Bookfilter: Non-dystopian, re-imagining the present or near future
April 28, 2024 4:14 PM Subscribe
Sometimes the state of the world gets me down. I'd like help imagining a better future that we can work towards. Does anyone know of any good near- future or present fiction that imagines that we did things differently and better? Bonus points for Indigenous, Black, or People of Colour authors.
Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052–2072
M. E. O'Brien (Author); Eman Abdelhadi (Author)
posted by kokaku at 5:32 PM on April 28 [2 favorites]
M. E. O'Brien (Author); Eman Abdelhadi (Author)
posted by kokaku at 5:32 PM on April 28 [2 favorites]
I think The Year Without Sunshine is a wonderful story that might be what you're looking for. (I made a front-page post about it a few months ago.)
posted by kristi at 6:56 PM on April 28 [5 favorites]
posted by kristi at 6:56 PM on April 28 [5 favorites]
The general “solarpunk” concept might be appealing?
posted by aramaic at 7:54 PM on April 28 [3 favorites]
posted by aramaic at 7:54 PM on April 28 [3 favorites]
Kind of cheating but Fire on the Mountain is lovely. Alternate history seen from a gently utopian future of that history (but in our past... so it's not in the near future of today but it is sort of futuristic because there are trips to Mars involved...)
The Fifth Sacred Thing takes place in the 2040s in the SF Bay Area in an ecotopia-ish world.
posted by latkes at 8:59 PM on April 28 [1 favorite]
The Fifth Sacred Thing takes place in the 2040s in the SF Bay Area in an ecotopia-ish world.
posted by latkes at 8:59 PM on April 28 [1 favorite]
Just finished A Half-Built Garden which is jokingly called diaper-punk, and is very much a hopeful look at the near future. I enjoyed it and found lots to argue/think about
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 10:30 PM on April 28
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 10:30 PM on April 28
It's not a nuts-and-bolts "did things differently" but from your question I think you might vibe with A Snake Falls to Earth, by Darcie Little Badger (Lipan Apache).
posted by away for regrooving at 12:06 AM on April 29
posted by away for regrooving at 12:06 AM on April 29
Excellent question.
"Seaview on Mars" by Katie Rathfelder, a short story available in the anthology Consolation Songs.
The short story "Sunlight" by Shauna Gordon-McKeon. (Direct link to story hosted on Medium.) I believe the author thinks this would be a better world - caution that at least one reader (per MeFi comments) thought it dystopic!
The short story "I'm with Muni -- How can I help?" by Annalee Newitz (previously on MeFi) and quite a lot of Newitz's other work.
In my opinion, "Retriever" by Stephen Kearse is about a world that has already been made better. The author is Black.
I've heard good things about the Ruthanna Emrys (A Half-Built Garden) and the Kim Stanley Robinson (The Ministry For the Future) that others here have already mentioned. And I have only read one of Becky Chambers's Monk & Robot books but yes, I agree that it mostly suits your specifications (but it is definitely not set in the present or the near-future). And I agree that "hopepunk" and "solarpunk" are genres that probably hold promise for you.
It might also help if you let us know whether you would also be okay with "our protagonists successfully fight for a significantly better world, despite opposition, over the course of the story/book," as opposed to "the narrative already starts in a world which we have made better and which remains better throughout". There is a fair amount of Newitz and Doctorow where I can recommend it for the former but not the latter. I also think America Inc. by Andrea Phillips (and her predecessor novelette The Revolution, Brought To You By Nike) suit your specifications if you are open to "protagonists improve the world over the course of the story".
Also, are you okay with fan fiction?
posted by brainwane at 1:34 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]
"Seaview on Mars" by Katie Rathfelder, a short story available in the anthology Consolation Songs.
The short story "Sunlight" by Shauna Gordon-McKeon. (Direct link to story hosted on Medium.) I believe the author thinks this would be a better world - caution that at least one reader (per MeFi comments) thought it dystopic!
The short story "I'm with Muni -- How can I help?" by Annalee Newitz (previously on MeFi) and quite a lot of Newitz's other work.
In my opinion, "Retriever" by Stephen Kearse is about a world that has already been made better. The author is Black.
I've heard good things about the Ruthanna Emrys (A Half-Built Garden) and the Kim Stanley Robinson (The Ministry For the Future) that others here have already mentioned. And I have only read one of Becky Chambers's Monk & Robot books but yes, I agree that it mostly suits your specifications (but it is definitely not set in the present or the near-future). And I agree that "hopepunk" and "solarpunk" are genres that probably hold promise for you.
It might also help if you let us know whether you would also be okay with "our protagonists successfully fight for a significantly better world, despite opposition, over the course of the story/book," as opposed to "the narrative already starts in a world which we have made better and which remains better throughout". There is a fair amount of Newitz and Doctorow where I can recommend it for the former but not the latter. I also think America Inc. by Andrea Phillips (and her predecessor novelette The Revolution, Brought To You By Nike) suit your specifications if you are open to "protagonists improve the world over the course of the story".
Also, are you okay with fan fiction?
posted by brainwane at 1:34 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]
Sourdough by Robin Sloan is lighter and a positive, fun (and funny) read on biotech, breadmaking and robots, oh and a sentient yeast culture.
I thought of Ministry for the Future too (as the outcome is very positive - except for private jet owners) but having just reread it it's more of a manual for action with some padding to make it seem like a novel in my view.
posted by unearthed at 2:29 AM on April 29
I thought of Ministry for the Future too (as the outcome is very positive - except for private jet owners) but having just reread it it's more of a manual for action with some padding to make it seem like a novel in my view.
posted by unearthed at 2:29 AM on April 29
I haven't read it since I was a teenager and I'm sure it has dated terribly badly, but The Third Millennium: A History of the World AD 2000–3000 (published in 1985) kind of fits the brief. It's a techno-utopian fictional history of the human race, presented as a weighty coffee-table book rather than a novel. It certainly "imagines that we did things differently and better" and as a young person I found it inspiring. I would probably find it naive now, but when you're young you should also be reading idealistic works, not just harsh realities.
posted by snarfois at 4:10 AM on April 29
posted by snarfois at 4:10 AM on April 29
Fairly near future:
Back in 2017, the Japanese airline ANA, in association with XPRIZE, did a web-based science fiction anthology whose underlying premise was: a flight from Tokyo to San Francisco takes off in 2017 but lands in 2037; here's the seat map; pick a passenger, and find out what happens next. I remember it as being generally rather positive about the future. The original site doesn't seem to exist any more, but I found it on the Internet Archive via ISFDB (which has a full contents list; there are some great authors there).
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 6:55 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]
Back in 2017, the Japanese airline ANA, in association with XPRIZE, did a web-based science fiction anthology whose underlying premise was: a flight from Tokyo to San Francisco takes off in 2017 but lands in 2037; here's the seat map; pick a passenger, and find out what happens next. I remember it as being generally rather positive about the future. The original site doesn't seem to exist any more, but I found it on the Internet Archive via ISFDB (which has a full contents list; there are some great authors there).
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 6:55 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]
I enjoyed ‘ministry for the future’ but be warned that it starts with an *extremely bleak* sequence that is all too realistic. It does end in a world that’s accomplished a lot, so you may still want to read it!
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 7:17 AM on April 29 [3 favorites]
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 7:17 AM on April 29 [3 favorites]
Somebody upthread used the word "ecotopia". That was the title of the 1975 novel that launched this genre: Ecotopia
posted by JonJacky at 8:10 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]
posted by JonJacky at 8:10 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]
Other Kim Stanley Robinson novels fit too-- parts of the California trilogy and Science in the Capitol Trilogies take place in the near future of our present world. Things aren't great, but they contain realistic depictions of how things and people work together.
posted by benbenson at 10:36 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]
posted by benbenson at 10:36 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: So many amazing suggestions so far! Just scrolling through on my phone now, but will take a closer look later. Thank you!
posted by My Kryptonite is Worry at 11:12 AM on April 29
posted by My Kryptonite is Worry at 11:12 AM on April 29
Grist Magazine's Imagine 2200 competition is in its 4th year. Some really wonderful stories.
posted by spamandkimchi at 8:26 PM on April 29 [1 favorite]
posted by spamandkimchi at 8:26 PM on April 29 [1 favorite]
The Years of Rice and Salt (includes "now", but builds that up from the time of the Plague in Europe)
posted by chiefthe at 3:40 PM on April 30
posted by chiefthe at 3:40 PM on April 30
Tomorrow is Waiting by Holli Mintzer is a nice short story about AI.
posted by veery at 10:50 AM on May 3
posted by veery at 10:50 AM on May 3
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