What Next?: Recent Post-Apocalyptic Fiction

Earth is on its way out, and earthlings are jockeying for a spot on a new settlement on Mars. The best place to make their case? Aboard a luxury space resort called Altaire, orbiting Earth while the wealthy and well-connected rub elbows. But big secrets and ulterior motives run rampant on Altaire, both with the wealthy guests and the crew below deck. Victor Manibo fits many compelling stories and genres into this novel: sci-fi adventure, murder mystery, juicy drama, class commentary, and so much more. It’s an out-of-this-world story that feels all too possible as we watch billionaires launch themselves into space for fun in real life.

Ocean levels have risen across the globe, making much of the planet uninhabitable. Now that Nigeria is underwater, what was once a luxury high-rise building on an island off the coast of Lagos has become the only livable place in the region. A small group of lucky people were given the chance to live and work inside, where they’re strictly divided by class. The wealthy live near the top, while the lower classes are on the lower floors sealed against the rising water. But when something dangerous breaches the lower floors, everyone’s carefully preserved world is put at risk. Suyi Davies Okungbowa has crafted a remarkably high-stakes, gripping setting in this short novella that will hook you right from the start.

In this dystopian horror novella, a virus has swept the globe that causes people to go into a murderous rage upon making eye contact with another human. Riley, determined to survive this violent post-apocalyptic world, hasn’t looked at another human face in what feels like an eternity — not even her own face in a mirror, just in case. But a seemingly trustworthy new neighbor makes Riley risk it all for a little human connection. Is the neighbor a danger to Riley’s carefully protected world, or is Riley the real threat? Your Shadow Half Remains is a creepy, mesmerizing story of isolation and madness at the end of the world.

The world is still grappling with the unexplained events of one year ago when all white people in America walked into their nearest bodies of water and drowned. Charles, a Howard University professor who was formerly wrongfully imprisoned, is surprised to receive a phone call from his estranged teenage daughter Sidney, who has been living alone in Wisconsin, dealing with the trauma of watching the deaths of her white mother and step-family. Sidney asks Charles to take her to Alabama, where she hopes to find some of her remaining family members. But their cross-country road trip unveils a world completely changed from the one they knew. It’s a razor-sharp, absorbing story about racism in America’s past, present, and future.

Dan and his girlfriend Mara are kicking back for a relaxing vacation at an island resort when, ugh, so annoying, the sun explodes. The resort descends into chaos, with guests turning against each other and the CEO of a yoga pyramid scheme trying to take charge. Dan has never been one to work harder than he has to, but when the opportunity to become the hero and help save his fellow guests arises, he realizes this nightmare vacation might be just what he needs to turn his life around. It’s a hilarious, fast-paced story that will absolutely ruin your next trip to an all-inclusive resort.

Nnedi Okorafor is a brilliant writer of Africanfuturist worlds that combine elements of dystopia, sci-fi, fantasy, and West African mythology. She Who Knows is the first in a new series set in the world of her award-winning novel Who Fears Death, a post-nuclear-holocaust Africa where technology is rare, making way for a culture of mysticism and spiritual destiny. Najeeba is a thirteen-year-old girl in a patriarchal village where only boys receive The Call to travel the salt roads, mine, and harvest the profitable mineral. When Najeeba becomes the first girl to receive the call, her people are shocked, and her presence on the salt road changes everything. Fans of Who Fears Death might recognize Najeeba as the mother of protagonist Onyesonwu.

In this space opera novella, you won’t just see what happens after the apocalypse on Earth, you’ll see what happens to an entire universe gone extinct. Galactic archaeologists and siblings Scout and Kieran, plus their galaxy-traveling cat Pumpkin, are tasked with exploring dead planets and their lost civilizations to find out what ended them — and if it will eventually come for them too. Riley August brilliantly balances high-stakes adventure and humor, grief and healing, and uncertainty and hope in this short but delightfully sweet book.

Do your future self a favor and preorder this apocalyptic literary horror novel from the author of Our Wives Under the Sea. In a futuristic retelling of Shakespeare’s King Lear, three sisters grapple with the mundane horrors of life during an apocalypse. Years of unending rain have reshaped the continents, toppled governments, and brought back a desperate kind of ancient religion. Sisters Agnes, Irene, and Isla have grown apart under the stress of the changing planet, but the death of their architect father forces them to reunite to sort through the famous glass house he built, full of secrets and memories they’d rather forget. Julia Armfield writes haunting queer characters with a creeping sense of dread that you feel in your bones.