What would you do if the world ended tomorrow? Would you be the hero? The person hoarding canned beans? Or just hiding under a blanket? If that thought has ever crossed your mind, then you’re gonna love this article. We’re diving into apocalyptic novels – aka my absolute favorite genre for when I wanna feel terrified, but in a cozy, reading-in-bed kind of way.
Seriously, after the wild ride of recent years, and with wars still raging in places like Ukraine and Gaza, it’s hard not to think about how unstable everything really is. These books just hit differently now. Yes, they’ve got explosions and monsters for fun, but they’re really about scared people, hopeful people, just trying to be when everything’s burning down. They make us look at our own lives, our planet, and how thin the layer of civilization really is.
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction was always huge, but maybe even more now that we’ve all lived through what felt like… well, this. So if you’re ready to get spooked, keep reading.
10 Mind-Blowing Apocalyptic Novels You Must Read Before The World Ends
Each story presents a unique vision of the world’s end, through loud, brutal destruction or quiet, unusual events. These apocalyptic novels guide readers through collapsing metropolises, bizarre cults, darkened monitors, and every other imaginable scenario.
Some of them have earned top-rated post-apocalyptic status for their unforgettable characters and eerie relevance.
1. The Silence by Don DeLillo
Don DeLillo’s The Silence throws you right into Super Bowl Sunday, 2022. Picture this: friends are huddled around the TV, snacks ready… when suddenly every screen goes dead. Phones, laptops, the game – everything just cuts out. This short, tense novel grabs you as this group grapples with the abrupt loss of the tech that connects everything.
It really makes you think: what’s left when the digital noise stops? What does it actually mean to be human?
2. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
Now, another book that’s set in our very near future, but this time one that was written a bit longer ago, is the Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. This is the first book in the Earthseed series, which is the series that predicted Donald Trump. They were written in the 90s but set in the 2020s and going into the 2030s. And I have to say they sound dangerously close to life as we know it now.
So the first one, Parable of the Sower, is set in 2025, in an America that has been torn apart by war, disease, and an extreme water shortage. And then in the second book, Parable of the Talents, we meet this extremist presidential candidate who actually runs on the slogan “make America great again”. And you know very well which presidential candidate used that slogan, right?
These books are not escapist fiction, but they feel so timely, and they’re all about how humanity will have to change and adapt as the world changes.
3. Rise of the Governor by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga
What is the word that you most commonly hear paired with apocalypse? Of course, it’s the zombie apocalypse. That’s why fans of The Walking Dead TV show should definitely read both the original Walking Dead graphic novels and the book series it inspired. Starting with the Rise of the Governor by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga.
Robert Kirkman is the author of the original The Walking Dead graphic novels, and those starred the character Rick Grimes, a small town deputy who woke up from a coma into a zombie apocalypse. And now Robert Kirkman has teamed up with Jay Bonansinga to write this standalone series set in the same universe but with new characters and new storylines.
In the first book, we get a lot of the backstory behind the governor, who is the most terrifying villain in The Walking Dead universe, possibly in any universe.
4. The Gospel of Z by Stephen Graham Jones
Another one for the zombie fans: The Gospel of Z by Stephen Graham Jones. This is worth a look. Ten years after the dead rose and ruined everything, it turns out the real monsters are the humans left standing. Society’s split between two brutal powers: the military and the Church.
Our main guy, Jory Gray, is heartbroken when his girlfriend leaves him to join the Church. His hunt to find her doesn’t just uncover her secrets – it rips the lid off the horrifying rot festering inside both organizations.
5. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
And if it’s not zombies, it’s aliens. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells starts a few years before this alien invasion, when astronomers first start to notice flashes of light on the surface of Mars. That means we get a bit of creepy build-up that something is coming, and then aliens invade. They are definitely not here to make friends; they march on London and declare war against humanity.
This book was published in 1897, and it’s among the early doomsday books to detail a conflict between humans and creatures from somewhere else in space, which, of course, is a genre that is not going anywhere.
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6. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is a book that got a lot of attention in 2020, for being about the before and after of a deadly flu pandemic, but the pandemic in this one however, the terrifying Georgian flu, very quickly wipes out pretty much the entire population, and this book then deals with the aftermath set about 20 years into the future.
And we follow this traveling group of actors and musicians as they travel through this at times rather bleak and violent landscape, but it’s also a really beautiful book about the fact that wherever there is humanity, there will still be art.
7. Severance by Ling Ma
Now, to merge two of the themes we’ve talked about so far, Severance by Ling Ma is a pandemic book about a zombie apocalypse. Our main character, Candice, is a 20-something living in New York, working in publishing, when a mysterious fever starts to spread across the globe. And we watch her trying to cling on to normal life for as long as possible, but we also get flash forwards to some time in the future when Candice has joined a group of travellers trying to make their way to a safe haven.
This book is such a strong commentary on the monotony of modern life, and the unique form that these zombies take will make your daily routine seem a lot more sinister.
8. Not Forgetting the Whale by J.W. Ironmonger
Well, one more pandemic one, Not Forgetting the Whale by J.W. Ironmonger, is apocalypse-lite with a much more hopeful outlook. It’s set in a very small seaside town in Cornwall, like very small, and this town is suddenly rocked one day by the arrival of a mysterious young man running away from the city, where he has just predicted a major global financial collapse.
In response, this very quirky little town ends up quarantining, and it’s a really sweet story, actually, about all of the people in this town and the nearby area uniting and helping each other. It captures that essential human connection – the heart of many great post-apocalyptic romance books – just without the typical dystopian grit.
9. The End We Start From by Megan Hunter
Everyone has been buzzing this year about Megan Hunter’s new book, Days of Light, but her first book, The End We Start From, is every bit as eerily brilliant. This book is set in an unspecified time in the future when London becomes submerged under floodwaters, just as a new mother gives birth to her first child. The family is forced to flee their home and move further north, searching for safety. They become refugees, moving from place to place.
This book is really poetically written, and it’s very minimalist as well. She really allows you to fill in a lot of the gaps with your own imagination, which I absolutely loved, but all while pulling you through this strange and terrifying new world.
10. On the Beach by Nevil Shute
And now all the way to the other side of the world for On the Beach by Neville Shute which is about the last survivors of the nuclear world war 3, which has wiped out the entire world, and these last few survivors are waiting on a beach in southern Australia for the radioactive cloud that they know is headed their way, and is sure to bring a pretty horrific death.
It’s undeniably grim, but you just fall in love with this cast of characters who just insist on being human all the way to the end, even as they face down the literal end of the world.
Final Words
So yes, apocalyptic novels hit different right now. After the wild years we’ve had, they feel less like fiction and more like… well, scary stuff that could happen. But they’re not just doom and gloom. They’re about people scraping by, finding hope, and what makes us human when everything burns.
FAQs
1. What’s the difference between dystopian and apocalyptic novels?
Apocalyptic novels are about the end of the world as we know it – the actual boom moment where everything collapses. Dystopian is more about what happens after that collapse, usually focusing on messed-up societies that try to rebuild from the ashes.
2. Are apocalyptic books usually based on science or imagination?
They usually mix both. Some feel real close to life, like pandemics (Station Eleven), floods (The End We Start From), or tech breaking (The Silence). Others go wild with stuff like zombies (Rise of the Governor) or aliens (War of the Worlds).
3. Which book has the most realistic end-of-the-world scenario?
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler is presented as having the most realistic scenario. It predicted scary things like extreme water shortages, societal collapse, and even an American president, Donald Trump’s slogan. It’s dangerously close to life as we know it now.
4. Why are apocalyptic themes so popular today?
Looking at the current situation of the world, where powerful countries are trying to destroy weaker ones and growing tensions are leading to conflict, it’s hard not to think about how unstable everything really is. These stories give us a way to process that fear, those worst-case scenarios, and explore what survival and humanity might look like when everything falls apart.
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