Post-apocalyptic fiction allows authors to make social commentary that relates to pop culture, but largely makes comments about where the world can go if humankind is not careful. Sometimes it acts as a warning, or as a way to deeply explain societal issues, and other times writers embrace the overlap with dystopian societies, survival troupes, and science fiction.
What sets the genre apart from the rest is the presence of survival elements, post some world-changing (often dangerous) event. Literature is always about social commentary, for example, gothic fiction tends to act as an avenue to talk about issues such as race and misogyny, just as post-apocalyptic books offer up ways to critique society and remind us all of what we have.
Check out 10 of the best post-apocalyptic books of all time, from classics dating back to the 1820s to modern fiction that is breaking the internet.
10. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
One of the biggest pop culture moments for the post-apocalyptic genre was when Margaret Atwood’s 1984 book was adapted into an Emmy-award-winning series in 2017. It holds the perfect example of how post-apocalyptic ideas transcend time and generations as the ideas present in her book, were still relevant to pop culture 30 years later.
In a version of North America that has been taken over by a military coup, women are subjected to strict societal roles as wives, maids, or handmaids – who are assigned to the household to be the ones to bear children. This terrifying world brings up issues in today’s society and will make you question what the future looks like for society and gender roles.
9. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Road by Cormac McCarthy is a heartwarming book despite being written in one of the most devastating of post-apocalyptic conditions. In McCarthy’s version of the apocalypse, the day the world ended reflects biblical references to destruction, meaning there is no light, no agriculture, society has fallen and what is left are survivalist groups breaking all rules of the past society.
The story however primarily takes place between conversations between a father and son, the son having been born post-apocalypse, during which his mother died, and therefore the son does not know what the world used to be like. The two carry on down the road in search of hope.
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8. The Children Of Men by Dorothy Phillis James
This book was also adapted into an Oscar-nominated film in 2006, but is based on an iconic book by Dorothy Phillis James. While in this dystopic version of society, there has not been a specific event that leads to downfall, instead one factor has led society to slowly decay: women can no longer have children.
The book takes a look at a society with no children, no possibility of expanding, and how everything is put at risk when the protagonist discovers a miracle, the last pregnant woman.
7. Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Cat’s Cradle is an interesting addition to this list of best post-apocalyptic books because it reflects on ideas in philosophy and recent world history regarding nuclear material.
The book takes place sometime after the development of the atomic bomb, which in a way is a real post-apocalyptic world as everything since then has changed. The narrator is doing research for his upcoming book about the co-creator and physicist of the atomic bomb, and in the process finds out about a deadly secret martial that could be the next cause of turmoil. A must-read if you are a fan of the film Oppenheimer and Tenet.
6. Severance by Ling Ma
Severance is a great example of modern post-apocalyptic literature that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat with every page turn. Our protagonist Candace Chen is a bible product coordinator, which as you can imagine is an unfulfilling job, reflective of Candace’s unfulfilling life.
When the world ends, chaos breaks out but aside from the imminent collapse of society, Candace also reflects on a life unlived, and how she got to this moment in time.
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5. The Future by Naomi Alderman
If you are a fan of Naomi Alderman’s books, you are in for a treat with the release of her new book The Future. The story examines the truth, that when the world ends only the wealthiest will survive. Her characters are people who are creating secret bunkers and plotting a chaotic plan that will either end society or put them at the top of publicity.
This chilling book preys on your worst fears, that the top 1% is already plotting against the other 99%, and they are succeeding no matter what you do,
4. Parable Of The Sower by Octavia E. Butler
Octavia E. Butler is a key writer in post-apocalyptic and dystopian literature, most famously with her book Parable of The Sower and its sequel, Parable of The Talent.
In this book, a young woman begins to feel the pain of others, which causes her to leave her home – with followers who believe in her power. This causes her to start her own religion, Earthseed, which is really a new way of life rejecting the status quo and crafting a new way of being. Over the course of the series, Butler questions societal norms and who they serve, as well as imagining a future that could be different.
3. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
Your favorite original novel, which would later turn into the Bladerunner franchise is a part of a book trilogy, the most famous of which is the first book that most closely resembles the film.
The book takes place post-apocalypse, the it follows the protagonist’s low and gradual acceptance of the new reality as well as faces humanity most uncommonly: identifying replicas, which are robots that look just like people and are being used as slave labor on inhabitable planets. This epic trilogy questions what it means to be human, through the eyes of those who are objectively not.
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2. Foe By Ian Reid
Having a very similar vibe to Bladerunner, Foe by Ian Reid also follows a couple as they grapple with their new reality. A couple living in rural America, and a crippling America that is searching for a solution to save humankind, are visited by a government official telling them that the husband is being sent to work in Space for one year. In the meantime, they will send a robot replica to live with his wife.
As they wait for him to be called to duty, a year passes as they begin to rediscover their love – and the process of making a replica pushes the boundaries of their reality.
1. The Last Man By Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley is not only the mother of gothic fiction, but also of post-apocalyptic fiction. To date, The Last Man is largely considered the first post-apocalyptic novel, written in 1826.
And oh does it set the stage for what the genre will look like. This literally is the epitome of post-apocalyptic fiction. The lead character finds himself among the survivors of the world and sets out on a journey to salvage what he can of a new society. The book is also deeply rooted in Shelley’s own life, with characters reflecting her deceased husband, and friends.
