Dystopian

Gliff, Ali Smith

“An ingenious speculative novel … Smith makes the most of her protagonists’ youthful perspectives to bring a sense of wonder, inquisitiveness, and pathos to the story. The lush narrative doubles as an anthem of resistance, in this case against tyranny and the destruction of the environment. Inspired references to Charles […]

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Juice, Tim Winton

An epic novel of determination, survival, and the limits of the human spirit. This is Tim Winton as you’ve never read him before. Two fugitives, a man and a child, drive all night across a stony desert. As dawn breaks, they roll into an abandoned mine site. From the vehicle […]

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We Are All Ghosts in the Forest, Lorraine Wilson

When the internet collapsed, it took the world with it, leaving its digital ghosts behind—and they are hungry. Former photojournalist Katerina fled the overrun cities to the relative safety of her grandmother’s village on the edge of a forest, where she lives a solitary life of herbal medicine and beekeeping. […]

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The Southern Reach Series, Jeff VanderMeer

New Addition Though I originally published this post in July, this title is out today, October 22, 2024. Absolution is a surprise 4th volume to the Southern Reach series. Structured in three parts, each recounting a new expedition, Absolution is a brilliant, beautiful, and ever-terrifying plunge into unique and fertile […]

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Spotlight – Thomas R. Weaver

About the Book The October world eco-fiction spotlight is on Thomas R. Weaver’s Artificial Wisdom (initially published by Chainmaker Press, 2024). The author independently published the novel but recently agreed to sell the rights to Del Rey, an imprint of Penguin Random House. The book will have a slightly revised […]

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Arroyo Circle, JoeAnn Hart

Eco-novel Arroyo Circle masterfully illustrates the role of humanity and late-stage capitalism in the earth’s decay through a thrilling story set in Boulder, Colorado. With wildfires raging across the Front Range, floods decimating homes and lives along the creek, and the COVID-19 pandemic wreaking rampant catastrophe, author JoeAnn Hart illuminates the spiritual […]

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Spotlight – Renan Bernardo

About the Book Renan Bernardo’s Different Kinds of Defiance (Android Press, March 2024) is a collection for the rebels at heart—for those who find courage where hope seems lost and for whom every act of resistance is an act of sheer will. From the sunbaked docks of a Rio de […]

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Virgil Harbor, Julia Glass

When two unexpected visitors arrive in an insular coastal village, they threaten the equilibrium of a community already confronting climate instability, political violence, and domestic upheavals. Read more at Penguin Random House.

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Plastic, Scott Guild

For fans of Interior Chinatown and American War, a surreal, hilarious, and sneakily profound debut novel that casts our current climate of gun violence and environmental destruction in a surprising new mold. “A stunningly brilliant novel. One of those books that will follow you around, into your dreams and your […]

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We Speak Through the Mountain, Premee Mohamed

In this powerful follow-up to her award-winning novella The Annual Migration of Clouds, Premee Mohamed is at the top of her game as she explores the conflicts and complexities of this post-apocalyptic society and asks whether humanity is doomed to forever recreate its worst mistakes. See more at ECW Press.

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Land of Milk and Honey, C Pam Zhang

Sensuous and surprising, joyous and bitingly sharp, told in language as alluring as it is original, Land of Milk and Honey lays provocatively bare the ethics of seeking pleasure in a dying world. It is a daringly imaginative exploration of desire and deception, privilege and faith, and the roles we […]

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The Morningside, Téa Obreht

After fleeing their home, Silvia and her mother have relocated to a crumbling luxury tower—the Morningside—in a not-so-distant future where their city is half underwater. This touching and inventive novel follows a young woman searching for meaning and belonging, both through her loving aunt’s stories and the enigmatic resident of […]

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Indie Corner – Overlord, Eric James Fullilove

Back to the Indie Corner series Today I chat with Eric James Fullilove, author of Overlord (Atmosphere Press), a climate change speculative fiction novel. Eric James Fullilove is an MIT graduate, CPA, and published author. He has worked in mainstream media (CBS, Young and Rubicam advertising, and Scholastic, the children’s […]

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Yours for the Taking, Gabrielle Korn

At once a mesmerizing story of queer love, betrayal, and chosen family, and an unflinching indictment of white, corporate feminism, Gabrielle Korn’s Yours for the Taking holds a mirror to our own world, in all its beauty and horror. Read more from Penguin.

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Lost Ark Dreaming, Suyi Davies Okungbowa

Off the coast of West Africa, decades after the dangerous rise of the Atlantic Ocean, the region’s survivors live inside five partially submerged, kilometers-high towers originally created as a playground for the wealthy. Now the towers’ most affluent rule from their lofty perch at the top while the rest are […]

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