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BOOK LIST:

Environment: Fiction

Updated: May 1, 2024

Fiction, speculative fiction, science fiction and short stories about the effects of human-created disasters. Some stories are alarming, while others offer a biting satiric look at how we live on this planet.


Book cover for American War
American War
El Akkad, Omar

The year is 2074 and a second American Civil War erupts with multiple catastrophes: plagues, drone strikes, violent protests, and the numerous effects of global warming that include droughts, storms and rising sea levels.


Book cover for Blott on the landscape
Blott on the landscape
Sharpe, Tom, 1928-2013.

Set in the English countryside where Sir Giles plans the construction of a highway, which is unnecessary except to enrichen his coffers. To the resuce comes Blott, the estate gardener and former WWII POW. who will cause mayhem and perhaps save the lovely peaceful countryside.


Book cover for The fracking king : a novel
The fracking king : a novel
Browning, James (Environmentalist)

A boarding school student and loner, who is a wiz at Scrabble, could be the least likely person to stop fracking in a Pennsylvania community.


Book cover for Gold fame citrus
Gold fame citrus
Watkins, Claire Vaye

In an apocalyptic future drought has decimated Southern California, and a good part of the southwest. Two survivors, Luz and Ray, live in an abandoned Hollywood starlet's mansion, where they find love and solace in each other's company, until a strange, mysterious little girl disrupts their momentary peace.

 


Book cover for A Good Day to Die
A Good Day to Die
Harrison, Jim
Call Number: Ed.a

Three seemingly well-intentioned people want to save the Grand Canyon from being wrecked by the construction of a proposed dam. They go about this in a misguided way--buying a case of dynamite.


Book cover for The greening of Ben Brown : a novel
The greening of Ben Brown : a novel
Strelow, Michael, 1943-

Ben Brown survives an electrocution that has turned him green and joins forces with eighteen-year-old Andrew James to uncover a chemical spill.  More than the environmental disaster is exposed by this unlikely duo.


Book cover for The hungry tide
The hungry tide
Ghosh, Amitav, 1956-

Civilization and wilderness clash in a huge archipelago of islands in the Bay of Bengal. Two newcomers upset the balance within the discrete community of villagers and the surrounding flora and fauna.


Book cover for In memory of Central Park 1853-2022 : a novel
In memory of Central Park 1853-2022 : a novel
Minet, Queenelle.

The year is 2050 and New York City is encapsulated and cut off from the rest of the world, and from severe climate change, a rising sea level. People become ill and die, and a political party tries to keep this a secret. An unlikely romance complicates the lives of Noah and Margaret, who need to survive the insanity around them.


Book cover for Keyhole factory
Keyhole factory
Gillespie, William, 1969-

An improbable group of characters confront a global pandemic. Author William Gillespie makes some satirical analysis about modern preconceptions.


Book cover for The last Savanna
The last Savanna
Bond, Mike, 1943-

Poachers are killing off Africa's last elephants, Ian MacAdam leads a commando squad to hunt down the perpetrators. Writer Mike Bond portrays a part of Africa dealing with wars, overpopulation, internal conflicts and the desimation of its wildlife.


Book cover for Loosed upon the world : the saga anthology of climate fiction
Loosed upon the world : the saga anthology of climate fiction
Call Number: SS

A collection of short fiction about climate change, collected by the editor of Lightspeed Magazine.


Book cover for Maddaddam : a novel
Maddaddam : a novel
Atwood, Margaret, 1939-

The final book in Atwood's post-apocaltypic trilogy (Oryx & Crake and The Year of the Flood). A plague, created by humans, has decimated most of the world. There are only a few people left:  human beings, and the Crakers, who are genetically-created half-humans. There is conflict, humor, wit, mythological storytelling, that combine in this eerily close-to-reality tale that offers caution and hope for the future.


Book cover for The Marrow Thieves
The Marrow Thieves
Dimaline, Cherie
Call Number: YA

Global warming takes away the ability for people to dream, and it is causing them to go crazy. The bone marrow from indigenous North American people holds the cure, but death will result when the marrow is taken.


Book cover for Metro 2033
Metro 2033
Glukhovskii, Dmitrii.
Call Number: SF

In the year 2033 there has been a nuclear war. Moscow is in ruins, and the only place for people to live is in the underground metro tunnels. An entirely new world is created by the survivors, who must live there to escape the effects of radiation. Even though people have survived obliteration, they do not escape acting like humans--being good, bad and self-destructive.


Book cover for Primal tears
Primal tears
Wilson, Kelpie, 1956-

When a human and a bonobo are hybridized,  writer Kelpie Wilson tackles genetic engineering, cross-breeding of animals and humans, and the complications that result from this experimentation.


Book cover for Salmon fishing in the Yemen
Salmon fishing in the Yemen
Torday, Paul, 1946-2013.

A satirical look at transforming a desert ravine in Yemen into a Scottish salmon fishery.  Author Paul Torday pokes holes and humor at British bureaucracy, a rich Yemeni sheikh, PR manipulators, and a civil servant caught in a loveless marriage.


Book cover for Solarpunk : ecological and fantastical stories in a sustainable world
Solarpunk : ecological and fantastical stories in a sustainable world
Call Number: SF

What would it be like to live in a sustainable world, and how would people behave?  Brazilian editor Gerson Lodi-Ribeiro challenged nine Brazilian authors with that question, and their short stories are the answers.


Book cover for Tales of two planets : stories of climate change and inequality in a divided world
Tales of two planets : stories of climate change and inequality in a divided world
Call Number: SS

A collection of fiction, essays and poems by major writers that examines various types of envirnomental crises and how they affect humanity.


Book cover for The three-body problem
The three-body problem
Liu, Cixin.
Call Number: SF

The first book in a series about an alien world that is on the edge of destruction when it is contacted by the Chinese military. There are many questions about whether to allow an alien civilization to connect with this one on planet earth, with all of its ethical, environmental, social and political problems.


Book cover for Turtle diary
Turtle diary
Hoban, Russell.
Call Number: Ed.a

Two strangers living in London join forces to save the lives of sea turtles on display in a London zoo.


Book cover for Wastelands : the new apocalypse
Wastelands : the new apocalypse
Call Number: SF

This collection of post-apocalyptic short stories is by far the best book I have read all year. Phenomenal writing by some of the best modern writers out there. 


Book cover for The water knife
The water knife
Bacigalupi, Paolo.

During a devastating drought in the southwest, Nevada, Arizona and California are in conflict over water rights to the Colorado River. Corruption and the need for water run headlong into the determination of three strong women.


Book cover for The windup girl
The windup girl
Bacigalupi, Paolo.
Call Number: SF

It is a post-oil era, with rising sea levels, threats of bio-terrorism and mutating life.  A group of individuals, each with different backgrounds and goals, might be able to change the world.


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