Aerovoyant: explore the present through a fictional future and dive into the climate fiction genre
It’s not a secret. I love climate fiction. Very few books fit squarely in the genre currently, but the list grows. As the climate crisis continues to loom on the horizon, we need authors exploring climate change through creative social, political, and scientific angles to inspire and engage the minds of readers. Public consciousness needs to shift if we’re to craft solutions to the largest problem faced by humanity as a whole.
In Aerovoyant, P. L Tavormina has crafted a brilliantly prescient—and retrospective—narrative, exploring climate change on an earth analog millennia in the future. Humankind has evolved in some ways—with creative genetic modifications—but as a society, it faces many of the same problems faced by our present industrialized world.
It all boils down to money.
And power.
And Tavormina gives a largely character-driven narrative of two individuals forced to face realities about themselves—and the world—that stretch and push their beliefs in powerful ways. Every piece of this story is meticulously crafted to reflect the present, whether its rural exploitation, worker health risk, or public misinformation. Yet when weaved together, Tavormina doesn’t create a carbon copy of our current political crisis. The world created feels real, authentic, and true to its premise.
If you’ve been itching for a SciFi read which explores climate change outside traditional political contexts, this book is for you. It’s heady—it’s scientific—it’s unabashedly true to itself.
On to the scores!
Writing: 8/10. Good writing. Tavormina weaves words and chapters together in a clear and concise way, and you never feel trapped or bogged down by the story’s sentences.
Characters: 8/10. The cast of Aerovoyant is incredibly varied in both motives and beliefs as it is in personalities. Each character feels real.
Setting: 9/10. Not every detail is explicitly stated, but the world of Aerovoyant is deeper than it may appear on the surface. Especially as this series expands into future books, expect a world rich in conflict and creative opportunity.
Plot: 7/10. Enjoyable, though by far the “weakest” aspect of the story. That’s not a bad thing—Aerovoyant is 100% character-driven, and you’ll fall in love with its protagonists. However, I wish more time was spent building up the antagonist forces to truly understand why they do what they do beyond greed. Perhaps that’s a truth of our world, though—people are just greedy.
Overall: 8/10. A solid four-star novel, I would recommend Aerovoyant for anyone looking for a new climate read.