3.5 rounded up

The communication of worldbuilding feels a bit expository sometimes but that’s science fiction, especially when it’s so radically different than today, as this is. The setting is absolutely the star of the show for me with this. Queer normalization, cli-fi /solarpunk underpinnings - it’s feels very innovative and fresh/ different.

I liked the characters and the plot, though the pacing felt a bit uneven, because the author really knows how to paint a scene. I didn’t really pay attention to the pacing much, which is when you know the things the author decides to be specific about were interesting to you.

The only thing consistently annoying is weird to talk about because it’s also fascinating. Social media becomes sort-of social capital, so how people communicate and how the slang/jargon isn’t serious, like in most SF with those elements. It feels childish and weird, yet is clearly present for a reason. There’s So many hashtag whatevers that I rolled my eyes, but yet currency is social capital and evolved from social media, so it IS how people would actually talk, I just don’t like it, and I’m not sure how fair that is? It bugged me a fair amount though, can’t disregard it. It’s a part of the prose and it’s prevalent, so keep that in mind. Maybe it’s your thing, maybe it’s not.

Otherwise I found this to be smart, interesting, inclusive, and fun. Plenty of subversions and, as I said, feels like it’s helping to pioneer a different kind of cli-fi, which I’m all for. I do not like the term Hopepunk, because it doesn’t mean anything substantial in the mission statement imo, but cli-fi should be more than one-note dystopias, and this feels like a direct response to that.