Another book we had to get for the class is "Loosen Upon the World" edited by John Joseph Adams. It is a short story collection made up of many famous authors. You'll notice by the title that this is part 1, meaning I intend on reading this book to its entirety and splitting it up the best I can. The first two or three articles in this series will be based on what my university has decided to read and then my own independent dive into what others have to say and write in climate fiction.
This theme with my analysis? Effectiveness in how the story portrayed the climate issues. I actually enjoyed trying to find each different issue in my discussion in class and it was quite interesting.
1. Mutant Stag at Horn Creek by Sarah K. Castle (pg. 453-486)
This story was bizarre from the beginning. It follows a Grand Canyon Park Ranger, Sue, while she navigates the declining nature of the Park. Rain waters have flooded mines, making new streams acidic.
There are not a lot of rangers so they are mostly by themselves when patrolling. Sue decided to patrol near Horn Creek. Early on, we meet the Stag through Sue's interest in seeing odd antlers and wanted to get a closer look. She saw the Stag's antlers were intertwined, jagged, and all over the place, comparing them to a moose's antlers. Finally, after trying to advance toward the stag, he got defensive and showed his teeth - his fangs. Getting startled, she through a heavy tool at him and ran (we later find out he died due to this).
Over the course of the following years, Horn Creek was cut off due to flooding and dangerous levels of acid. She's older now and about to go into retirement when she gets the green light to go back to Horn Creek. She invites her niece to come with her. With the arrival of her niece, we come to know the outside world.
Tattoos along the body are meant to be a source of power for glasses that record and then upload for other people to see at a price. This is how people get money, by recording anything and uploading it. This soon becomes a problem for Sue as some creatures they run into are either endangered and potentially violent or endangered to going extinct.
Towards the end, they find turtles that are going extinct with a mysterious death - their shells cracked. Finally, they find the deer and the sons of the mutant stag who are killing and eating the turtles.
I found "Mutant Stag" more effective as the idea of carnivore deer is not new. However, Castle took a newer, unexpected turn when it comes to these deer. I found it interesting how a few issues were brought up. Realistic issues that can happen any day in the future with the mines in the Canyon being flooded and the acidic river due to these mines. While Arizona still sees rainfall, the global issues can cause it to flood at any given moment, it just needs, what was seen, a good rain. Throughout the story, I came to the conclusion that the first stag figured out how to cope with the acidic water as well as a better way to fight off other stags in the area so he may be able to continue his line. The fangs can also be for fighting mechanisms and to get other plants or remove the bark. Though, the carnivorous turn did not expect till the characters found the turtles. The overall turn for these creatures, like the other odd ones, showed how humans essentially had a hand in a disruption to the local ecosystem just in Horn Creek.
2. The Myth of Rain by Seanan McGuire (pg. 25-38)
This story was mostly about saving wildlife for future generations to enjoy. Unfortunately, the world here is resorting to cutting down trees in National Parks. The protection behind these parks was sliced by the government and the group in this story was tasked with preserving life.
The main character is a scientist who has been given a portion of land from the park to grab specimens of plants and animals for a few months. He was focused on an owl when they received news that the government was moving in too soon - early the following day, three months early. In his hast to help the wildlife and grab the bird, he and the group deployed back into his plot of land to try to save what was left. When he tried to grab the owl, he was not successful.
I put this story second as it clearly showed what is going on in the world around the main character. The writer dung into the character's background where we learned that multiple houses have been destroyed due to corrosion on cliff sides as well as fires - and a wildfire in his childhood home took his parents' lives. The story was quick-paced, identifying everything wrong with what he had to do as well as the corruptness of the government and the lengths the world had to go through to help and keep wildlife preserved.
3. Shooting the Apocalypse by Paolo Bacigalupi (pg. 1-24)
A reporter and a photographer go into a bar...
There are no bars in this story unless you want to talk about graphic details and the 'no water' surprise at the end. The photographer is experienced in the world of reporting while the actual reporter/writer is new. While she wants to engage in something 'new'.
Through one tip, the photographer found a 'new' story to report and that is when the world's problem started coming to light. Texas is its own country for a long time and some of the residents are trying to come to Arizona.
Unfortunately, due to the world's shift, the water supply is dwindling. Arizona created a canal from the Colorado River, through the desert, to reach Phoenix. The tip lead to a scene near the canal that appeared to be a Texan trying to get water from the canal. After arguments, the reporter agreed to take the story.
Weeks later, they found a similar scene near the canal. And the story ends with the realization that the canal is dried up.
I put this story third for effectiveness as there wasn't much reference to what was going on outside the main issue such as why and how Texas seemingly deflected from the US or why Texans are leaving their residency. There is no reason why these things happened, or even how besides why the canal happened.
4. The Day it All Ended by Charlie Jane Anders (pg. 407-418)
There isn't much going on outside of the main character that we see. Bruce works for a company that sells seemingly, useless toys and gadgets to the general public. Basically, he snaps because these toys are useless and the company is directly helping the decline of the global climate. Bruce is seen rushing into the CEO's office to resign.
The CEO of the company is a young man and he predicted Bruce's resignation but it was three months later when he actually did. The CEO was expecting Bruce and later invites him to a meeting where he sits and listens to 'terrible' arguments and claims of the company.
When it's his turn to speak, he blames everyone in the room for the issues outside. The CEO reveals the inside scope of the gadgets and how they can help the world and people. The catch? If Bruce presses the button, he has to tell everyone what is going on.
To save the world, he presses it.
This story, I decided gave the less effective way to show the issues of the world in relation to climate change. The issues this world faced didn't seem quite obvious to me, other than the technological reliance humans have. I didn't find it believable that a young CEO was waiting for one person to have an episode to then save the world. It just didn't seem believable.
Final Thoughts
I am really excited about what the other stories this book holds. Climate change is a real problem and while we have seen multiple movies of the issue, seeing what other people have ideas about the apocalypse and reading it is something different. The next few posts will be able to these short stories and I intend on continuing my ideas.
As always, leave your own thoughts as well as leave your recommendations for my first review post, "Book Reviews".
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