Addison Rizer is a writer and reader of anything that can be described as weird, sad, or scary. She has an MA in Professional Writing and a BA in English. She writes for Book Riot and Publishers Weekly and is always looking for more ways to gush about the books she loves. Find her published work or contact her on her website or at addisonrizer at gmaildotcom.
Ize Press, your favorite Korean comics and novels publisher!
Struggling office worker Dokja Kim’s sole joy in life is an online novel so obscure that he’s its only reader. Then one day the story comes to an end...and so does the world. Horrific monsters prowling the streets, ordinary people forced to kill or be killed, and Goblins gleefully streaming all this carnage to a celestial audience—with the apocalypse straight out of his favorite novel unfolding around him, Dokja is the only one who can see this story to the finale!
Post-apocalyptic fiction, much like dystopian fiction in general, is often a direct reflection of the moment in time it was written in. While there are many similarities across the genre, themes emerge in the cause of the depicted apocalypse, the society’s reaction to it, and the behavior of the survivors. During times of high military tension, for example, post-apocalyptic fiction might show the aftermath of a nuclear war, whereas during a worldwide pandemic or medical uncertainty, writers might turn to exploring the result of an extreme version of existence in which very few humans are left behind.
In recent years, post-apocalyptic fiction has turned to another looming apocalypse: the environment. As it becomes more and more apparent that the environment is changing as a result of the actions of humankind, worry about the outcome seeps into the fiction that winds up on our bookshelves. Climate change, natural disasters, mutations of nature itself, it all reflects the concerns and fears of the people of today.
Regardless of the cause, post-apocalyptic fiction is a thriving genre with new books published every year. So, let’s look at what’s new! No matter what flavor of post-apocalypse is your jam, check out these six new post-apocalyptic reads full of anxiety, destruction, and a whole lot of hope!
Juice by Tim Winton
In Australia in the near future, global warming has made the surface of the Earth almost unlivable. Heat waves and clouds of ash kill those caught in their path, skin cancer is rampant, and living underground is the new norm. While on the run with a young girl, the narrator is captured by a man wielding a weapon. To the pair’s captor, the narrator must plead their case, revealing his past and his hope for a future as he does.
How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster by Muriel Leung
In New York City, acid rain falls. The buildings, infrastructure, everything, is falling apart. Mira decides to move in with her mother in an apartment building in the city, haunted not only because she left her girlfriend behind but also by the ghosts that reside in the building. Grief and loss permeate this strange, emotional apocalypse tale.
If We Survive This by Racquel Marie
After a rabies mutation turns those infected into zombie-like “rabids” who feast on the uninfected, Flora and her little brother Cain are left to fend for themselves. Leaving their suburban home, they make a run for a cabin where they used to vacation, where they hope to find safety and maybe their missing father. As they encounter rabids and survivors in turn, they must do whatever it takes to make it out together.
All The Water in the World by Eiren Caffall
When the glaciers melt and the weather morphs into increasingly intense storms, Nonie and her family live with a group on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History, where they attempt to keep the artifacts inside safe. But when another superstorm hits that submerges their settlement, they must flee, traveling by canoe through the remnants of society to attempt to make it to their family’s land in Massachusetts.
Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice
A sequel to Moon of the Crusted Snow, Rice returns to the same post-apocalyptic world to tell the story of members of the Anishinaabe tribe, a community still surviving in the aftermath of a societal collapse, as they attempt to find a new place to move their community. Their path is rife with danger, though, in the form of wild animals, unforgiving weather, and other people.
Saltcrop by Yume Kitasei (set to publish September 25, 2025)
With water levels rising and failing agriculture, Skipper and her sister Carmen do what they can to survive with their grandmother. But when their older sister, Nora, goes missing, they take to the water by boat to find her. Their journey is haunting as they discover more about the world around them, the survivors they encounter, but also about each other.
I hope one of these new post-apocalyptic reads catches your eye. And if you need to balance out your apocalyptic reading with something more on the escapist side, check out these cozy fantasy books or these hopeful science-fiction and fantasy reads!
English (US) · 