Chrysten Lofton's Reviews > Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers

4.0⭐ 🔥 t h e f u t u r e i s b r i g h t 🔥
**mild spoilers**

If you’re here, and you’re following my reviews, thank you for rolling with me. We’re on episode 31 of Stitcher’s LeVar Burton Reads, and we’re gifted with “Fyrewall” by Stefani Cox.

So, this was a really nice story. My gut instinct was to give it a three, but am I so bored by optimism? I hope you’ll divulge me one sci-fi tangent. LeVar brought up Star Trek, but in my assessment, I’m bringing up Rick & Morty. For those of you groaning, that’s fair, but I’ll keep it brief.

In the fan favorite episode, Pickle Rick, there’s a brilliant moment where a psychiatrist gets the better of an arrogant person. The specifics are that scientist, Rick Sanchez, was bored by family life, especially therapy, and the psychiatrist brilliantly summarizes his attitude as follows:

“I have no doubt that you would be bored senseless by therapy, the same way I am bored when I brush my teeth and wipe my ass, because the thing about repairing, maintaining and cleaning is, it’s not an adventure. There’s no way to do it so wrong you might die. It’s just work.”

I bring this up because 'Fyrewall' did come across as a little dull to me at first, but it was because to read it, is to put in a little work. For what the work yields, this story is inspired and valuable. Cox interacted with the future. She took the things we’re building in conversation now and projected them into a plausible reality. In that reality, we have a character who’s just working. It’s not crazy riveting, but the point made is good for the soul. It was good for me. It was repairing and helpful to my outlook.

We got to see the concept of representation for all. It’s not perfect. As a matter of fact, it came off as clunky and crowded. It also came off as possible. Our first, second, and third solutions to the problems at hand probably wont work, but we stay at it until we get it right. That’s what society is all about. A solution might be impractical, but putting it into action gives us a chance to take out the parts that don’t serve us, and elevate the efficient parts.

I am a little bored by optimism and happy endings. I want murder, revolution, scandals, and corruption. I love the uproar. But, sometimes we need stories like this. Especially because things don’t look too good around here. We need art to show us the way. This story has a subdued way about it. The prose is great, and the characters are totally us. I love the main character, I love her frustration with the kids, I love how she sees her world. I love the evolving technology, it feels familiar, even now.

Last observation: this future felt successful because it didn’t have amnesia. There was a lot of reference to the past, and how it brought them to where they are. They didn’t discount the past, they kept it close in their minds. I think that’s a huge flaw in society now, one in dire need of repair.

Thanks for reading, and If you wanna chat about the latest LBR episodes, hit me up in the comments and come meet up with us at LeVar Burton Reads: The Community on Facebook.

- 📚☕♥