Tales From The Warming

I really wanted to like this collection of realistic-future short stories.  I’ve enjoyed the changed climate setting that sets the plot in motion in Maia Sepp’s An Etiquette Guide To The End Times and Wake, and the realistic near-future dystopia of Mira Grant’s Parasite trilogy.

In Lorin R. Robinson’s Tales From The Warming, each short story takes place in a different city, and every place has been changed by global warming. The end of mountain snow, changed growing seasons, high water levels, and more signs of a new environmental reality are used as vibrant settings for the stories. Together, this creates a larger picture of changed planet. This part was quite moving, and I appreciate the blend of research and speculation the author used to create this world.

The author believes that the same kind of complacency that guides our political attitudes towards climate change today will persist into the future, even as the seas rise. This idea resonates, especially as wilder storms and unseasonable temperature fluctuations become our new norm.

Although I agreed with the message, ultimately, I wasn’t hooked by any of the characters and didn’t love this book. The setting and descriptions were well done, but I need to care about my characters to enjoy a story. I don’t mean that every fictional character has to be likeable, just that I need to feel like they’re developed, real people and that I’m invested in their success or failure. I don’t know if the stories were just too short for me to get enough character development, but I didn’t feel connected to any characters.

For people who care about global warming, climate change fiction is just fiction, and I need to connect to the characters to enjoy fiction. For those who believe the science is a lie and climate change is just a series of coincidences, I’m afraid this book isn’t going to change any minds.