Ten top works of fiction about climate disaster

Julie Carrick Dalton's debut novel, Waiting for the Night Song, is forthcoming from Forge (Macmillan) in January 2021, and her second novel, The Last Beekeeper, will follow a year later. She says if you enjoyed Where the Crawdads Sing or Barbara Kingsolver novels, her books are for you.

At Electric Lit she recommended ten books "that can motivate policymakers—and voters—by making the disastrous future feel present and real," including:

The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi

By the end of the first chapter, you will be thirsty. Let the thirst sink in as you enter a future where the American Southwest has dried up, and people routinely drink their own filtered urine to avoid wasting water. Racism and anti-immigrant sentiments are on full display in The Water Knife. Economic inequality manifests in compounds that rise up with lush green vegetation and abundant water—but only if you can buy your way in. Characters jostle for control of water rights along the Colorado River and a mysterious ancient deed could change everything. As the mystery of the deed unfolds, and characters battle over water, we are reminded they are doing so on stolen land. Feeling uncomfortable yet? Good. Sit with the discomfort and ask who in this country, on this planet, is experiencing this reality.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Water Knife is among Jeff Somers's six top sci-fi books about the changing climate.

--Marshal Zeringue