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4.0
Another Life
ByPublisher Description
Finding out who you were in a previous life sounds like fun until you're forced to grapple with the darkness of the past. Galacia Aguirre is Mediator of Otra Vida, a quasi-utopian city on the shores of a human-made lake in Death Valley. She resolves conflicts within their sustainable money-free society, and keeps the outside world from meddling in their affairs. When a scientific method of uncovering past lives emerges, Galacia learns she's the reincarnation of Thomas Ramsey, leader of the Planet B movement, who eschewed fixing climate change in favor of colonizing another planet. Learning her reincarnation result shakes the foundations of Galacia's identity and her position as Mediator, threatening to undermine the good she's done in this lifetime. Fearing a backlash, she keeps the results secret while dealing with her political rival for Mediator, and outsiders who blame Otra Vida for bombings that Galacia is sure they had nothing to do with. But under the unforgiving sun of Death Valley, secrets have a way of coming to light.
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4.0
Pvp_Niki
Created over 1 year agoShare
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“This was an amazing introduction for me to the solarpunk genre, which I've been so much craving for!
When I saw solarpunk mixed with reincarnation I wanted to read it instantly. Especially since it deals with what happens if you find out that you were a terrible person in your past life, terrible not in the sense as an awkward neighbor but like war-crime levels.
If you expect a diverse read of feasible-looking positive climate fiction with elaboration in the social and moral implications of reincarnation being scientifically proven, go for it right now!
I didn't know what to expect from this book, but I certainly didn't expect the lot of different themes introduced as the implications of a technology that can tell who you were in your past life. I don't like when a scifi takes one extremely groundbreaking technology and only cares about one aspect of its consequences, usually the coolest or most dangerous effects, ignoring all other implications that'd affect the smallest things in everyday life and especially how the society changes.
Another Life shows us this technology at the very beginning, right after discovery when only the members of this solarpunk community are aware it exists and try it. And even now in this early stage of this technology the plot revolves around how it affects people's lives, relationships, social hierarchy and such.
Also, it was intriguing to read about a protagonist who is a mediator of such community and the worldbuilding elements were nicely blended into the plot points originating from her position.
At first I felt sceptic about how reincarnation would be explained in a scifi but it was explained with a really credible mix of genetics and quantum mechanics so I can absolutely recommend this book even if you are afraid of esoteric pseudoscience talk because this story doesn't feel like that.
The cast is diverse in ethnicity, age, disabilities, gender and sexuality.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC.”
Dorothy 🍂🐦⬛🕯️
Created about 2 years agoShare
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“The world is in ruins due to the climate crisis, with one man, Thomas Ramsey, held up as the poster boy for climate denial, who sent many people into bankruptcy, depression and also, for those who could afford his shuttle to "Planet B", sent many people to their death when it exploded on launch, taking him with it. However, our story begins forty years later in Otra Vida, a utopic city in the middle of the desert where reincarnation has been scientifically Verified. What would it mean to know exactly who you were in a past life? And what would it mean for all the good you've done trying to mitigate the fallout of the climate crisis and look out for the health and wellbeing of an entire city, if you found out that in your previous life, you were none other than the most hated climate terrorist in the entire world?
This story was a wonderful little thought experiment. I love science fiction and speculative fiction and this short book has a whole lot of depth to sink your teeth into. I loved the way the author explored ways to tackle climate change and the vastly different reactions of each group to the same problem, eg Capitalist vs Marxist ideals which I saw in this book as for the profits vs for the people. This reminded me a lot of an anthropological text I read called A Postcapital Politics which tries to envision how a society outside of the hegemonic capitalist society could work. Ulibarri takes an idea and runs with it, forming the most wonderful society that looks out for its people making sure everyone has exactly what they need in a time where most live in scarcity due to greedy trade deals, border closures, and corrupt government deals. It shows the necessity to evolve from old ways of society and agriculture to a new method more in tune with nature and with more consideration for our mental health and wellbeing. It also shows how others may react to their ways becoming obsolete and the actions they may take to silence those who think differently.
Though that is still a major part of the plot and integral to how the story plays out in its crisis point, it also takes a back seat to the notion of identity and what it means to be human. The discovery of genetic markers, "fingerprints for the soul" on our genetic structure, sends the entire city of Otra Vida into a frenzy. Everyone wants to know who they were in a past life, convinced that people like Thomas Ramsey could only ever be reincarnated as a cockroach. But what if you had been a terrible person in another life? Would that negate any good you do in your current one, and should/could you be persecuted for something you did in a previous life? Furthermore, what if the mass extinction of wildlife across the world could be correlated with the rise in population growth in a different way than we ever thought conceivable? What would happen if animals who had been hunted for sport and greed suddenly found themselves reincarnated in a human body, full of hatred for the human race but unsure of why and what to do with it? These philosophical wicked problems were a very interesting inclusion that took a story that would already have been incredible and took it to even more phenomenal heights!
Another Life is a story of resilience, reinvention, and renewal that provides us with an optimistic blueprint for a better, more thoughtful future. Thank you Netgalley and Steliform Press for the advance copy.”
Marvin Lee
Created about 2 years agoShare
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“"We were handed a world built from blood and ruin. There’s nowhere we can step that doesn’t stir up ghosts."
Sarena Ulibarri is a phenomenal writer who really knows her craft. And this book has some amazing futuristic solarpunk world building. Or maybe it's not so far in the future.
But its felt like the book ended to quickly. It paced perfectly throughout most of the narrative but the ending just felt rushed and was wrapped up in the last few chapter.
All in all though a very enjoyable read and great addition to the solarpunk genre.”
macyysuee
Created about 2 years agoShare
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““I promised everyone another world and that’s exactly what I delivered.”
If I’m being honest, when I started reading this I thought I might DNF it within the first 10 pages, but I am so glad that I stuck it out because I really enjoyed reading this and found myself wishing for more!
Another Life gives a brutally honest look at what very well could be our near future and how life really does tend to come full circle. I found it to be beautifully written, but if you are not big on science like myself I did struggle at times to get through the technical terms.
I think this book could have been a bit longer so that some issues could have been better explained such as why the main character is called Galacia even though her actual name is Lacey or other aspects of the fictional world that have been created.
There were also quite a few typos/errors that were missed in editing that sometimes tripped me up on my reading, but as I did read it before the publishing date hopefully those issues will be resolved.
Overall I really enjoyed this read and found my self very emotionally invested in the characters and their lives and loved how this book gets your mind thinking about such prevalent social issues in todays society, but by approaching it from a different angle with the themes of reincarnation.”
About Sarena Ulibarri
Sarena Ulibarri edited two anthologies of optimistic climate fiction, Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers (2018) and Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Winters (2020), and co-edited Multispecies Cities: Solarpunk Urban Futures (2021). Her short fiction has appeared in magazines such as Lightspeed, GigaNotoSaurus, and DreamForge, as well as numerous anthologies.
Other books by Sarena Ulibarri
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