was mesmerized by the dirty place she’d grown up in and how the seedling had managed to sprout when so little sunlight fell on anyone or anything who lived there. The only thing better than that scene was figuring out which fairy tale this was based on. The author’s outdid themselves with their creativity.

Giants were a slowly dying breed in “Firewalls and Firewort,” but Mave wasn’t about to stop searching for a way to save her people. I admired her courage, especially given the cruelty and bigotry that was so often a part of her interactions with humans. Every story in this book was excellent, but this was the one I’d be most excited to revisit in the form of a sequel if the author ever decides to write one. While I was satisfied with how everything ended up, there were so many portions of giant society that could be explored in greater detail in the future.

This is the final instalment of a series of anthologies. It can be read as a standalone work.

Trenchcoats, Towers, and Trolls: Cyberpunk Fairy Tales was utterly perfect.

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Multispecies Cities – Solarpunk Urban Futures Anthology

May 3, 2021 By Leave a Comment


Multispecies Cities – Solarpunk Urban Futures by Edited by Christoph Rupprecht, Deborah Cleland, Norie Tamura, Rajat Chaudhuri, and Sarena Ulibarri
Publisher: World Weaver Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Cities are alive, shared by humans and animals, insects and plants, landforms and machines. What might city ecosystems look like in the future if we strive for multispecies justice in our urban settings? In these more-than-human stories, twenty-four authors investigate humanity’s relationship with the rest of the natural world, placing characters in situations where humans have to look beyond their own needs and interests. A quirky eco-businessman sees broader applications for a high school science fair project. A bad date in Hawai’i takes an unexpected turn when the couple stumbles upon some confused sea turtle hatchlings. A genetically-enhanced supersoldier struggles to find new purpose in a peaceful Tokyo. A community service punishment in Singapore leads to unexpected friendships across age and species. A boy and a mammoth trek across Asia in search of kin. A Tamil child learns the language of the stars. Set primarily in the Asia-Pacific, these stories engage with the serious issues of justice, inclusion, and sustainability that affect the region, while offering optimistic visions of tomorrow’s urban spaces.

Who says that cities can’t teem with biodiversity?
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Efe had spent her entire life on a small boat in the ocean in “Old Man’s Sea.” While diving for food and supplies, she was surprised by one of the many dangers that awaited anyone who wandered into the wrong territory. I was mesmerized by her resourcefulness and smiled at each plot twist. While I learned enough about her life to put all of the pieces together, this was definitely a world I’d love to revisit in a sequel someday. There were so many layers to life in this version of the future that could be explored in much greater detail, especially when it came to the identity of the old man referenced in the title.

Some of the stories in this anthology would have benefitted from more development in my opinion, and “The Exuberant Vitality of Hatchling Habitats”was one of them. It followed Xueli and Camila as they worked on a biodegradable sculpture for a school project. I was intrigued by their reasons for creating it but wished the narrator had gone into more detail about how it worked and why this art display attracted so much attention from outsiders. The entire concept never quite gelled together for me.

In “A Life with Cibi,” the narrator described what it was like when humanity invented a new mobile food source that was mobile and could speak but had more in common with plants than animals. I was fascinated by the idea off walking up to a Cibus and asking to slice off a part of its body for my lunch. These creatures were engineered in such a way that they were healthier if humans pruned them regularly. The narrator gave a tantalizing glimpse of how human culture changed as a result of this invention. It was a great deal of fun to follow those thought processes to their logical conclusions and wonder what else this society might come up with next.

Multispecies Cities – Solarpunk Urban Futures was an eclectic and creative anthology that I’d recommend to anyone who loves the science fiction genre in general.

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Clockwork, Curses, and Coal: Steampunk and Gaslamp Fairy Tales by Rhonda Parrish (editor)

March 1, 2021 By Leave a Comment


Clockwork, Curses, and Coal: Steampunk and Gaslamp Fairy Tales by Rhonda Parrish (editor)
Publisher: World Weaver Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Action/Adventure, Historical
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

​Fairies threaten the world of artifice and technology, forcing the royal family to solve a riddle to stop their world from irrevocable change; a dishonest merchant uses automatons as vessels for his secrets and lies; a woman discovers the secret of three princesses whose shoes get scuffed while they sleep. These and so many other steampunk and gaslamp fairy tales await within the pages of Clockwork, Curses and Coal.

Retellings of Hansel and Gretel, The Princess and the Pea, Pinocchio, The Twelve Dancing Princesses and more are all showcased alongside some original fairy tale-like stories. Featuring stories by Melissa Bobe, Adam Brekenridge, Beth Cato, MLD Curelas, Joseph Halden, Reese Hogan, Diana Hurlburt, Christina Johnson, Alethea Kontis, Lex T. Lindsay, Wendy Nikel, Brian Trent, Laura VanArendonk Baugh and Sarah Van Goethem.

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In “A Future of Towers Made,” Zela was trapped in an abusive marriage. Her only avenue for possible escape involved trying to prove her husband had stolen credit for her latest invention, and success was anything but certain for her. I emotionally bonded with her immediately and eagerly kept reading to find out if she’d be freed from the many years of pain he’d put her through. She was such an intelligent and brave character.

Amber needed to bring her cat, Hunter, and as many people from her town as she could persuade to come alone with her on a daring trip to escape their dying planet in “Father Worm.” I was fascinated by how she figured out that their world would soon become too cold to sustain life and looked forward to discovering if her plan to save those who wanted to be saved would be successful. She had so much riding on every decision she made, and she only had a short amount of time to accomplish it all.

The plague that settled upon a small town in “Necromancy” was one of the most unique ones I’ve ever heard of. It was brought to that community by a young woman named Natalie who had gone away to seek her fortune. I was as fascinated by the unusual symptoms of it as it was by how her mother, neighbours, and former friends reacted to the sudden changes in her. This was one of those tales that only grew better with each plot twist, none of which I dare divulge today.

Clockwork, Curses, and Coal accomplished something pretty special. For the first time in all of my years of reading, I adored every single story in an anthology. I hope other readers love them just as much as I did.

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Recognize Fascism by Crystal M. Huff (editor)

October 9, 2020 By Leave a Comment


Recognize Fascism by Crystal M. Huff (editor)
Publisher: World Weaver Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Across many worlds and many timelines, these stories depict the moments when people see the fascism in front of them for what it is, accept it as real, and make the choice to fight it. Who are the canaries in the coal mine? When can the long-hidden voice no longer be ignored? Anti-fascist rebellion can take many forms. A transgender woman living on an artificial satellite learns to reject oppression via poetry. A machine ethicist finds a way to dance with her gods in a surveillance state. An unlikely golem hears a new call to action. A jailed musician rediscovers the music of rebellion.

Will you recognize fascism and join the rebellion?
​
With stories by Sam J. Miller, Jaymee Goh, Brandon O’Brien, Octavia Cade, Jennifer Shelby, and many more…

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In “The Scale of Defiance,” everyone’s bodies grew larger when they were happy and smaller when they felt fear or other negative emotions. I liked Leena immediately and couldn’t wait to find out why she was so tiny when the audience first met her. She was a sensible person who seemed to understand the danger she was in due to living in a dangerously homophobic society. Seeing how she coped with the stress of being queer in those circumstances only made me more curious to see what would happen to her next.

This might be a good time to note that this anthology included many different types of fascism, from governments that could definitely exist in our world to ones that required magic or scientific advancements we don’t yet possess to work. I loved seeing so many different takes on this topic.

Keep the previous paragraph in mind as you read this one. It was impossible for me to pick favorites in this anthology, but “What Eyes Can See” was definitely a unique one. Gail, the main character in it, was annoyed by the fact that she was getting a new solar panel installed on her roof she’d neither ordered nor wanted. That’s about the last thing I’d expect to read about in the context of a fascist government, so I was eager to read more. While I can’t go into more detail about this unwelcome change in her life without giving away the ending, I can say it was well written and gave me plenty of food for thought.

The title of “That Time I Got Demon Doxxed While Smuggling Contraband to the Red States” reveals much of what readers should know about its plot ahead of time. It was set in the somewhat near future and was about a smuggler who ended up with more than they bargained for right as they were about to smuggle more goods to the blue states in what used to be the United States. The narrator explained some of the unique things about their world, but many others were left for us to slowly piece together on our own. It was a great deal of fun for me to figure out what they meant when they used certain terms that weren’t immediately defined.

Recognize Fascism was a wild ride that I can’t recommend highly enough to anyone who has wondered how they’d react in a crisis.

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Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Winters edited by Sarena Ulibarri

December 18, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Winters edited by Sarena Ulibarri
Publisher: World Weaver Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Action/Adventure
Length: Full Length (324 pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 4 Stars
Review by: Astilbe

This anthology envisions winters of the future, with stories of scientists working together to protect narwhals from an oil spill, to bring snow back to the mountains of Maine, to preserve ecosystems—even if they have to be under glass domes. They’re stories of regular people rising to extraordinary circumstances to survive extreme winter weather, to fix a threat to their community’s energy source, to save a living city from a deep-rooted sickness. Some take place after an environmental catastrophe, with luxury resorts and military bases and mafia strongholds transformed into sustainable communes; others rethink the way we could organize cities, using skybridges and seascrapers and constructed islands to adapt to the changes of the Anthropocene. Even when the nights are long, the future is bright in these seventeen diverse tales.

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Athena and the other characters in “A Shawl for Janice” left their EcoTower to do a bird count in nearby forests and meadows that had sprung up from the ruins of small towns after the Change. Ms. Almazan did a wonderful job with her world building here. I truly felt like I’d been transported to the future, especially once Athena’s reasons for volunteering for this bird count were revealed. There was so much character development in those plots twists that I wished I could remain with Athena to see what she did with her life next.

While I enjoyed every story in this anthology, there were a few of them that I thought would have benefited from including more details about the worlds they were set in. “Snow Globe” was one example of this. It followed Okwi Bearheart, a park ranger who was struggling to connect with the citizens of Windigo. When a violent conflict threatened the safety of some of people who lived in that community, she had to act fast to try to help them. There was a lot going on in this plot, but the narrator didn’t give me enough details about any of it to draw me into what was happening. It would have been nice to get to know the characters better so I could have been more concerned about their fates.

“Recovering the Lost Art of Cuddling” followed Katie on a last-minute run she did to repair a neighbor’s composter before a dangerous blizzard hit their community. When the storm amped up and her journey didn’t go as anticipated, she had to figure out how to get herself and her sled dogs to safety before they froze to death. I was eager to learn if these characters would be okay. They were so endearing and well written that I couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to any of them. Their adventures were exciting from beginning to end.

I’d especially recommend Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Winters to anyone who wonders what the future might hold for humanity.

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The Cassandra Complex by Wendy Nikel

July 26, 2019 By Leave a Comment


The Cassandra Complex by Wendy Nikel
Publisher: World Weaver Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Short Story (117 pages)
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

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Cass isn’t the type, though, to just sit back and watch while all the tragic events she’s learned about in her history courses play out in front of her. Not when she’s the only one in the world with the foreknowledge – and determination – to change it.

From the start, readers are presents with a mystery. Why do Cass’s parents want her to study early-twentieth century history as opposed to political science in college? It seems like such a mundane thing, but it is not. When this question is answered, a fascinating situation is set up, a real problem for Cass. This plucky college girl is from the future but must go back centuries to the true time she belongs in. It seems her parents are time travelers from the past, and now Cass must go back and live in a time before women’s rights in order to be the ancestor of someone important. However, she knew none of this until she turned eighteen. She’s angry but agrees to go back, so she can make the world a better place.

Back on the eve of World War I, she gets a job and is determined to meet the president. She must stop the war. What could possibly go wrong? Her day-to-day interactions with the other characters and this new-for-her world is written in a realistic way. Details of the senses and of the values of the era permeate this domain. Cass, therefore, finds herself with the additional problem of restraints put on her simply for being female in this strange place. Luckily, she makes friends. But some people are not as they seem, and Cass finds herself in real trouble. Still, her heart is in the right place, and she’s courageous. Readers will wonder until the end how she will get out of her predicaments and if she will achieve her goals.

Things are a bit rushed, but it’s understandable, given that this story is a novella. It was an enjoyable and quick read with a likable protagonist. The plot is clever. Readers who delight in time travel stories that deal with social realities will probably like this tale.

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Skull and Pestle: New Tales of Baba Yaga

January 18, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Skull and Pestle: New Tales of Baba Yaga by Kate Wolford (Editor)
Publisher: World Weaver Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Historical, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (193 pages)
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

She can be the enemy of your nightmares or the spirit guide to your dreams. Her hair is wild and gray. Her teeth are made of iron, and she travels using a giant mortar and pestle and lives in a shack on chicken feet surrounded by a fence of skulls and bones. She is Baba Yaga, a crone who ruthlessly uses the needy and greedy for her own devices. And in this anthology of new stories starring Baba Yaga, she lands in some spectacular scenarios.

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Not every witch is necessarily evil.

There was danger lurking everywhere for Vasilisa in “Vasilisa the Wise.” Not only did her stepmother not care if she lived or died, Baba Yaga actively tried to come up with tasks this character couldn’t accomplish so the old witch would have an excuse to eat her. I found Baba Yaga’s challenges and threats deliciously frightening. Since I knew almost nothing about this classic fairy tale villain, it was nice to start this anthology off with what I assume was a more traditional telling of who she was and how she liked to behave.

All of the stories in this collection were creative and worth the read. With that being said, I would have liked to see a little more attention paid to the character development in “Boy Meets Witch.” As intrigued as I was to see how Baba Yaga would respond to a young boy seeking her out for advice instead of all of the girls who had been written about in this anthology, I didn’t feel like I got to know Alex Rusnak, the protagonist, as well as I did the protagonists in the other stories. If he’d been equally well-developed, I would have given this collection a five-star rating!

“Baba Yaga: Her Story” was a wonderful take on Baba Yaga’s life before she became such a famous literary figure. When the audience met her in the first scene, she was an abandoned child who didn’t even have a name yet. I was as surprised by that as I was by all of the things that happened to her as she grew older and began to realize just how powerful her magic abilities were. While she definitely was a villain, I still grew to like her as I got to know her better and understood why she occasionally did such harmful things to ordinary people.

Skull and Pestle: New Tales of Baba Yaga should be read by anyone who loves fairy tales.

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Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers by Sarena Ulibarri, editor

June 6, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers by Sarena Ulibarri, editor
Publisher: World Weaver Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (293 pages)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Solarpunk is a type of optimistic science fiction that imagines a future founded on renewable energies. The seventeen stories in this volume are not dull utopias—they grapple with real issues such as the future and ethics of our food sources, the connection or disconnection between technology and nature, and the interpersonal conflicts that arise no matter how peaceful the world is. In these pages you’ll find a guerilla art installation in Milan, a murder mystery set in a weather manipulation facility, and a world where you are judged by the glow of your solar nanite implants. From an opal mine in Australia to the seed vault at Svalbard, from a wheat farm in Kansas to a crocodile ranch in Malaysia, these are stories of adaptation, ingenuity, and optimism for the future of our world and others. For readers who are tired of dystopias and apocalypses, these visions of a brighter future will be a breath of fresh air.

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Daesha’s mission in “Fyrewall” was simple, but that didn’t mean it would be easy to accomplish at all. The only way for her community to survive was if Daesha figured out how to fix the Fyrewall her grandmother had built out of ocean water and other natural materials to shelter their community from the wildfires and air pollution that were destroying the rest of California. I empathized with this character’s struggle to understand technology that she hadn’t built and only half understood. The plot twists in it were fantastic as well. They fit this world that had been dramatically changed by climate change beautifully, and they made me wish for a sequel.

All of the stories in this anthology had fantastic premises. With that being said, there were a few that I would have liked to see explained in a little more detail. For example, “Grow, Give, Repeat” was about a young girl named Alex whose family was struggling to grow enough food to eat on their farm. After losing their previous flock of chickens, the new birds they received were like no other animal I’ve ever heard about before. They were an odd combination of machine and living beings, and I struggled to picture what they might look like or how they could exist. These chickens were such an integral part of the plot that it would have been easier to understand what was going on if I could have imagined them in better detail.

“The Heavenly Dreams of Mechanical Trees” was one of the highlights of this collection for me. In it, a sentient, robotic tree named Ailanthus realized that she was going to stop functioning permanently soon and began a desperate attempt to communicate with the humans who maintained her to see if anyone could fix her before it was too late. I was mesmerized by the thought of a robot fulfilling almost all of the same functions that a real tree does, and I couldn’t wait to find out if Ailanthus’ mission would be successful. The thought of a forest without her kind and patient personality was such a sad prospect.

I’d heartily recommend Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summer to anyone who is in the mood for an optimistic vision of what the future might be like for humans and all of the other creatures who live on Earth.

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