No movie has gotten my blood pumping quite like Mad Max, so I’m really excited to see Furiosa! I always come out of good movies wanting more of what I just saw, and if you’re the same way, you can jump into one of these gritty dystopian universes!
A Big Ship At the Edge of the Universe by Alex White
A washed-up treasure hunter, a hotshot racer, and a deadly secret society. They’re all on a race against time to hunt down the greatest warship ever built. Some think the ship is lost forever, some think it’s been destroyed, and some think it’s only a legend, but one thing’s for certain: whoever finds it will hold the fate of the universe in their hands.
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world’s sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun. It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter. It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester. This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy.
The Last Refuge by Christina Bacilieri
Kiera Vandyer, driven by desperation, reluctantly joins a dangerous scheme for money. Despite hiding her fascination with magic for years, she inadvertently crosses into Etabon, Atterah’s last magic sanctuary. Hunted by the warden and facing certain death if caught by the Ruling Board, Kiera must harness her newfound powers to survive.
God’s War by Kameron Hurley
On a ravaged, contaminated world, a centuries-old holy war rages. Though the origins of the war are shady and complex, there’s one thing everybody agrees on: There’s not a chance in hell of ending it. When a dubious deal between the government and an alien gene pirate goes bad, Nyx’s ugly past as a former government assassin makes her the top pick for a covert recovery. The head they want her to bring home could end the war — but at what price?
Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
When a small town needs help finding a missing girl, Maggie, a Dinétah monster hunter, is their last best hope. She reluctantly enlists the aid of an unconventional medicine man, and together they unravel clues from ancient legends, trading favors with tricksters, and battling dark witchcraft in a patchwork world of deteriorating technology. As Maggie discovers the truth behind the killings, she will have to confront her past if she wants to survive.
Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson
As a skilled mechanic and an even more skilled fighter, Scales is a respected member of the Emperor’s crew. But the fragile peace she helps to maintain is fractured when a woman is mangled and killed. When more bodies start to turn up, both in the desert community of Ashtown and in the wealthier, walled-off Wiley City, Scales is tasked with finding the cause and putting an end to it. To protect the people she loves, she teams up with a frustratingly by-the-books partner from Ashtown and a brusque-but-brilliant scientist from the City, delving into both worlds to track down an invisible killer.
Artificial Wisdom by Thomas R. Weaver
In 2050, journalist Marcus Tully, haunted by his wife’s death in a devastating heatwave, investigates whether the catastrophe was natural or a sinister act of genocide. Pulled into a murder inquiry amid a global election, where a dictator aims to avert a climate apocalypse, Tully faces political intrigue and manipulation. With a former U.S. president opposing an AI candidate, Tully races to uncover the truth, facing obstacles that threaten to derail his quest. As he navigates a world teetering on the brink, Tully grapples with humanity’s choice between salvation and freedom, at any cost.
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
When global climate change and economic crises lead to social chaos, California becomes full of dangers, from pervasive water shortage to masses of vagabonds. Fifteen-year-old Lauren Olamina lives inside a gated community, sheltered from the surrounding anarchy. She suffers from hyperempathy, a debilitating sensitivity to others’ emotions. Lauren must make her voice heard in order to protect her loved ones from the imminent disasters her small community stubbornly ignores. But what begins as a fight for survival soon leads to something much more: the birth of a new faith, and a startling vision of human destiny.
Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve
London is hunting again. Emerging from its hiding place in the hills, the great Traction City is chasing a terrified little town across the wastelands. Soon London will feed. In the attack, Tom Natsworthy is flung from the speeding city with a murderous scar-faced girl. They must run for their lives through the wreckage — and face a terrifying new weapon that threatens the future of the world.
Moral Code by Lois and Ross Melbourne
Dr. Keira Stetson, passionate about ethical AI and improving children’s lives, finds herself trapped with panicked children after an earthquake. Billionaire Roy Brandt rescues them using his nanite technology, sparking Keira’s interest. She merges her company with Brandt’s, embedding her Moral Operating System into his nanites to prevent misuse. But as they face threats from corporate raiders and the military intent on weaponizing the technology, Keira and her AI assistant, Elly, must fight to ensure it’s used for good, not destruction.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
After a flu pandemic destroys civilization, Kirsten Raymonde travels with The Traveling Symphony, a group of artists preserving humanity’s remnants. In St. Deborah by the Water, they face a violent prophet endangering their survival. The narrative shifts between pre- and post-pandemic life, unveiling the twist of fate connecting them all.
Ellen Whitfield is senior publicist at Books Forward, an author publicity and book marketing firm committed to promoting voices from a diverse variety of communities. From book reviews and author events, to social media and digital marketing, we help authors find success and connect with readers.
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