Though I’ve spent a large part of my early adulthood overthinking and despairing about the state of the world, a part of me continues to remain stubbornly hopeful. Over and over, I’ve looked for evidence that people are inherently good, that we have solved problems in the past and that we will keep doing so (just as we keep creating those problems in the first place). And I believe this because I believe in people; to not do so would be to give in to helplessness, to surrender my life to the whims of the universe, which I simply refuse to do. Part of this capacity for optimism and hope comes from reading the kind of SFF stories that are essentially thought experiments in how things could turn out well. Consider the following examples…
“Legend Has It” by Azisa Noor
Noor’s story begins with trouble, upending plans for a local ceremony that our protagonist, Lintang, was in charge of organizing. She’s tired, but the ceremony’s success is essential if her community wants to keep its freedom. So she gets to work, but problems keep cropping up. In other stories, Lintang would end up solving these problems single-handedly through her ingenuity or god-given inspiration or some other miracle that Chosen Ones are so often blessed with.
But this is a solarpunk story, which means that the whole community works together. If you’re tired, you can rest, and there is no guilt and shame in relying on others. Solutions are always possible when we come together, or even when circumstances draw us apart.
As some familiar tropes—of people going to the big city and growing estranged from their villages—arose in the story, I expected familiar outcomes that the characters would have to accept as Hard Truths. Yet Noor surprised me at each turn, as if saying to me, “Don’t be too quick in judging, and don’t be harsh. This can have a different, better outcome too.” And in each case, it does.
“Bruised-Eye Dusk” by Jonathan Louis Duckworth
Rugg the spellbreaker only stopped at Ganvill to stock up on some supplies before continuing on his journey. But now he has to stay in order to help catch and kill the sour conja who has cursed the swamp village, leading to a sickness in kids and animals that no healer has been able to cure. The villagers agree to pay him with the supplies he needs in exchange for his work. But when he gets to the place the conjawitch is believed to be, he finds that its full of spells stronger than he’d encountered. Sweet conjawitches help and heal, while sour conja can do the opposite. Rugg has dealt with their kind before, but something’s up at this place—and soon encounters someone he didn’t expect to find there, though he should have.
I am always a fan of happy endings and choosing kindness and believing in people. This is one of those stories, told with a distinctive, enjoyable voice.
“For All Those Who Sheltered Here” by Del Sandeen
If our trees could speak, what stories would they tell us? Del Sandeen offers one perspective, a tree narrating the story of its life, moments of witnessing birth and death, love and horror, violence and peace. A beautiful story that ends on a hopeful note.
“Downstairs, Upstairs” by Melissa Mead
When we say we believe in humanity, we mean, among other things, that we believe that people can change their circumstances. But some people don’t believe that—or can’t, stuck because of their own guilt, by their own cruelty towards themselves—and helping them can often be difficult. That’s the case with the Flimsies—bits of soul who believe they deserve eternal punishment—but our protagonist thinks there’s hope. Can belief and persistence triumph over despair and stubbornness?
“Eve’s Prayer” by Victor Forna
Eve is an ape who’s been part of numerous studies, her body modified over and over so that she can travel across the cosmos to find a new planet for humans to settle now that Earth has been destroyed. She finds such a place, but she also finds her heart torn, so she prays to God, asking for guidance—should she press the button to let the humans know she’s found a new home for them, or should she leave the place alone, untouched by human greed?
