Climate change is on the back of everyone’s mind, and it’s not something that can be willed away. It’s important to discuss climate change, no matter how disheartening it is. These issues are important to keep in the back burner of our minds so we may remember how our decisions collectively impact our planet.
Climate fiction or “cli-fi” is a genre of literature that has climate change at its forefront. Anthropogenic activity has taken its toll on the environmental, and these novels highlight the difficulty of navigating a dying world. Climate fiction is characterized by an unpredictable setting that is the result of a systemic issue, crisis, and turbulent emotions. This genre is not exactly the most uplifting, but it’s necessary to imagine how climate fiction can become a reality.
Unlike scientific articles or policy papers, these works have an emotional edge that show how climate collapse is happening and will impact real communities. These stories transform abstract fears about the climate crisis into vivid, emotionally resonant narratives. These stories all highlight how human resilience can exist in any climate.
Below are some notable works of cli-fi that discuss the important themes surrounding environmental/societal collapse, resource scarcity, and salvaging what being human means in an apocalyptic landscape.
Parable of the Sower (1993) by Octavia Butler
Parable of the Sower is about Lauren Olamina, a young girl who can physically feel the pain of those around her. Set in an apocalyptic 2024, Lauren lives in one of the only safe neighborhoods left. The outside world has been destroyed by water scarcity, drugs, war, disease, etc. All that’s left is anarchy. Although the novel is distressing to read, it is, ultimately, a book about how change is possible. Lauren is hopeful that a new world can come out of the ruins of the past, and she doesn’t give up when this new world doesn’t immediately come to. Her vigor is what brings others to join her on this difficult journey.
Parable of the Sower is an important piece of climate fiction because it challenges readers to consider the importance of hope and collective action in the face of environmental collapse.
Gold Fame Citrus (2015) by Claire Vaye Watkins
Gold Fame Citrus is set in dystopian California, where a drought has made it uninhabitable. The novel follows a couple who hasn’t left California despite the lack of rain for the past 25 years. The majority of society has run away from California or lives in government camps, but Luz and Ray live as scavengers. Luz and Ray end up adopting an abandoned child and decide to head east, for the promise of water and safety. The Amargosa, a daunting sand dune, follows the couple. Gold Fame Citrus showcases many different relationships – familial, platonic, maternal – and how the varying relationships are integral to survival.
This work highlights the human need for connection and how that need manifests in a collapsing world. Watkins and climate fiction shows how important human connection is to the world we currently have. Climate fiction may be thought to be a cautionary tale, but it’s also about the lengths to which people will go to preserve their communities in the face of despair.
The Fifth Season (2015) by N.K Jemisin
The Fifth Season is the first novel in the Broken Earth trilogy. In this world, there is only one single continent called the Stillness. The Stillness is not stable place, and people are in fear of a “fifth season” approaching, when a natural disaster wipes out almost the entire population.
This book follows Essun, a woman who finds that her husband has murdered their son after finding out that their son was an orogene. Orogenes are people who can manipulate the energy of the world, but their power is not appreciated. They are essentially oppressed slaves controlled by the Fulcrum, the institution that makes sure to regulate their powers.
Despite its fantasy elements, this world has many parallels to our current one. Jemisin highlights up how privilege and oppression play a role in a falling society.
Oryx and Crake (2003) by Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood is most known for The Handmaid’s Tale, which is an impactful and thought-provoking work of its own, but Atwood’s other works shouldn’t be neglected. Oryx and Crake is the first book in the MaddAddam Trilogy.
This novel follows Snowman, who was Jimmy before a plague ransacked the world he once knew. He is only surrounded by Crakers, who are similar to humans but not the same. Crakers can survive in this destroyed environment while humans struggle to do so. The Crakers ask Snowman to tell them what the past was like, which is how the novel begins, and the readers learn of how Jimmy became Snowman.
This piece of climate fiction brings up the discussion of hubris, environmental responsibility, and how the world we inhabit is more fragile than popular belief.
The Stone Gods (2007) by Jeanette Winterson
The Stone Gods is a novel that deals with artificial intelligence, governmental control, war ethics. This novel’s core message is that humanity has the bad habit to not learn from history. In this novel, everyone is excited for a new start on a new world – Planet Blue. Billie Cruscoe, the main character, falls in love with Spike, a robosapien. Robosapiens are extremely advanced AI with eerily human-like qualities. Through their relationship, Winterson explores what it means to be human and to love.
The Stone Gods and climate fiction are meditations on what human nature truly is. When reading climate fiction, readers are urged to reflect on their choices and envision a future where the mistakes of the past are not endlessly repeated.
Climate Fiction as a Call to Action
These works hold up an ugly mirror to society, urging us to grapple with the consequences of environmental neglect, systemic inequality, and unbridled technological advancement. No work of fiction exists in a vacuum, and it’s important to not shrug off the message behind these novels. Climate fiction, like anything else calling attention to climate change, is meant to inspire change, not dishearten its audience. Ultimately, climate fiction is a genre of both caution and inspiration. It invites readers to imagine not just dystopian futures but the paths we can take to avoid them. In a time when action on climate change is more urgent than ever, these stories encourage us to reflect, engage, and act—for our world and future generations.
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