ECO24: The Year's Best Speculative Ecofiction
by Marissa van Uden
ISBN 9781955765404
Cover art by Marcela Bolívar
Pp. 310
Preorder and save 30%!
Release Date 11/18/25
"A triumph. 23 stellar tales offering creative and varied takes on the book's themes. Every entry is equal parts thought-provoking, insightful, and impactful." —Publishers Weekly Starred Review
Table of Contents
"In the Field" — Shelly Jones
"The Water Runner" — Eugen Bacon
"Ama's Jungle" — K-Ming Chang
"A Seder in Siberia" — Louis Evans
"Love, Scotland" — E.M. Faulds
"Our Best Selves" — Hiron Ennes
"The Ghost Tenders of Chornobyl" — Nika Murphy
"Swarm X1048 - Ethological Field Report: Canis Lupus Familiaris, '6'" — F.E. Choe
"Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackened Husk of a Planet" — Adeline Wong
"The Last Library" — Joshua Jones Lofflin
"Bodies" — Cat McMahan
"Pig House" — Kay Vaindal
"The Plasticity of Being" — Renan Bernardo
"Batter and Pearl" — Steph Kwiatkowski
"Parasite's Grief" — Katharine Tyndall
"Skittering Within" — Kelsea Yu
"To Drive the Cold Winter Away" — E. Catherine Tobler
"One with the Ground" — Guillermo G. Mendoza
"We the People Excluding I" — Osahon Ize-Iyamu
"Father Time Dares You to Dream" — Trae Hawkins
"Birdseed" — Matthew Freeman
"The Colonists" — Jennifer Hudak
"Mangrove Daughter" — E.M. Linden
Editor Bio
Marissa van Uden is a writer, editor, and nature-lover originally from Aotearoa New Zealand but now based in Vermont, where she lives in a little cabin in the woods overlooking a beaver pond. As an anthologist, her credits include the award-winning The Off-Season: An Anthology of Coastal New Weird and the Strange Microfiction anthology series (Strange Libations, Strange Machines, and Strange Locations). Her short stories have been published in Vastarien Literary Journal, Dark Matter Magazine, and Small Wonders, among others. You can find her at bluesky @marissavu.bsky.social; instagram @marissa.vu, or at marissavu.com.
Blurbs
"Each author offers us a unique ecological niche to reveal what our present and future could be, ranging from wrenching disasters to elating possibilities of recovery. These stories are personal and lyrical, and the breadth of imagination and styles make this anthology dazzling. Every story is a gem." —Sue Burke, author of Semiosis
"This first of a series exploring humanity's 'communal fears, grief, and passion as we try to protect our natural world' is a triumph. Van Uden (editor of The Off-Season) brings together 23 stellar tales offering creative and varied takes on the book's themes... Every entry is equal parts thought-provoking, insightful, and impactful." —Publishers Weekly Starred Review
"A diverse collection unified by a common question: what is humanity's role in the destruction and ultimate healing of nature?" —Priya Chand
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- Description
- Table of Contents
- Editor Bio
- Blurbs
Preorder and save 30%!
Release Date 11/18/25
"A triumph. 23 stellar tales offering creative and varied takes on the book's themes. Every entry is equal parts thought-provoking, insightful, and impactful." —Publishers Weekly Starred Review
A must-read annual showcase of the best nature-based science fiction and fantasy short stories published around the world every year. Featuring works by rising stars and established names, this anthology is an exploration of humanity's deep relationships with other species and of our communal fears, grief, and passion as we try to protect our natural world—all told through the lens of the fantastic.Ranging from literary science fiction and magical realism to dark fantasy and climate fiction, the stories form a unique snapshot of how some of the most brilliant and imaginative authors writing today are engaging with this extraordinary time in Earth's natural history. The inaugural edition, selected by award-winning editor and anthologist Marissa van Uden and a team of passionate ecofiction judges, features works by Eugen Bacon, E. Catherine Tobler, Hiron Ennes, K-Ming Chang, Kay Vaindal, Kelsea Yu, Renan Bernardo, and many other brilliant authors.
"In the Field" — Shelly Jones
"The Water Runner" — Eugen Bacon
"Ama's Jungle" — K-Ming Chang
"A Seder in Siberia" — Louis Evans
"Love, Scotland" — E.M. Faulds
"Our Best Selves" — Hiron Ennes
"The Ghost Tenders of Chornobyl" — Nika Murphy
"Swarm X1048 - Ethological Field Report: Canis Lupus Familiaris, '6'" — F.E. Choe
"Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackened Husk of a Planet" — Adeline Wong
"The Last Library" — Joshua Jones Lofflin
"Bodies" — Cat McMahan
"Pig House" — Kay Vaindal
"The Plasticity of Being" — Renan Bernardo
"Batter and Pearl" — Steph Kwiatkowski
"Parasite's Grief" — Katharine Tyndall
"Skittering Within" — Kelsea Yu
"To Drive the Cold Winter Away" — E. Catherine Tobler
"One with the Ground" — Guillermo G. Mendoza
"We the People Excluding I" — Osahon Ize-Iyamu
"Father Time Dares You to Dream" — Trae Hawkins
"Birdseed" — Matthew Freeman
"The Colonists" — Jennifer Hudak
"Mangrove Daughter" — E.M. Linden
Marissa van Uden is a writer, editor, and nature-lover originally from Aotearoa New Zealand but now based in Vermont, where she lives in a little cabin in the woods overlooking a beaver pond. As an anthologist, her credits include the award-winning The Off-Season: An Anthology of Coastal New Weird and the Strange Microfiction anthology series (Strange Libations, Strange Machines, and Strange Locations). Her short stories have been published in Vastarien Literary Journal, Dark Matter Magazine, and Small Wonders, among others. You can find her at bluesky @marissavu.bsky.social; instagram @marissa.vu, or at marissavu.com.
"Each author offers us a unique ecological niche to reveal what our present and future could be, ranging from wrenching disasters to elating possibilities of recovery. These stories are personal and lyrical, and the breadth of imagination and styles make this anthology dazzling. Every story is a gem." —Sue Burke, author of Semiosis
"This first of a series exploring humanity's 'communal fears, grief, and passion as we try to protect our natural world' is a triumph. Van Uden (editor of The Off-Season) brings together 23 stellar tales offering creative and varied takes on the book's themes... Every entry is equal parts thought-provoking, insightful, and impactful." —Publishers Weekly Starred Review
"A diverse collection unified by a common question: what is humanity's role in the destruction and ultimate healing of nature?" —Priya Chand
ECO24: The Year's Best Speculative Ecofiction