Here are 100 books that Green Rising fans have personally recommended if you like
Green Rising.
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I've always been fascinated by genetics. Ever since Dolly the Sheep was cloned in the 1990s, I wondered if it was possible for it to have a soul, was it a carbon copy, did it know it had a twin? Move on to when I studied biology and then psychology. My brother became a genetic scientist, and we have both always been fascinated by the possibilities. Although the human genome project has been declared complete, there is still much we don’t know about genetics, let alone what we may harness from the animals around us. Although I'm excited to find out, I'm also fearful of how these modifications may be used.
The Undying Tower brings a new flavour of sci-fi dystopian. Not only do we have an apocalyptic world-building itself from the ashes, but the world might not be as rudimentary as it first looks. In a landscape where a percentage of the population never ages, it presents interesting and unique challenges to those who do and those who do not. The blend of futuristic genetic modification, as well as dealing with mental health in the unique aspect of synesthesia, makes for a compelling and heart-felt read.
The first in a daring dystopian trilogy, The Undying Tower descends into the dark side of immortality and champions fighting for what's right, especially when the world is against you.
What if living forever was a death sentence?
Decades after the discovery that a small percentage of the population has stopped ageing, the Avalonia Zone is in crisis. From overpopulation to food shortages, the 'Undying' have been blamed for the state's problems, banished to the fringes of society, and punished for every minor infraction.
When sixteen-year-old Sadie takes the fall for an attack by a rebel group, The…
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
As a writer from Aotearoa New Zealand, I’ve always been interested in social justice and human rights, and my own writing explores such issues, including who holds the power and who exerts the control. By writing about real-world issues in a speculative future, it allows us to peel back the layers of conditioning and look at ourselves and our actions through the eyes of an outsider – which forces us to examine our best and worst human traits. I love the way speculative fiction can do this, and I love that it challenges us to do better.
If you’re into philosophy, this is the book for you! It explores the big questions about the origins of life and human consciousness, and what is it to be human and what makes a soul. Set in a distant future, on an island republic brutally policed to keep out survivors from the ruined world beyond its shores, Anaximander is put through a grueling examination to get into The Academy. I loved how it pushed my brain and went in places I wasn’t expecting.
The island Republic has emerged from a ruined world. Its citizens are safe but not free. Until a man named Adam Forde rescues a girl from the sea. Fourteen-year-old Anax thinks she knows her history. She'd better. She's sat facing three Examiners and her five-hour examination has just begun. The subject is close to her heart: Adam Forde, her long-dead hero. In a series of startling twists, Anax discovers new things about Adam and her people that question everything she holds sacred. But why is the Academy allowing her to open up the enigma at its heart? Bernard Beckett has…
I've always been fascinated by genetics. Ever since Dolly the Sheep was cloned in the 1990s, I wondered if it was possible for it to have a soul, was it a carbon copy, did it know it had a twin? Move on to when I studied biology and then psychology. My brother became a genetic scientist, and we have both always been fascinated by the possibilities. Although the human genome project has been declared complete, there is still much we don’t know about genetics, let alone what we may harness from the animals around us. Although I'm excited to find out, I'm also fearful of how these modifications may be used.
This is an oldie, but a goodie. I think this was one of the first books that introduced me into the idea of genetic modification and what might be possible if we could harness DNA from the environment around us. One of the most popular powers to choose in my own book is wings, and when people fill out the questionnaire on my website, that’s what they want. This book brings together the romance of the ability to fly, the love of a found family, and the pace of a thriller with high stakes to lose. One of my favorite books of all time, one I can re-read again and again.
Coyote weather is the feral, hungry season, drought-stricken, and ready to catch fire. It’s 1967, and the American culture is violently remaking itself while the country is forcibly sending its young men to fight in a deeply unpopular war.
Jerry has stubbornly made no plans for the future because he…
My interest in kids running their own world largely free of adult intervention probably began with reading Swallows and Amazons and carried on into writing my own book. I love how the kids become important, standing figures, taking on the role of adults while still being kids. It offers the kids an opportunity to take leading roles in their society while also becoming a vehicle by which to potentially explore the true nature of young people. There aren’t very many books that actually do this, and some of them are fairly obscure.
This was a truly unputdownable story. The science fiction concept was interesting in itself, especially watching the characters try to figure it out, but the suspense was strong. The plot had a lot going on, but it was well done and worked pretty well.
I really got to know the characters and particularly enjoyed the well-done romance between Sam and Astrid. It’s a very character-driven story, including the conflict between tyranny and freedom.
4
authors picked
Gone
as one of their favorite books, and they share
why you should read it.
This book is for kids age
12,
13,
14, and
15.
What is this book about?
Welcome to the FAYZ! The first book in the bestselling cult YA thriller series GONE that Stephen King calls a 'driving, torrential narrative'.
In the blink of an eye all the adults disappear in a small town in southern California and no one knows why.
Cut off from the outside world, those that are left are trapped, and there's no help on the way. Sam Temple and his friends must do all they can to survive. Chaos rules the streets. Gangs begin to form. Sides are chosen - strong or weak. Cruel or humane.
I love dystopian stories because these are tales that could actually happen if a particular series of steps fall into place over the course of the next decade, century, etc. Dystopia is set in our real world, just in the future. There’s no unbelievable magic…just what our real world could be generations from now. The evolution or devolution of science, law, law enforcement, medicine, education, etc is fascinating to explore…especially since I’m an incredibly techy person. I love exploring what could happen in our future if we follow certain paths, good, bad, or otherwise. Asking “what if” is my favorite question.
I enjoyed Perfected because it was a very, very soft and gentle take on dystopia where young girls are genetically engineered in labs and trained with special traits as young girls only to be sold to wealthy families as pets. They’re treated as puppies who are dressed in fancy clothes, paraded through events, sat on pretty couches and chairs, and very, very few make it through without being manipulated and used in worse ways. When she falls in love with her owner’s son, and he starts to fall for her, bad things happen. I love putting twists on dystopian worlds so this one was a brilliant, unusual concept that brought such a unique look into the genre and its possibilities and gave me permission to do the same.
Kate Birch's PET melds the feel of The Handmaid's Tale with the historic underground railroad and wraps it in a glamorous-and dangerous-bow.
Man's best friend just got a little prettier.
Ever since the government passed legislation allowing people to be genetically engineered and raised as pets, the rich and powerful can own beautiful girls like sixteen-year-old Ginger as companions. But when Ginger moves in with her new masters and discovers the glamorous life she's been promised isn't at all what it seems, she's forced to choose between a pampered existence full of gorgeous gowns and veiled threats, or seizing her…
I grew up in the ‘60s, when women were not in charge of anything much. I’ve always been fascinated by strong women. Amelia Earhart was a particular favorite, as were the suffragettes, Michelle Obama, and others. The strongest thing I’ve done in my life is to seize opportunities when they arise. I forged a second career that way, taking more than one leap of faith to do what I’ve always known I could do, be a writer. During and after my first career as a dental hygienist I took opportunities to be a newspaper wire editor, then a columnist, a magazine writer, an indexer, a nonfiction writer, and a novelist.
This is a new dystopian matriarchal novel, first in a series, that I’ve just discovered. Interestingly, it’s been described as the opposite of The Handmaid’s Tale.
The story is of a female-controlled society in which men are kept imprisoned and used as breeders. Neen, a female scientist who is interviewing men for their potential as sperm donors, begins to question the status quo when some of the men she meets don’t fit her preconceptions.
I was attracted to the book because its story is comparable to my book, but the tone and world-building are completely different. I loved the plot twists and the focus on ethical dilemmas.
" (...) The author outdid herself with this novel which is both entertaining and thought-provoking." Readers' Favorite ★★★★★
A genetically enhanced female. A male breeder fighting for his life in the Arena Dome. A world ruled by five clans of super-women. What could possibly be wrong with such a well-designed world?
When Neen and Tem's paths cross they uncover a web of lies spun so deep, that the truth seems like a mere illusion.
In the near-future propaganda-driven dystopian society of EVE, women control the world.
Young brilliant scientist, Neen Salvek of genetically enhanced Clan Triverser is assigned to screen…
Homeless following the death of his adoptive parents in a car crash and the subsequent loss of their farm tenancy, Seb decides to enrol as a residential student at the Asklepios Foundation, a College of Natural Medicine, boasting a sanctuary modelled on an ancient Greek healing temple. Spending a night…
I am the founder and principal of Work & Think, LLC., and help clients make complex decisions that include a realistic understanding of uncertainty. My Spangler Ethical Reasoning Assessment® (SERA®) is used across industries and around the world, enabling individuals to combine critical thinking and values to make complex decisions. I am a frequent keynote speaker, a corporate consultant, a researcher, and an author. My new book is Reasoning for Business. Learn more at my website.
For me, this book stimulates analysis of the relationship between technology and human flourishing, as well as the state’s role in using technology to promote the public good.
I first read Brave New World because it was assigned in a high school English class. I later asked students to read it when I was teaching biomedical ethics at a university.
Whereas Dr. Frankenstein’s creation is the single product of a “mad genius” in an otherwise “normal” world, the brave new world is an entire civilization transformed by technology. Because of this vision of a civilization dominated by technology and a totalitarian government, I recently returned to Brave New World.
The novel provoked me to consider the reasons we even develop new technologies—what do and should they provide us?
**One of the BBC's 100 Novels That Shaped Our World**
EVERYONE BELONGS TO EVERYONE ELSE. Read the dystopian classic that inspired the hit Sky TV series.
'A masterpiece of speculation... As vibrant, fresh, and somehow shocking as it was when I first read it' Margaret Atwood, bestselling author of The Handmaid's Tale.
Welcome to New London. Everybody is happy here. Our perfect society achieved peace and stability through the prohibition of monogamy, privacy, money, family and history itself. Now everyone belongs.
You can be happy too. All you need to do is take your Soma pills.
I have always been fascinated with morally grey or complex characters. For me, the sign of a great novel is one where you find yourself talking about the characters as if they were real people you know. I want to experience something when I read, and characters that are flawed, imperfect, or morally grey have always intrigued me because they can take me to places I haven’t (or wouldn’t!) go myself. And, of course, they provide ample grounds for fun discussions with my friends! Sci-fi apocalyptic fiction is fertile ground for such characters, so I’ve tried to pick books you may not have heard of. I hope you like them!
This was a book club choice, and as soon as I finished it, I bought the other two books in the trilogy. I literally couldn’t put them down! Another post-apocalypse for this list, this time, the story is told through the memories of Jimmy/Snowman. But make no mistake, the novel is about Crake, a brilliant, lonely, and terrifying young man.
As Jimmy tries to recover his past, shadowed by the gentle, green-skinned ‘children of Crake,’ he recalls the events leading up to the end of humanity. This is very much a mystery, so I must be careful what I reveal, but if you are all about misguided genius and hubris, you will adore this novel. Needless to say, with an author like Atwood, the writing is superb.
By the author of THE HANDMAID'S TALE and ALIAS GRACE
*
Pigs might not fly but they are strangely altered. So, for that matter, are wolves and racoons. A man, once named Jimmy, lives in a tree, wrapped in old bedsheets, now calls himself Snowman. The voice of Oryx, the woman he loved, teasingly haunts him. And the green-eyed Children of Crake are, for some reason, his responsibility.
*
Praise for Oryx and Crake:
'In Jimmy, Atwood has created a great character: a tragic-comic artist of the future, part buffoon, part Orpheus. An adman who's a sad man; a jealous…
I’m an author who grew up reading books with supernatural elements, whether it was a version of this world (paranormal fantasy) or other worlds (fantasy). I’m always looking for fantasy elements mixed with romance, so it’s not a huge surprise that I wrote in the genre. I went to Seton Hill University to get my Master’s in Fine Arts in Writing Popular Fiction and am a USA Today Best-selling author. Books and reading (and writing!) are my passions, and I hope you enjoy this list of books I’ve reread countless times.
Chronicles of the One starts with this book, and it is a wild ride. It’s postapocalyptic but with a supernatural edge to it. There’s a plague that sweeps the world, but most of the ones left standing after it have some supernatural abilities. It becomes a war to save the world, waged between the supernaturals and the normal humans.
There’s romance—because Nora Roberts is the queen of romance—battles, and a nice HEA (happily ever after) at the end. This whole series is a do-not-miss page-turner.
A stunning new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts―Year One is an epic of hope and horror, chaos and magick, and a journey that will unite a desperate group of people to fight the battle of their lives…
It began on New Year’s Eve.
The sickness came on suddenly, and spread quickly. The fear spread even faster. Within weeks, everything people counted on began to fail them. The electrical grid sputtered; law and government collapsed―and more than half of the world’s population was decimated.
Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS
by
Amy Carney,
When I was writing this book, several of my friends jokingly called it the Nazi baby book, with one insisting it would make a great title. Nazi Babies – admittedly, that is a catchy title, but that’s not exactly what my book is about. SS babies would be slightly more…
I’ve spent a lifetime reading horror, I was probably in third grade when I stumbled across a battered collection of short stories by Saki in the adult section of the library—where I wasn’t supposed to be. I snuck the book back to the children’s section, started reading, and I was hooked. Then it was Edgar Allan Poe, and from Poe until now, it’s been every horror novel or short story I could find. The best of them have never left me. And they make up my list, The Most Terrifying Novels You Can’t Escape From.
When I think of the ultimate, inescapable trap, I think of Harlan Ellison’s I Have No MouthandI Must Scream.
To me, the terror is not only unbearable, it’s unchangeable. Of all these worlds, this may be the one most devoid of hope. With no possibility of relief and no chance of escape. There is, in fact, no place to escape to.
And like every book on this list, I don’t have to reread I have No Mouth and I Must Scream, because it’s always with me. In the best and most terrifying way.
A Harrowing dystopian short story by Harlan Ellison, I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream, is set in a post-apocalyptic world where a sentient supercomputer, AM, has destroyed humanity except for five people it keeps alive to torture for the rest of their lives. As AM manipulates the characters' deepest fears and desires, they are held captive in an underground complex and subjected to interminable psychological and physical torture. The narrative is told by one of the captives, Ted, and deals with themes of despair, dehumanization, and the terrifying effects of technological power going unchecked. The story by Ellison…
