I learned a basic model in an anthropology class long ago, that a cultural pyramid’s base was the environment and all else drew from that, including technology, economy, polity, and ideology. As the planet continues to face multiple ecological crises, not the least of which is climate change, authors around […]
Read MoreWolf Light, Yaba Badoe
When copper miners plunder Zula’s desert home in Gobi Altai, and Adoma’s forest and river are polluted by gold prospectors, it is only a matter of time before the lake Linet guards with her life is also in jeopardy. How far will Zula, Adoma and Linet go to defend the […]
Read MoreSpotlight – Christiane Vadnais
Click here to return to the series We’ll end the crazy year of 2020 on a positive note, with a look at the lyrical novel Fauna by Christiane Vadnais. Here, we travel to the Arctic Circle (as indicated by Ursus maritimus), but the novel’s setting is fictional and inspired by […]
Read MoreThe Winds of Change: Children’s Environmental Climate Fiction
Author: © Claire Datnow Type: Essay Back to the Dragonfly Library The Winds of Change: Children’s Environmental Climate Fiction The gale force winds of climate change are calling. They’re calling to scientists, writers, and artists to weave stories that will inspire the children of tomorrow to dream up a brighter […]
Read MoreLoveoid, JL Morin – Review
Loveoid by JL Morin Release date: December 6, 2020 Genre: eco-fiction, literary fiction, speculative fiction Price: $11.95; 276 pages ISBN: 978-1-941861-54-7 Available at Gardeners, Bertrams, Ingram, Baker & Taylor, and bookstores everywhere Review by Mary Woodbury Loveoid, the new novel from JL Morin, aims to change the evolutionary trajectory of […]
Read MoreKing and the Dragonflies, Kacen Callender
King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature at the 71st Annual National Book Awards presented by the National Book Foundation! Twelve-year-old Kingston James is sure his brother Khalid has turned into a dragonfly. When Khalid unexpectedly passed away, he shed what […]
Read MoreArdenweald, Gaming with Attention to Myth and Forest
Today’s insight is a departure from my usual focus on written eco-fiction as I enter into the gaming world, specifically that of World of Warcraft’s (WoW’s) Shadowlands and one of its zones, Ardenweald. Shadowlands is the newest expansion of what some of us classic folks refer to, sometimes derogatorily, as […]
Read MoreMargarita, Anni Kytömäki
Margarita won Finlandia Prize for the best fiction book of the year. “I have dedicated this book to the silent ones of water and earth – the ones that are in danger to be left behind in our society and in the face of [the global] ecological crisis. –Twitter Kun […]
Read MoreLeave the World behind, Rumaan Alam
When the end of the world as we know it comes about in Rumaan Alam’s gripping third novel, Leave the World Behind, the two families brought together in the indulgent surroundings of a Long Island country retreat feel, well, uneasy. There’s no big moment, no flash of white light, alien […]
Read MoreIndie Corner – Ian Boyd and Gary Luck
Back to the Indie Corner series I was happy to meet Ian Boyd and Gary Luck by way of their new children’s novel Melody Finch, a story about the hardships of drought in Australia’s Murray Darling Basin river system, as seen through the eyes of its native wildlife. Ian Boyd’s […]
Read MoreRuthie Fear, Maxim Loskutoff
In Montana’s Bitterroot Valley, young Ruthie Fear sees an apparition: a strange, headless creature near a canyon creek. Raised in a trailer by her stubborn, bowhunting father, Ruthie develops a powerful connection with the natural world but struggles to find her place in a society shaped by men. As she […]
Read MoreSpotlight – Yun Ko-eun
Click here to return to the series This November we virtually travel to South Korea and to a fictional island off the coast of Vietnam as we explore The Disaster Tourist (Serpent’s Tail in the UK / Counterpoint Press in the US, 2020). Thanks so much to author Yun Ko-eun […]
Read MoreBird Song: A Novella, Clara Hume
Author: © Clara Hume Publisher: Dragonfly Publishing Publication Date: November 4, 2020 Type: Novella Ordering: Dragonfly Publishing Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Discord Back to the Dragonfly Library Excerpt from Chapter 10 I followed Dion north on the white beach, and then he skipped closer to the forest. He didn’t talk, […]
Read MoreStillicide, Cynan Jones
Water is commodified. The Water Train that serves the city increasingly at risk of sabotage. As news breaks that construction of a gigantic Ice Dock will displace more people than first thought, protestors take to the streets and the lives of several individuals begin to interlock. A nurse on the […]
Read MoreIndie Corner – Neus Figueras
Back to the Indie Corner series It was my pleasure to talk with Indie Corner spotlight author Neus Figueras, who was born in Barcelona and grew up in a small village among the vineyards of the Penedès region. If she wasn’t running through the streets or the open fields, she […]
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