I’ve found myself drawn to post-apocalyptic worlds in movies, books, and songs for as long as I can remember. I love the high stakes, found families, and glimmers of hope even in a ravaged world, as well as the questions these stories ask: “How would I survive?” “What would I preserve from my old life, and what would I discard?” “What’s really important?” Whether the end comes from climate change, viruses, zombies, or aliens, I’ll never tire of reading new ones. Male writers dominate the genre, but there are also many female and non-binary authors exploring post-apocalyptic worlds. I hope this list gives you a jumping-off point for further explorations!
After disease and nuclear warfare decimate the world population, 17-year-old Nadia is sure she’s the last person left on Earth. She buries her before-the-end memories and focuses on survival. Then one night, she hears a voice on her radio and everything changes. Nadia finds comfort in her newfound companions, but they also discover an unsettling thread tying them together: their shared birthdays. As they begin to unravel the mysteries surrounding their survival, they soon realize it was no accident, and that they could be in far more danger than they ever imagined…
This was my first foray into post-apocalyptic fiction as a preteen, and one of the first books I remember being unable to put down! In this first book of a series, seven teenagers enter “the Big Empty”, or what was once the central region of the United States. I love the different personalities of each POV character and the struggle each endures to find safety and a sense of normalcy after a virus devastates their world. The mysteries surrounding the Strain 7 virus, the Novo Mundum community, and the dangers of the Big Empty are sure to keep you turning pages!
After half of the world's population is killed by a plague, seven teenagers seek a better life in a nightmarish future by deciphering coded messages and trying to avoid the Slashers. Original.
This is my favorite post-apocalyptic book of the alien invasion variety. Our main characters are Ellie, a teenager running an illegal library of books and music in what was once New York City, and MoRr1s, a not-so-emotionless alien drawn to human art—and Ellie. You’ll fall in love with them both as they cross the post-alien-invasion United States on a mission to save what’s left of the world.
“This debut has it all: music, books, aliens, adventure, resistance, queerness, and a bold heroine tying it all together. ”—Ms. Magazine
Can a girl who risks her life for books and an Ilori who loves pop music work together to save humanity?
When a rebel librarian meets an Ilori commander…
Two years ago, a misunderstanding between the leaders of Earth and the invading Ilori resulted in the death of one-third of the world’s population. Today, seventeen-year-old Ellie Baker survives in an Ilori-controlled center in New York City. All art, books and creative expression are illegal, but Ellie breaks the rules…
No list of my favorite post-apocalyptic books would be complete without The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I remember first devouring this book in a single day and have returned to it many times over the years. I love the survival skills, dystopian society, high stakes, and difficult choices. If you haven’t yet joined Katniss on her journey to save her sister and survive the twisted life-or-death games, there’s no time like the present!
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. But Katniss has been close to death before - and survival, for her, is second nature. The Hunger Games is a searing novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present. Welcome to the deadliest reality TV show ever...
As a fan of the post-apocalyptic genre, I’ve read a great many zombie novels over the years, but I can safely say that none stood out to me the way Severance by Ling Ma did. As Shen Fever overruns the world, turning people into zombies stuck in repetitive tasks from their human lives, Candace Chen reluctantly leaves her office job to search for safety among a group of survivors. Most zombie books ask what one would do when faced with zombies. Written in a literary style and exploring a range of topics including consumerism and the immigrant experience, this book will have you asking the equally chilling questions: “What would I do if I became a zombie? What mind-numbing, mundane routine would my life boil down to?”.
Maybe it’s the end of the world, but not for Candace Chen, a millennial, first-generation American and office drone meandering her way into adulthood in Ling Ma’s offbeat, wryly funny, apocalyptic satire, Severance.
"A stunning, audacious book with a fresh take on both office politics and what the apocalypse might bring." ―Michael Schaub, NPR.org
“A satirical spin on the end times-- kind of like The Office meets The Leftovers.” --Estelle Tang, Elle
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY: NPR * The New Yorker ("Books We Loved") * Elle * Marie Claire * Amazon Editors * The Paris Review…
In the world of The Marrow Thieves, the apocalypse is due to climate change and a sickness that robs people of the ability to dream. When it’s discovered that marrow from Indigenous people can restore dreams to the afflicted, fifteen-year-old French is forced into hiding with a group of other Indigenous Canadians, traveling ever northward as they flee the marrow thieves. I appreciated the survival skills, found family, coming-of-age story, ripples of the horrors that were residential schools, and fight to preserve Indigenous lives and culture found within these pages.
Humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming, but now an even greater evil lurks. The indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream. In this dark world, Frenchie and his companions struggle to survive as they make their way up north to the old lands. For now, survival means staying hidden-but what they don't know is that one of them holds the secret to defeating the marrow thieves.
I’ve worked in journalism, politics, and public policy for 30-plus years and watched as the extreme voices gained the most traction on either side of a debate. On social media, these minority views often dominate the discussion. 48 States is a stand-alone novel highlighting the problems of extremist viewpoints in a civil society. I also have another book series that features a political consultant who discovers she's a witch and joins a secret society that uses magic to manipulate elections to protect humanity. Bottom line: if I can’t fix political discourse for a living, I can write science fiction novels that contemplate how to do it.
True Blood meets Supernatural in the kickoff of this urban paranormal fantasy series from an acclaimed author. Readers enter a dystopian San Francisco filled with empaths and vampires embroiled in political unrest—and Book 1 is just the beginning.
Much as she wishes otherwise, superstar political consultant Olivia Shepherd was born a powerful empath. It’s a legacy she walked away from long ago—but when she wakes up one morning to find Elsa, a tenacious time-walker, standing in her kitchen, she realizes she can no longer ignore her gifts. She is quickly plunged into the hidden world of powerful “Others” and drafted to work for the Council, a shadowy organization that summons the fog to San Francisco to obscure their involvement in human affairs.
Complicating matters further is Olivia’s new love interest, William. A centuries-old vampire, William is far too jaded to take an interest in human affairs—but Olivia no longer has the luxury of remaining impartial. As shocking details from Olivia’s own past emerge and her role in the Council begins to take shape, will she rise to the challenge of her destiny?
True Blood meets Supernatural in the kickoff of this urban paranormal fantasy series from an acclaimed author. Readers enter a dystopian San Francisco filled with empaths and vampires embroiled in political unrest—and Book 1 is just the beginning.
Much as she wishes otherwise, superstar political consultant Olivia Shepherd was born a powerful empath. It’s a legacy she walked away from long ago—but when she wakes up one morning to find Elsa, a tenacious time-walker, standing in her kitchen, she realizes she can no longer ignore her gifts. She is quickly plunged into the hidden world of powerful “Others” and drafted…
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