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Sunshine Superhighway
Solarpunk, cyberpunk with a hopeful outlook, futuristic fantasy, spec-fic stories that leave us with the idea that despite the doom and gloom in the universe, things can possibly work out if we strive to make life better, even if in a small way.
ebook
Published December 1, 2020
About the author
Jessica Augustsson
44 books29 followersJessica Augustsson is the editor-in-chief of JayHenge Publishing. She is a grammar nerd, eclipse chaser, part-time writer, and a bit of a geek. As the editor of spec-fic anthologies, most of her writing can be found nestled among the words of other authors, but she can’t help typing out a few of her own stories now and then. As for speculative fiction in her own life, she was voted by her Idaho high school class to be the most likely to go live on the moon; when she was 20, she moved to Sweden so she guesses that’s pretty close.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 28, 2021
I’m not normally a big fan of short stories, so I wasn’t sure about how I was going to like this anthology of speculative fiction stories. They’ve got a strong climate change aspect, as well as having strong female lead characters.
In short, I loved it. There were two or three that I did feel hadn’t really done anything, or hadn’t finished. This is my usual bugbear with short fiction, but even those few had set up an interesting scenario and were well written. But overall, really good.
I think the thing that struck me was the way I was constantly being transported to different scenarios, different worlds, different timelines, different characters and their roles. And that was super interesting. For me, the great strength of sci-fi is that world-building, the ideas of new places, new tech, and new lifestyles is the fun stuff. With a short story anthology, that comes in abundance. Hmm, time to rethink my ideas about short stories. Maybe!
In short, I loved it. There were two or three that I did feel hadn’t really done anything, or hadn’t finished. This is my usual bugbear with short fiction, but even those few had set up an interesting scenario and were well written. But overall, really good.
I think the thing that struck me was the way I was constantly being transported to different scenarios, different worlds, different timelines, different characters and their roles. And that was super interesting. For me, the great strength of sci-fi is that world-building, the ideas of new places, new tech, and new lifestyles is the fun stuff. With a short story anthology, that comes in abundance. Hmm, time to rethink my ideas about short stories. Maybe!
December 8, 2020
Solarpunk came after cyberpunk as a more optimistic play on the virtual, and these stories really capture this. Some great pieces here and I love the intersection with ecological themes.
The following excerpt from Launderer shows some of the writing style:
"Kieron pinches the butterfly’s golden wings, reading inky lettering between its circuit-like veins. I envy the secret language he shares with his father, wondering if my father might send me fluttering messages one day. Once the butterfly is decoded, Kieron lets a lonesome
smile and smashes the creature. No evidence, only a dead messenger."
"His rust colored eyes crease with his hidden smile."
The story Seedlings for a Near Future shows that the theme is consistent throughout, which is engrossing,
"His weak eyesight, which could have been improved with the ocular surgery for which his pension funds fell short, perceived the way the sky seemed to vibrate as an undulation of sorts, waves of energy mimicking the breath of the ocean. When taken outside to the garden by the nurse-robot for
his daily stroll, Macek would squeeze his eyes even tighter into a thin line, a fuzzy, outdated telescope unable to identify the pixels on what he believed was the artificial sky."
The well-curated anthology contains many such splendid stories with a futuristic take on the real. Check it out!
(Note that this review excludes my own contribution as I don't rate my own works)
The following excerpt from Launderer shows some of the writing style:
"Kieron pinches the butterfly’s golden wings, reading inky lettering between its circuit-like veins. I envy the secret language he shares with his father, wondering if my father might send me fluttering messages one day. Once the butterfly is decoded, Kieron lets a lonesome
smile and smashes the creature. No evidence, only a dead messenger."
"His rust colored eyes crease with his hidden smile."
The story Seedlings for a Near Future shows that the theme is consistent throughout, which is engrossing,
"His weak eyesight, which could have been improved with the ocular surgery for which his pension funds fell short, perceived the way the sky seemed to vibrate as an undulation of sorts, waves of energy mimicking the breath of the ocean. When taken outside to the garden by the nurse-robot for
his daily stroll, Macek would squeeze his eyes even tighter into a thin line, a fuzzy, outdated telescope unable to identify the pixels on what he believed was the artificial sky."
The well-curated anthology contains many such splendid stories with a futuristic take on the real. Check it out!
(Note that this review excludes my own contribution as I don't rate my own works)
November 16, 2021
Great collection of speculative stories
I love speculative fiction and I love all the collections of solar punk fiction stories. I let my brain wander to all the future possibilities
I love speculative fiction and I love all the collections of solar punk fiction stories. I let my brain wander to all the future possibilities
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews