This collection of short stories by Octavia Cade is a pull-no-punches imagination of a near-future Earth under the influence of climate change, as seen intimately from the eyes of individuals. It is an exploration of our connection to the other living things with whom we share our planet.

At their core, these stories are about the losses we will suffer as the full effects of climate change take hold. In these terse and well-crafted stories, personal loss and environmental loss are mirrors of one another, and sometimes it isn’t entirely clear where one leaves off and the other begins. Some, like You Are My Sunshine and Gone to Earth lean towards horror, with characters whose relationship with the world around them veers into the surreal waters of mental health crises. 

I read this book slowly, needing to pause and digest each story before moving on to the next. I will admit that the drumbeat of despair in the first half of the book made me almost dread what fresh pain the next story would reveal. But the second half focuses more on hope—the hope of those who have felt loss, the hope that we as a species will recognise our place on Earth as kin to all the other living things on the planet, the hope that we will change our ways and create a better future for all life on Earth.

Science is at the core of the book, and the sea is a recurring theme, almost a character, in some stories. Many of the stories are set in New Zealand and draw on places, people and events in New Zealand, but the experiences and emotions of the characters are universal. They will surely resonate with people everywhere. 

If you are looking for a vivid and personal exploration of our possible future, or an examination of loss and the recovery of hope after loss, these stories are a must-read.

From the book blurb: 

Sometimes change can hurt. This collection of short stories traces the growing pains of a new world, beginning with the death throes of our current way of life and ending with a world transformed by science and technology, and by grief, hope, love, and humanity’s will to transform. This is a collection that will both tear you apart and tend to your wounds. Cade’s beautifully wrought stories are informed by science, tracing the biological and emotional threads that bind us, human and non-human alike. Containing a brand new novelette in the Impossible Resurrection of Grief universe, You Are My Sunshine and Other Stories is a promise of what worlds are possible if we allow ourselves to change.

To be released September 2023. Preorder here.