Post-Apocalyptic Book Recommendations

My first recommendation is Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. This is one of my favourite books ever, and it is definitely my top recommendation! This is a brilliant page turning dystopian filled with such amazing and well-crafted characters. The novel is focussed on humanity and the human response in the face of a disaster.

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As I mentioned in the intro, I do love zombie books, and this is one of the first I read that really made me love the genre. It’s a very interestingly written novel, made up of reports and articles which allow you as the reader to piece together what has happened. Although it does lack the good action-packed drama I normally enjoy, it gets a shout out in this list because its different and the zombies are pretty scary!

Buy World War Z from Bookshop.org or Waterstones

Wool by Hugh Howey is next on the list. This is the first in a brilliant dystopian trilogy which tells of a society which are forced to live underground in silos due to the unforgiving atmosphere and landscape outside. This novel is brilliant and so action-packed, it’s one of my favourites! There are so many twists and turns, and the whole trilogy is so well written and concluded.

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Next up is another classic novel, I am Legend by Richard Matheson. I first read this novel for uni, but have picked it up several times since, it’s just that good! Another vampire novel, we meet Robert who is the last remaining human on earth, and follow him as he tries to survive. I think this is a brilliant place to start your dystopian reading, its quite a short book but really packs a punch.

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A slightly more modern book on the list is The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. She is one of my favourite fantasy authors, and this is an excellent and very well developed dystopian fantasy. The world-building is so rich and the characters so well-developed this is a slow but immersive read.

But The Fifth Season from Bookshop.org or Waterstones

Next is another modern book. This is a dystopian novel (sort of novella) which has a Wild West setting. Featuring gun-slinging librarians and queer romance, I loved this novel a lot, and would highly recommend for a different take on the dystopian novel.

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This is another interestingly written dystopian novel, this time using flashbacks and flash forwards to tell the story of a musician. This is an epic novel of music and performing, and the joy of music really comes through in this novel.

Buy A Song for a New Day from Bookshop.org and Waterstones

I wanted to add a few other recommendations at the bottom for books I haven’t read yet but have heard good things about! Feed is another zombies book, which we all know I’m going to enjoy! It’s on my immediate TBR and hopefully I can get to it soon.

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The other book I want to shout out is The Slynx by Tatyana Tolstaya translated by Jamey Gambrell. This is a Russian dystopian novel where the land has been destroyed 200 years previously by a cataclysmic event known as The Blast. I have only heard good things about this novel, and I’m intrigued to read a dystopian novel which echoes Russian literature from the past, and is written from a Russian perspective.

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