It’s no secret that the natural world has been changing for some time now. For years, global warming has been at the forefront of world issues, with effects becoming increasingly visible. These six novels use tense worldbuilding, compelling characters, and imaginative circumstances to predict consequences of the climate crisis and visualize human responses to the man-made destabilization of the Earth.
The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi
As the United States unravels in a future plagued by climate-change-induced droughts, cities Phoenix and Las Vegas fight for a share of the Colorado River. The Las Vegas water knives — skilled assassins, terrorists, and spies — are known for protecting their city’s water supplies. When they hear rumors of a new water source, elite water knife Angel Velasquez goes to Phoenix to investigate. He encounters journalist Lucy Monroe, who holds the key to accessing the game-changing water source, but Angel’s not the only one hunting for water in this post-apocalyptic world.
Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson
Billionaire restaurant chain magnate T. R. Schmidt has an idea to reverse global warming, but what are the chances that it works? More importantly, if it’s implemented, how will it affect an already suffering world dealing with rising sea levels, global flooding, and superstorms? From the heart of Texas to the peaks of the Himalayas, a group of contrasting characters navigate the real-life consequences of climate change. Termination Shock seeks to ask questions about the potential solutions and risks of solving the climate crisis.
Vigil Harbor by Julia Glass
In the town of Vigil Harbor, a community welcomes unexpected visitors who threaten to disrupt their efforts to confront climate instability, political violence, and family drama. Set a decade into the future, the novel’s main character, Austin Kepner, pursues his passion for building homes to withstand relentless storms as his stepson returns after surviving a terrorist attack. When the strangers from out of town arrive, their ulterior motives are revealed in a dangerous incident that is sure to have dramatic consequences.
It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way by Alistair Mackay
In just a few years, climate collapse leaves Cape Town fragmented. Those who could afford to leave have fled to the New Temperate Zones and The Citadel on Signal Hill. Here, residents pass their days entranced by virtual reality. Before the Change, Luthando tries to prevent disaster, but he clashes with the government as his life partner, Viwe, becomes ensnared in the religious fanaticism rising across the city. It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way is a story of love and friendship persevering through climate breakdown with characters that “will make you laugh, cry, and feel deeply.”
Briefly Very Beautiful by Roz Dineen
A woman named Cass raises three small kids alone in a city disrupted by unsafe air, wildfires, and floods. With her husband, Nathaniel, gone to serve as a medic in an overseas war, Cass and the children soon evacuate to her mother-in-law’s house in the deep countryside when the city becomes dangerous. From there, they flee to a commune on the coast, but the village isn’t what it seems. Dineen creates a story that homes in on what it’s like to parent in scary times, an expression of the lengths one will go to for their family in a world on the edge of collapse.
New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson
In the year 2140, the ocean rises and submerges New York City. Resilient in the face of crisis, the residents adapted, keeping the city bustling and vibrant. Each street becomes a canal, and every skyscraper is now an island. From the perspective of the residents of one building, this dystopian novel explores the consequences of human greed and the role of community in surviving even the darkest of times.
Writers have continued to use their craft to imagine what the world would be like in the aftermath of a climate crisis. Whether enduring floods, a lack of natural resources, or uninhabitable lands, the characters in these novels represent the reality of an uncertain future and are a testament to the power of science fiction to comment on modern-day society.
To read more about dystopian fiction novels and the history of the genre, click here!
Find these books and more on our Dystopian Worlds, Technology, and the Universe in Science Fiction booklist on Bookshop.org!
