Extinction Notice: Tales of a Warming Earth is a compilation of original short stories, poems, and flash fiction curated by David Harten Watson with a science-fiction, revisionist, and speculative twist. Watson has cleverly used the term “cli-fi” for the overriding theme of environmental assault and the repercussions presented in each independent story. The book is broken down into six parts by timeline, beginning with The Past (250,000,000 BC to January 2021) and concluding with Part Seven: The Twenty-Third Century (2201 to 2300 AD). All told, there are forty-one pieces that range in length, tone, and tenor, from Watson's direct and cutting Donald the Crooked President, a melody to sing along to the tune of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, to Rann Murray's Man Moon, a nearly thirty-page short story about a scrap-salvaging family in the asteroid belt with the futuristic equivalent of a podcast who find more than the typical space debris; the consequences of which may hold a foreboding preview of what's to come.

I love a good anthology and the bite-sized format of fiction, so David Harten Watson's Extinction Notice was the perfect fit to satiate that hunger. The beauty of the book is in the variety of voices presented that highlight the skill and storytelling ability of its contributors, something that is not usually accomplished in a volume with a single author. My favorite piece is Earth-seed by Tara Calaby, about a botanist named Dawn aboard the colony vessel Ark, who finds herself in a desperate race against time to save a seed bank; the final vestiges of gene diversity and food source from an Earth that is no longer habitable. She also quite literally comes face to face with the deadly reality that an elitist mindset lives on, regardless of where in the universe humans remain. In creating the book, Watson has given a platform to storytellers so they might easily share their stories as a community to all of us readers. Without this, it is unlikely most of us would ever know the names of some of these authors, which would be a tragic thing, indeed. Overall, this is an excellent collection that I have no doubt will warm the hearts and tickle the imaginations of its readers.

Extinction Notice: Tales of a Warming Earth is a collection of fascinating stories, poems, and songs in the environmental, climate, and science fiction subgenres. This ensemble collection contains a diverse collection of authors and was collated and edited by David Harten Watson. The work is intended for the general reading audience from teens upward but does contain some stories with a pre-warning of more mature content such as explicit language or scenes of violence. From tales of political decisions gone horribly wrong to the prospect of sharing our planet with robots and even aliens, these forward-thinking and socially conscious works explore the effects of climate change on our planet, now and in the future.

I am a huge fan of climate fiction and I enjoy seeing as much variety in the presentation and genre of material as possible. David Harten Watson has put together an ideal collection for enthusiasts and newcomers to the genre alike, delivering a wonderful variety of entertaining and genuinely frightening realities to explore. Some particular favorites came from the later near-future section of the work; for example, Taria Karillion’s unique culturally comparative perspective in “The Highs and Lows of Barefoot Pleasure”, and the ingeniously inventive “The Great Greenland Quilting Bee” by J.G. Follansbee. But all in all, every single story had its own charm and style and was based on interesting and thought-provoking ideas about climate problems and, perhaps more importantly, the consequences and/or solutions that the future may bring, depending on how we act now. Overall, I would not hesitate to recommend Extinction Notice to readers from all walks of life. Get yourself a copy now.

After reading the entire book, I don't know whether to be hopeful or terrified of the future, but at least I enjoyed the read.