Narrative volume "The Green Planet" by Marten Hahn Marten Hahn

Narrative volume "The Green Planet"
Ride through post-apocalyptic landscapes
By Marten Hahn
Listen to Podcast Subscribe to Podcast



 

Narrative volume "The Green Planet"
Ride through post-apocalyptic landscapes
By Marten Hahn
Listen to Podcast Subscribe to Podcast





 
Cover of the book "The Green Planet" on an orange watercolor background. (Deutschlandradio / Brain food)

It is about "awareness of the need for an urgently needed change in politics, society and science", say the editors. (Deutschlandradio / Hirnkost)
The anthology "The Green Planet" wants to use climate fiction stories to create awareness for a rethink in politics. Some contributions live from a good idea, many also convince in literary terms.

Politics shapes literature. The German environmental movement and the Greens have left their mark on German science fiction. And climate fiction has become a German speciality. At least that is the argument of literary scholars Andrew Milner and J.R. Burgmann in their essay "Climate Fiction: A World-Systems Approach" (2017).

And the evidence is overwhelming. From Dirk C. Fleck's "GO! Die Ökodiktatur" (1993), Frank Schätzing's "Der Schwarm" (2004) and Karen Duves "Macht" (2016). Now the Hirnkost-Verlag has deepened the trend. The anthology "Der Grüne Planet - Zukunft im Klimawandel" (The Green Planet - Future in Climate Change) brings together short stories by German-speaking authors, all of which fit into the "Cli-Fi" (Climate-Fiction) drawer.

Still getting the hang of it

The collection has a clear mission: to "raise awareness of the need for an urgently needed change in politics, society and science [...]", say the editors Hans Jürgen Kugler and René Moreau, the founder of the science fiction magazine "Exodus". "For contrary to the imagination of many a politician, imagination is boundless." So if you're looking for subtle messages, you're in for a disappointment. But the book holds more than the introductory policy bashing promises.

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"The Green Planet" is a wild ride through post-apocalyptic landscapes, asteroid belts and artificial snow. Sometimes the end times are already news, sometimes plants or AI have taken over, and sometimes we still got it right.

The latter applies quite literally to "Millennial Mammoth Crash Derby 3000". In the fast-paced history of Tino Falke, burners have long been a thing of the past. The whole world can be driven by emission-free "SmartCars" - until an excavation rekindles the enthusiasm for "oldtimers". "The louder the engine, the more intense the stench of exhaust fumes, the more the Old World and its long-forgotten achievements are honored." "Carbonized" by Rainer Schorm, on the other hand, successfully toyed with the idea: What if those who can afford it were to flee into space in the face of the climate catastrophe, come back at some point, but are no longer welcome in their old homeland?

The remaining time until the end of the world

Many stories in "The Green Planet" live from a good idea. "Mietnomaden" by Heidrun Jänchen is more complex. In crystal-clear prose, the author tells in episodes how humanity becomes a climate refugee. Here too we end up in space, in a generational spaceship. "It took criminal energy to live unhealthily despite optimized rations. People are getting older than planned. They had taken the problem of overpopulation with them into space."

Not all narratives are great scifi art. Some stories are pretty lazily drawn sketches. But the majority of stories are witty and exciting. A few, like Erik Simon's "The Dramp", are even linguistically original. It is doubtful whether the Hirnkost-Verlag, which recently saved the science fiction yearbook from going out of business, can also save the "green planet". The new anthology, however, at least gives its readers a pleasantly uncomfortable way to pass the remaining time until the end of the world.

Hans Jürgen Kugler, René Moreau (ed.): "The Green Planet". Anthology
Hirnkost Verlag, Berlin 2020
290 p., 25 Euro

***"Curious, empathetic, compassionate: What we should be as human beings."***

THE ''Cli-Fi ''REPORT:
100 academic and  media links:
http://cli-fi.net

 
Cover of the book "The Green Planet" on an orange watercolor background. (Deutschlandradio / Brain food)

It is about "awareness of the need for an urgently needed change in politics, society and science", say the editors. (Deutschlandradio / Hirnkost)
The anthology "The Green Planet" wants to use climate fiction stories to create awareness for a rethink in politics. Some contributions live from a good idea, many also convince in literary terms.

Politics shapes literature. The German environmental movement and the Greens have left their mark on German science fiction. And climate fiction has become a German speciality. At least that is the argument of literary scholars Andrew Milner and J.R. Burgmann in their essay "Climate Fiction: A World-Systems Approach" (2017).

And the evidence is overwhelming. From Dirk C. Fleck's "GO! Die Ökodiktatur" (1993), Frank Schätzing's "Der Schwarm" (2004) and Karen Duves "Macht" (2016). Now the Hirnkost-Verlag has deepened the trend. The anthology "Der Grüne Planet - Zukunft im Klimawandel" (The Green Planet - Future in Climate Change) brings together short stories by German-speaking authors, all of which fit into the "Cli-Fi" (Climate-Fiction) drawer.

Still getting the hang of it

The collection has a clear mission: to "raise awareness of the need for an urgently needed change in politics, society and science [...]", say the editors Hans Jürgen Kugler and René Moreau, the founder of the science fiction magazine "Exodus". "For contrary to the imagination of many a politician, imagination is boundless." So if you're looking for subtle messages, you're in for a disappointment. But the book holds more than the introductory policy bashing promises.

Subscribe to our cultural newsletter

"The Green Planet" is a wild ride through post-apocalyptic landscapes, asteroid belts and artificial snow. Sometimes the end times are already news, sometimes plants or AI have taken over, and sometimes we still got it right.

The latter applies quite literally to "Millennial Mammoth Crash Derby 3000". In the fast-paced history of Tino Falke, burners have long been a thing of the past. The whole world can be driven by emission-free "SmartCars" - until an excavation rekindles the enthusiasm for "oldtimers". "The louder the engine, the more intense the stench of exhaust fumes, the more the Old World and its long-forgotten achievements are honored." "Carbonized" by Rainer Schorm, on the other hand, successfully toyed with the idea: What if those who can afford it were to flee into space in the face of the climate catastrophe, come back at some point, but are no longer welcome in their old homeland?

The remaining time until the end of the world

Many stories in "The Green Planet" live from a good idea. "Mietnomaden" by Heidrun Jänchen is more complex. In crystal-clear prose, the author tells in episodes how humanity becomes a climate refugee. Here too we end up in space, in a generational spaceship. "It took criminal energy to live unhealthily despite optimized rations. People are getting older than planned. They had taken the problem of overpopulation with them into space."

Not all narratives are great scifi art. Some stories are pretty lazily drawn sketches. But the majority of stories are witty and exciting. A few, like Erik Simon's "The Dramp", are even linguistically original. It is doubtful whether the Hirnkost-Verlag, which recently saved the science fiction yearbook from going out of business, can also save the "green planet". The new anthology, however, at least gives its readers a pleasantly uncomfortable way to pass the remaining time until the end of the world.

Hans Jürgen Kugler, René Moreau (ed.): "The Green Planet". Anthology
Hirnkost Verlag, Berlin 2020
290 p., 25 Euro

***"Curious, empathetic, compassionate: What we should be as human beings."***

THE ''Cli-Fi ''REPORT:
100 academic and  media links:
http://cli-fi.net