Climate fiction, or cli-fi, is an emerging genre of fiction that speculates on the impacts of climate change and global warming on humanity. It often deals in dystopian, utopian, or speculative fiction from the lens of global change. Enjoy this exciting new genre with a few titles from our collection.
Milk Teeth by Helene Bukowski
Skalde lives with her mother in a region that is dry and dying, while their neighbors dream of the land that used to exist. When another girl arrives from seemingly nowhere, it threatens what little security they had.
Trashlands by Alison Stine
Plastic is no longer produced, so what is left has become valuable currency. Coral is a “plucker,” pulling plastic from the rivers and woods, but makes art in her stolen free hours. When a reporter from a struggling city on the coast arrives in Trashlands, Coral is presented with an opportunity to change her life.
The Inland Sea by Madeleine Watts
The story of a young writer’s part-time work as an emergency dispatch operator in Sydney and the self-destructive habits that result is interwoven with the story of how, two centuries earlier, her great-great-great-great-grandfather–the British explorer John Oxley–traversed the wilderness of Australia in search of water.
The Swimmers by Marian Womack
After the ravages of the Green Winter, Earth is a place of deep jungles and monstrous animals. Pearl lives in the isolated forests of Gobari, navigating her mad mother and the strange blue light in the sky. But Pearl’s stepfather promises her to a starborn called Arlo, and the world Pearl thought she knew will never be the same again.
The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-Eun
On the verge of losing her job at a cutting-edge travel agency specializing in tourism to destinations devastated by disaster and climate change, Yona is sent to pose as a tourist to assess the company’s least profitable holiday. When she uncovers a plan to fabricate an extravagant catastrophe, she must choose: prioritize the callous company to whom she’s dedicated her life or embrace a fresh start in a powerful new position?
Sea Change by Nancy Kress
A biopharmaceutical caused the Catastrophe: worldwide economic and agricultural collapse and personal tragedy for lawyer Caroline Denton and her son. Ten years later, as Renata Black, she is a member of the Org, an underground group of scientists hunted by the feds. But the Org’s illegal food research might just hold the key to rebuilding the worlds’ food supply.
Road Out of Winter by Alison Stine
When spring doesn’t return for the second year in a row, Wil sets off, determined to start over away from Appalachian Ohio. After a harrowing encounter with a violent cult, Wil and her small group of exiles become a target for the cult’s volatile leader. Because she has the most valuable skill in the climate chaos: she can make things grow.
Fauna by Christiane Vadnais
In a near-future world ravaged by climate change, who will win in the struggle between humanity and nature? Ten lush and bracing linked climate fictions depict a world gorgeous and terrifying in its likeness to our own.
Gravity is Heartless by Sarah Lahey
The year is 2049, and climate scientist Quinn Buyers would rather be studying clouds than getting ready for her wedding day. But when an unexpected tragedy causes her to lose everything, including her famous scientist mother, she embarks upon a quest for answers.
Jelly by Clare Rees
After the sea levels rise and the world ends, Martha and other survivors are stuck on a giant killer jellyfish, drifting off shore–if boredom does not kill them, maybe their escape attempts will. Martha and everyone else living there don’t know how they got there or how long they’ve been there, or where they’re going. They can’t escape– but they’re going to try. Or die trying.
read.watch.listen. 