I’ve been obsessed with apocalyptic and dystopian stories for over a decade. For me, they are the books that strike right at the heart of what it means to be human. Reading about characters facing the very worst scenarios possible brings love, resilience, survival, and hope into sharp relief. Not to mention that they are often the most powerful page turners—I have lost so much sleep over these cautionary tales, staying up until the early hours, unable to put them down.
This is the book that got me into reading apocalyptic fiction – I was completely captured by the story of an unfit father stuck at the other end of the country from his family after an apocalyptic event, his only option was running the length of the UK to make it to them.
Edgar’s realisations about the kind of father he’s been and the emotional and physical transformation he undergoes kept me up into the early hours. There are heart-in-mouth moments, bleak landscapes filled with threat, and a sucker punch of an ending – perfect.
A powerful post-apocalyptic thriller, perfect for fans of The End of the F*cking World. 'A real find' STEPHEN KING
When the world ends and you find yourself stranded on the wrong side of the country, every second counts.
No one knows this more than Edgar Hill. 550 miles away from his family, he must push himself to the very limit to get back to them, or risk losing them forever...
His best option is to run. But what if your best isn't good enough?
The Number One race-against-time bestseller as featured on Simon Mayo's Radio 2 Book Club
I’ve read this book twice and cried buckets both times.
It is a masterpiece – brutal and unflinching but also maintaining a kernel of hope as the man crosses a devastated landscape with his son, trying to keep him alive against the odds. The prose is stunning and piercing. There are some very disturbing parts of the story, but what shines through for me is human resilience, determination, and love.
I will absolutely read The Road again, but I have to leave a recovery gap between reads!
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE • A searing, post-apocalyptic novel about a father and son's fight to survive, this "tale of survival and the miracle of goodness only adds to McCarthy's stature as a living master. It's gripping, frightening and, ultimately, beautiful" (San Francisco Chronicle).
A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if…
This is a novel about choices. How would you have chosen to act during the Second World War if your country had been invaded and occupied by a brutal enemy determined to isolate and murder a whole community?
That’s the situation facing an ordinary family man with two children, a…
I love everything Claire Fuller has written, but her debut novel has a special place in my heart.
This is an apocalyptic tale with a difference (don’t want to give spoilers), but the story of a father and his daughter living off-grid in the woods at the end of the world is utterly gripping.
The way Peggy uses her imagination to create worlds in their isolation, protecting herself from the dangers around her, is conveyed incredibly powerfully. The descriptions of the forest are particularly beautiful, and Peggy’s resilience in the face of darkness lingers in my mind.
'Fuller handles the tension masterfully in this grown-up thriller of a fairytale, full of clues, questions and intrigue.' - The Times
'Extraordinary...From the opening sentence it is gripping' - Sunday Times
1976: Peggy Hillcoat is eight. She spends her summer camping with her father, playing her beloved record of The Railway Children and listening to her mother's grand piano, but her pretty life is about to change.
Her survivalist father, who has been stockpiling provisions for the end which is surely coming soon, takes her from London to a cabin in a remote…
The ending of this engrossing apocalyptic story is heart-stopping and so impactful. It left me in tears on public transport!
I found the depiction of motherhood powerful, with working mum Marlene taking her children for a camping trip and unwittingly surviving a devastating event that hits the UK.
The book has lots of the elements I love in this genre – such as abandoned places and a perilous journey. The way Marlene navigates the transformed landscape, trying to protect her children amid so much death, while dealing with her own guilt and struggles over being a mother, is compelling.
When a family camping trip takes a dark turn, how far will one mother go to keep her family safe?
Struggling with working-mother guilt, Marlene Greene hopes a camping trip in the forest will provide quality time with her three young children-until they see fires in the distance, columns of smoke distorting the sweeping view. Overnight, all communication with the outside world is lost.
Knowing something terrible has happened, Marlene suspects that the isolation of the remote campsite is all that's protecting her family. But the arrival of a lost boy reveals they are not alone…
This book is an elegiac meditation on the will to survive. Tor, a beluga whaler, and his wife, Astrid, a botanist specializing in Arctic flora, are stranded during the dark season of 1937-38 at his remote whaling station in the Svalbard archipelago when they misjudge ice conditions and fail to…
Combining both the wild places and parent-child bond elements of apocalyptic fiction that I most gravitate to, this book moved and haunted me.
It’s a story of what a mother will sacrifice to save her child, as well as a thought-provoking meditation on what we are doing to our planet and the devastating consequences that might have. Bea and Agnes stayed with me long after I finished reading – The New Wilderness is an immersive and brilliant read.
In 2050s London, fear grips as a deadly virus sweeps the globe. A vaccine is in development, and as a precautionary measure, children will be evacuated to undisclosed locations until the storm passes. Marianne, Downing Street press secretary, doesn't realise the futility until it is far too late. When the truth hits, she must choose: stay with her family, or try to help the doomed survive.
As London falls, seven-year-old Maia is one of the last to escape. In an evacuation camp, she binds herself to Finn: he becomes her everything. Yet as the years roll on and hope fades, Maia sees that the bubble of safety is also a prison. She realises there is only one choice: to leave the camp and find what remains on the outside.
Prisons are at bursting point. Criminals are released early and the guilty walk free from courts. The Justice system is in a state of collapse and no-one is safe.
i4Ni is created to solve the problem. i4Ni is a humanoid which, according to its 'creator' Jules Von Beck, will serve…
A compelling and unforgettable tale of humanity, resilience, and the lengths we will go to for love. When the end comes, what will you wish you had done?
In 2050s London, a deadly virus sweeps the globe, and the British government decides to evacuate children from the cities while a…
