Australia’s climate has warmed by an average of 1.4°C since national records began in 1910. We’ve seen increases in sea surface temperatures, more heatwaves and bushfires, rising ocean levels and acidity, and decreased snow in our alpine regions.
That’s a lot to take in. And if we do nothing to reduce our carbon emissions, these changes are only going to intensify. Of course, government and industries are doing something now, but who knows what difference that’ll make at a global scale? What do we lose if it’s too little too late? Thinking about all this is alarming and depressing.
But it helps to imagine a future, even if it’s not a perfect future. Just knowing humanity can persevere and keep trying … well, it helps.
Yet We Sleep, We Dream imagines University students on a summer excursion in deep space, studying a dead planet that never survived its Anthropocene. But in the dust and ashes of that once-great civilisation, the students find hope for their own warming world.
It’s a love letter to our future — and pure fantasy of course. I don’t believe that magic and gods and semi-sentient robots will save us.
Only we can do that by caring for ourselves, for each other, and for the world upon which we live.
Want to learn how to care for the planet?
Start by finding your climate superpowers — that’s all a first step needs to be. Many people mistakenly believe they need to open with big dramatic actions, but massive changes mainly need to happen at the government, industry and billionaire level. For people like you and me, it’s about small, sustainable, ongoing actions that add up to a collective effort from the whole community.
Add solarpunk to your reading list. Solarpunk is a hopeful fiction genre and lifestyle movement that embraces technology in harmony with society and environment. If you’ve ever needed fiction to pull you out of your climate anxiety, solarpunk will be the one to do it. For newcomers to the genre, I recommend Tomorrow’s Parties: Life in the Anthropocene, a short story anthology edited by Jonathan Strahan. Have tissues on hand; some stories are beautiful enough to make you cry 🥲
If you live around nature, learn about the plants around you and go deeper on the ones that are native to your region. Learn about their history and role in the ecosystem. You’ll unearth incredible hidden knowledge about the home just beyond your home. It’s a fascinating way to develop nature smarts and connect with the Earth.
Finally, look for one thing you can do that’s greener or more supportive of your local community. Keep it practical and within your budget. Do it deliberately and own it, and once you’re comfortable having conversations about it, know that you’re helping build a stronger and more caring culture by doing so.
Yet We Sleep, We Dream by JL Peridot
Love triangles get bent out of shape when restless gods come out to play.
Relationships are complicated enough when only humans are involved — something the crew of the starship Athenia know plenty about. These children of a changing climate are no strangers to conflicts of the heart. And it seems there's a lot of conflict going on, even out in space.
When an alien dust finds its way on board, the veil between realms begins to fray. Old gods of a long dead planet resume their own romantic bickering while ancient magic wreaks havoc across the ship. Grudges resurface, friends turn to enemies, unrequited love turns to passion — or does it? It's kinda hard to tell with everyone at each other's throats.
Gentles, perchance you wonder at this show; but wonder on, till truth make all things plain. Yet We Sleep, We Dream is a romantic space-fantasy inspired by Shakespeare's endearing hot mess, A Midsummer Night's Dream.
“I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was.”
— Bottom, A Midsummer Night's Dream
Genre(s): Science fiction romance, science fantasy romance, space fantasy, new adult, Australian romance, futuristic romance
Content advisory: Strong language. Drug use. On-page sexual encounters. References to harassment and infertility. Depictions of perilous situations. Depictions of marital disharmony. Awkward social situations. Technical language.
💖 Available in ebook and paperback 💖
JL Peridot writes love letters to the future on devices from the past. Visit jlperidot.com for the full catalogue of her work.
1 comment:
Great post, JL. Where I live the weather is getting weirder by the year. I hope it's not too late to do something about it, considering humankind has abused our only home so horribly over these last centuries.
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