Following up on my recent post about Becky Chambers’ Monk and Robot series, I wanted to dig a bit deeper into the “solarpunk” subgenre to which these two novellas belong.

(It’s also not quite book news, but nonetheless an assignment for LIS 591 Publishing that I thought would be worth sharing here, and as part of the book news project, so also a heads up that this is written in a bit more of an academic tone and style.)

This is what I found…

My original introduction to the world of ‘punk’ subgenres in science fiction came through the original of these subgenres, cyberpunk, which I discovered through William Gibson’s seminal 1984 novel Neuromancer followed by Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology co-edited by Gibson and Bruce Sterling. Since then, a surprising range and variety of subgenre labels using the ‘punk’ tag have spawned from it, some in direct reaction to the original cyberpunk, some in an attempt to leverage the overall ‘punk’ trend, for example steampunk, nanopunk, biopunk, hopepunk, dieselpunk, atompunk, coalpunk, and even sharkpunk to name but a few (Konstantinou, 2019; Payne, 2021). Steampunk in particular began as a reaction to cyberpunk in the late 1980s and has developed into a well-established subgenre of its own, and even a bit of a social movement with its own ‘bible’ (Heller, 2011). And as a direct reaction to steampunk was spawned an even newer ‘punk’ subgenre, notable for being a more hopeful and aspirational reaction to its grittier, more commonly dystopic punk predecessors. 

Welcome to solarpunk.

Solarpunk as literary genre and social movement

The term solarpunk was coined by the unnamed author of the Republic of the Bees blog in 2008, and interestingly without much of an actual definition, or certainly not a concise one. Instead, in a post titled “From Steampunk to Solarpunk” the author writes that “I think the best way to explain solarpunk is by contrasting it to the science fiction and fantasy genre called steampunk, from which the idea of solarpunk derives” (Republic of the Bees, 2008). This makes solarpunk from its inception a reaction to a genre that was itself a reaction to genre. The author goes on to name as the key quality of solarpunk that, like steampunk, it “conflates modern technology with older technology” but unlike steampunk’s Victorian steam-powered aesthetic, solarpunk imagines an alternate future “based on other sources of energy, such as solar power and wind power.” But then the balance of the post is more description than definition, including examples of the kinds of things the unidentified author envisioned as representing the solarpunk aesthetic or outlook, including a proposed 2000s era sail-powered cargo ship.

Since that time, many proponents of solarpunk have sought to expand on this original proposal, expanding on aspects of solarpunk that underpinned the ideas and examples in the original Republic of the Bees post. And being such a new movement, it’s interesting to trace a gradual evolution in the movement’s sense of itself.

One of the earliest deeper explorations of the meaning of “solarpunk” highlights one feature in particular, the idea of an optimism for the future: “We are starved for visions of the future that will sustain us, and give us something to hope for, ideas of life beyond the rusted chrome of yestermorrow or nightmare realms of radiated men eating the flesh of other radiated men” (solarpunks.net, 2012). Another writer states it even more emphatically: “We’re solarpunks because the only other options are denial or despair” (Flynn, 2014). So even though in retrospect there is a clear sense of the direction solarpunk was taking, at this point in its history the definition of solarpunk is still very much about what it isn’t.

Around this same time, the term solarpunk gained some wider recognition because of another blog post, focussed more on proposing or promoting a specific visual aesthetic, and yet also managing to capture a more concise definition for the genre. In a post with accompanying conceptual art, Olive Louise describes solarpunk as “a plausible near-future sci-fi genre, which I like to imagine as based on updated Art Nouveau, Victorian, and Edwardian aesthetics, combined with a green and renewable energy movement to create a world in which children grow up being taught about building electronic tech as well as food gardening and other skills, and people have come back around to appreciating artisans and craftspeople, from stonemasons and smithies, to dress makers and jewelers, and everyone in between. A balance of sustainable energy-powered tech, environmental cities, and wicked cool aesthetics” (Louise, 2014).

By a decade after it was first proposed, solarpunk had begun to establish for itself a much clearer, tighter definition: “Solarpunk is a movement in speculative fiction, art, fashion and activism that seeks to answer and embody the question ‘what does a sustainable civilization look like, and how can we get there?’” (Springett, 2017). But even so, this definition — entrenched two years later in A Solarpunk Manifesto (ReDes, 2019) — is followed by a long exposition on what else solarpunk means: “The aesthetics of solarpunk merge the practical with the beautiful, the well-designed with the green and wild, the bright and colorful with the earthy and solid. Solarpunk can be utopian, just optimistic, or concerned with the struggles en route to a better world — but never dystopian. As our world roils with calamity, we need solutions, not warnings. Solutions to live comfortably without fossil fuels, to equitably manage scarcity and share abundance, to be kinder to each other and to the planet we share. At once a vision of the future, a thoughtful provocation, and an achievable lifestyle” (Springett, 2017).

And even with the publication of A Solarpunk Manifesto, its author includes the rather telling statement that “the genre is not yet clearly defined” (ReDes, 2019).

It is therefore perhaps no surprise that even in a “Definitive Guide To SOLARPUNK: Fashion, Movies, Aesthetic & More” written two years later, the definition given is still long and expansive: “Like any punk culture, Solarpunk was born out of anti-establishment sentiment. The movement, at its heart, is centered around the environment and sustainability. Its name is quite literally derived from the potential of solar power as a form of renewable and sustainable energy. Solar energy has become the most widely used form of renewable energy, and the optimism of a new world where we live in harmony with nature instead of destroying it drives what Solarpunk is truly about. Instead of doom and gloom, the movement chooses to envision a utopian society. Despite the horrors we see on the news everyday, Solarpunks choose to believe in hope, hope for a better future for all” (Praise, 2021). 

And even more interesting are the additional layers now being read into the growing popularity of the movement, most notably Steinkopf-Frank’s in-depth analysis of the movement in which, among other things, she argues for solarpunk’s “inherently radical implications” and how it is imagining “an end to the global capitalist system that has resulted in the environmental destruction seen today” (Steinkopf-Frank, 2021).

In a larger analysis of the various punk genres contemporary with the publication of A Solarpunk Manifesto — interestingly titled “Something Is Broken in Our Science Fiction: Why can’t we move past cyberpunk?” — author Konstantinou also makes the astute observation that, unlike many of the other ‘punks,’ solarpunk is “aspirational: They’re suggestions for the kind of science fiction or fantasy we ought to be writing” (Konstantinou, 2019).

Meanwhile, from an academic standpoint, solarpunk remains relatively unstudied. A quick (and admittedly cursory) search of the University of Alberta library catalogue turns up only 30 items with “solarpunk” as the search term, 20 of which were book reviews. Meanwhile “cyberpunk” pulls up 3343 items and “Steampunk” 3117.

And with all this said, there appears to be yet another shift in the definition of solarpunk happening, driven by its use in book marketing.

Solarpunk as a Marketing/Discoverability Category

From a publishing standpoint, the defining of solarpunk — and any of the punks, really — serves an important marketing function for connecting books with readers. Just as the ‘big genres’ — mystery, romance, science fiction, fantasy, even ‘general’ fiction — broadly impact everything from target audience to design to placement in bookstores and libraries, the subgenres serve the same functions but with even more niche audiences in mind.

But none of these genres have hard boundaries. Even with cyberpunk, where there is some consensus that Neuromancer and Mirrorshades constitute seminal works on the genre, there is an identification of works that fit retroactively or serve as precursors, such as the works of Philip K. Dick. Likewise for steampunk, where the works of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells are often mentioned in the same breath. From a discoverability and marketing standpoint, this serves that simplest of ‘information’-seeking goals: to suggest what other books a reader might like that are similar to ones they have already enjoyed.

Given the newer and arguably still less well defined boundaries for solarpunk, it is perhaps no surprise that there is a similarly broad inclusion of books now considered solarpunk. Wenstrom in her article titled “An Introduction to the Solarpunk Genre” surprisingly lists Frank Herbert’s Dune under the subheading of “Classic Solarpunk Novels” (2021). And between Wenstrom, Norton-Kerston’s “The Solarpunk Future: Five Essential Works of Climate-Forward Fiction” (2021), and Praise’s “Definitive Guide To SOLARPUNK: Fashion, Movies, Aesthetic & More” (2021), all published in the same year, there is but a single overlap across seventeen suggestions for what they consider classic, essential, or modern solarpunk novels… Suncatcher: Seven Days in the Sky by Alia Gee, and only on two of the lists.

Meanwhile, in what appears to be the first use of the term solarpunk by a major publisher, Tor.com (an imprint of Tor Books, which is in turn a division of ‘big five’ Macmillan Publishers) announced in 2018 the signing of “a Pair of Solarpunk Novellas from Becky Chambers” (Harris, 2018). These reached the market as A Psalm for the Wild-Built in 2021 and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy 2022. These novellas do reflect a future where humanity lives in greater harmony with nature, where technology is sustainable, and the overall tone is positive and optimistic. But setting it beside the original and early definitions of solarpunk, it would not necessarily jump out as fitting the mould… and I personally would not think to group A Psalm for the Wild-Built and Dune together as literary siblings.

What will be interesting to watch will be whether the reception and popularity of A Psalm for the Wild-Built – it won the Hugo Award in 2022 – will serve to elevate the associated solarpunk genre and increase sales of other solarpunk books – by whatever definition becomes most widely accepted – and also if it might increase future writing within that genre.

Returning to solarpunk’s parent and grandparent genres, cyberpunk and steampunk, a search of bookseller websites reveals a wide gap in numbers:

Audreys Books

• Solarpunk – 16 items, 12 in English, only 6 traditionally published, none in stock

• Steampunk – 3546 items, 3354 in English, 3024 books, 13 in stock (but notably primarily in children’s lit and YA)

• Cyberpunk – 3133 products, 2970 in English, 2162 books, 11 in store or on order

Chapters Indigo

• Solarpunk – 0 items

• Steampunk – 29 items

• Cyberpunk – 19 items

(Note: these results may be artificially low due to the website hacking incident affecting Chapters Indigo at the time of writing)

(Note 2: searches redone in May 23 show 17 items for solarpunk, 1947 for steampunk, and 1565 for cyberpunk)

Amazon Books

• Solarpunk – 513 items, 368 in English

• Steampunk – over 30,000, items over 10,000 in English in the Science Fiction category

• Cyberpunk – over 20,000, items over 10,000 in English in the Science Fiction category

If these numbers are any kind of indication, the popularity of steampunk has actually surpassed that of cyberpunk, at least among creators and publishers. Purely conjecture on my part, but I wonder if this in any way reflects the relative positivity of steampunk versus cyberpunk, and the associated fact that steampunk has reached beyond simply being a literary genre. And if that is a factor, I am curious to see if solarpunk, with its even greater optimism and positivity, and the fact that it too seems to have expanded beyond simply being a literary genre – note in particular Praise’s subheadings of “Solarpunk Aesthetic”, “Solarpunk Fashion”, “Solarpunk Architecture”, “Solarpunk Technology”, “Solarpunk Politics”, “Solarpunk Music”, “Solarpunk Movies”, and finally “Solarpunk Literature” – will translate and grow into a more substantive, and sustainable, genre within the publishing world.

Happy Reading!

– Winston

Works Cited

Chambers, B. (2021, July). A Psalm for the Wild-Built. Tordotcom.

———. (2022). A Prayer for the Crown-Shy. Tordotcom.

Cyberpunk. (2023, February 12). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cyberpunk&oldid=1138854227 

Flynn, A. (2014, September 4). Solarpunk: Notes toward a manifesto. Project Hieroglyph. https://hieroglyph.asu.edu/2014/09/solarpunk-notes-toward-a-manifesto 

Harris, L. (2018, July 18). Announcing a Pair of Solarpunk Novellas from Becky Chambers. Tor.com. https://www.tor.com/2018/07/18/announcing-a-pair-of-solarpunk-novellas-from-becky-chambers 

Heller, S. (2011, July 14). The Ultimate Guide to the Steampunk Movement. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/07/the-ultimate-guide-to-the-steampunk-movement/241947 

Konstantinou, L. (2019, January 15). Something Is Broken in Our Science Fiction: Why can’t we move past cyberpunk? Slate. https://slate.com/technology/2019/01/hopepunk-cyberpunk-solarpunk-science-fiction-broken.html 

Louise, O. (2014, November 23). Here’s a thing I’ve had around in my head for a while! Land of Masks and Jewels. https://missolivialouise.tumblr.com/post/94374063675/heres-a-thing-ive-had-around-in-my-head-for-a 

Norton-Kertson, J. (2021, September 30). The Solarpunk Future: Five Essential Works of Climate-Forward Fiction. Tor.com. https://www.tor.com/2021/09/30/the-solarpunk-future-five-essential-works-of-climate-forward-fiction/ 

Payne, I. (2021, July 29). Sci-Fi Subgenres: Breaking down the Punks. Signals from the Edge. https://signalsfromtheedge.org/sci-fi-subgenres-cyberpunk-steampunk 

Praise, Z. (2021, January 13). The Definitive Guide To SOLARPUNK: Fashion, Movies, Aesthetic & More. Impose. https://imposemagazine.com/bytes/cinema/the-definitive-guide-to-solarpunk-fashion-movies-aesthetic-more 

ReDes. (2019, October 12). A Solarpunk Manifesto. ReDes – Regenerative Design. http://www.re-des.org/a-solarpunk-manifesto

Republic of the Bees. (2008, May 27). From Steampunk to Solarpunk. https://republicofthebees.blogspot.com/2008/04/from-steampunk-to-solarpunk.html

solarpunks.net. (2012, July 18). On the Need for New Futures. https://solarpunks.net/post/27525726746/on-the-need-for-new-futures 

Springett, J. (2017, February 26). Solarpunk: A Reference Guide. Medium. https://medium.com/solarpunks/solarpunk-a-reference-guide-8bcf18871965

Steampunk. (2023, March 1). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Steampunk&oldid=1142231897 

Steinkopf-Frank, H. (2021, September 2). Solarpunk Is Not About Pretty Aesthetics. It's About the End of Capitalism. Vice. https://www.vice.com/en/article/wx5aym/solarpunk-is-not-about-pretty-aesthetics-its-about-the-end-of-capitalism 

Wenstrom, E. (2021, March 23). An Introduction to the Solarpunk Genre. Book Riot. https://bookriot.com/solarpunk-genre 

Williams, R. (2018, March 10). Solarpunk: Against a Shitty Future. Los Angeles Review of Books. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/solarpunk-against-a-shitty-future