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Welcome to day 22 of 31 Days of Apocalypse, Now, a month of posts about apocalypse, revelation, uncovering what’s been hidden. Each post will look at these ideas from its own vantage point, which may not obviously connect with the others, and which may only peripherally seem related. I won’t attempt to tie the posts together. They’ll all be listed here, as they are posted.

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If you’ve come here looking for novels about the cataclysmic event called The Apocalypse or about the world post-Apocalypse, read my introduction and then do come back here for some lists of lovely, cheerful fiction about the Apocalypse.

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Dystopian, Apocalyptic, and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction, at Madison Public Library (WI), with author, title, summary, and links to their catalog for about 75 books, subdivided into these categories: Pandemic Fiction; It’s the End of the World: Government Gone Wild, Genetic Engineering, and More Messed-Up Societies; After the Apocalypse: Climate Change, Nuclear Fallout, and More Ways the World (Almost) Ends; and Dystopian, Apocalyptic, and Post-Apocalyptic Classics.

Works of Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction, Wikipedia: Dynamic and can be sorted by date, title, author, cause of the apocalypse. Includes notes about many of the works.

60 Years Of Post-Apocalyptic Fiction: A Chronological Curriculum Of The Ultimate Catastrophe By Michael White at Science 2.0. Listed by year, with author and title only.

Post-Apocalyptic Classics, Logan Library, Logan, Utah: Twenty titles, listing author, genre, publication year, book cover, and with a link to more info in their online catalog.

2025 Prepper Fiction Reviews: List of about 50 books/series, the Best and the Worst of Prepper Fiction, and below that is a lot more info, book cover images, and links. Compiled by Dan, “a normal suburban dad living in southern California.”

Best Post-Apocalyptic Books: 49 Must Read Novels, Diane Vuković, Primal Survivor: “Post-apocalyptic fiction books aren’t just good entertainment. You can sometimes learn a lot of important survival skills from them, and improve your mental preparedness while enjoying them.” Author, title, publication year, book cover, summary, Amazon link. Sections: Classics, Must-Read (very popular or influential), Popular, Lesser-Known and Other Worthy Mentions, and Readers’ Picks.

The 50 Greatest Apocalypse Novels Apropos of . . . Nothing: A list compiled in Oct. 2020 by Emily Temple at LitHub, with author, title, cover, date, short summary, and links.

17 Post-Apocalyptic Books to Read from the Comfort of Your Home by the staff at Tertulia, a co-op bookstore. Author, title, good summary, link to buy book from their store.

10 Post-Apocalyptic Novels Written By Women, Nicolette Stewart, The Skiffy and Fanty Show: Author, title, publication year, book cover, summary. 

Novels that Could Help You Prepare for a Future Pandemic, Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders, Gizmodo: Eleven titles, with author, book cover, and summary. Mostly the usual but I haven’t seen the comic title Sweet Tooth by Jeff Lemire on many lists.

Five Apocalypses: A Particularly Catastrophic Summer Reading List, compiled by Emily St. John Mandel at The Millions: Title, author, extensive summary, book cover, Amazon link.

A List of Apocalyptic/Post-Apocalyptic Books, Reddit: Not well organised but huge, at least 500 books. Sorted by author’s first name, for some reason. Includes title, author, publication year, page count, average Goodreads rating, brief summary.

Goodreads Listopia: Very Best Post-Apocalyptic Fiction, selected by Brian Smith: About 100 titles, with author, book cover, Goodreads rating, link to more info.

FOR TEENS

Post-Apocalypse Fiction, for teens, Coventry Public Library, Rhode Island: Fifteen titles, with author, summary, and online catalog link.

If you like The Hunger Games (20 great dystopian novels), for teens, Red Wing Public Library, Minnesota: “The Hunger Games spurred a wave of dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction geared towards teens. Recent events (e.g., the pandemic, climate change, and increasing authoritarianism) have inspired other works on a dystopian future. Whether it’s set in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, or so much later that the pre-apocalypse civilization has been all but forgotten, and whether it’s due to nuclear war, environmental catastrophe, disease, zombies, or the rapture, people love to read about the end (and what comes after!).” Author, title, meaty summary, book cover, online catalog link.

12 Young Adult Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic Books Worth Reading, LitSlut: Author, title, summary, and Goodreads link. Most are first in a series and that’s noted.