- The Terraformers (2023) by Annalee Newitz. In lieu of a single simple reset, there is a continuous bargaining between capitalistic rentiers and enslaved residents who fight over hundreds of years throughout the final stages of a planet's terraforming. Homelessness, mass transit, wealth inequality, and racism all are running themes.
- Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future (2018) by Ed Finn (ed.) and Kathryn Cramer (ed.) is anthology of several science fiction authors who submitted stories with the purpose of specifically counteracting the trend at the time of (post-)apocalyptic stories anticipating a bleak future for humanity. One particularly aspirational story that persists in my memory is Girl in Wave : Wave in Girl by Kathleen Ann Goonan; it is a story about the sociopolitical impact of universal literacy, achieved thanks to the release of an inexpensive medicine that enhances human cognitive abilities, allowing anyone to overcome learning disabilities such as dyslexia. Other stories in the anthology are optimistic for other reasons, but this story comes to mind when I read your post.
this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2026
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