Speculative fiction is quickly becoming my favorite genre.
I love speculative fiction because the stories are not restricted to realism and there’s room for a deeper exploration of the human condition. Speculative fiction brings us just far enough outside of our current reality to give us interesting and new philosophical dilemmas while maintaining a feeling that we’re one or two turns away from ending up in this fictional world.
I love a good thought experiment, and the imaginative way these authors tweak our world to explore the human psyche, morality, and politics really hits the spot.
These are the top 5 speculative fiction novels that I believe are essential to your TBR if you’ve never read them and enjoy this genre. These stories range from heartwarming to heart-wrenching and really make you think about the current state of the world and what it means to be human.
P.S Please check trigger warnings on these books, as many include dark themes.
1. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Road is the first Cormac Mcarthy novel I read, and it sold me on his work. I now will be reading everything this man has ever written.
The story takes place after the collapse of modern society. It follows a man and his young son as they travel through dangerous territory to find a better place to live in a seemingly unlivable world.
The story is bleak but addicting. The bond between father and son is enchanting and heartbreaking. The prose is simple but genius. I’d recommend this book to anyone.
2. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
This story was published in the early 90s and is set to take place in 2025. The accuracy with which Octavia Butler predicted our current issues is flooring.
This story, formatted like a journal, follows a young girl named Lauren as she navigates a world that’s growing less and less hospitable by the year.
This book explores religion, environmental issues, and social justice. It also heavily criticizes capitalism. It’s rich in philosophical problems, and its world-building is almost parallel to what we can expect from the next 10 to 20 years in our current world.
3. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
While parallels are often drawn between Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, I think Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake is much more similar.
With its critiques of capitalism and the incorporation of imagined-religion, this book includes very similar themes to Parable of the Sower.
This story follows the apparent last man on Earth, Jimmy, who has survived a plague that wiped out Earth’s population. He’s left to keep watch over a strange human-esque group of creatures as he reflects on the past.
This book is part one of a 3 part series and has some of the best world-building I’ve read within this genre.
4. The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings
Feminism and witch-hunts set in a dystopian world? I’m sold. After putting off reading this story for such a long time, I was pleasantly surprised. The writing style was easy to digest and engaging, and the story was inventive and exciting.
This story takes place in a world where women are required to marry by the age of 30. Jo, the unmarried main character who’s approaching her 30th birthday, deals with the threat of being placed under government monitoring should she remain unmarried. In an attempt to honor her mother’s dying wishes, she ends up in a different world.
What makes the feminist themes in this story really powerful is how intersectionality is accounted for in the patriarchal world that Giddings created. This story entertains magic and witchcraft, speculating on the patriarchy and women’s rights to autonomy.
5. Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers
This novella by Becky Chambers is part one of two in the Monk and Robot Series. It deals with themes around AI, the meaning of life, and friendship.
The story takes place in a futuristic world where robots have been granted autonomy and have left humans behind to live in the wilderness. Dex, a nonbinary tea monk, encounters a robot during a wilderness excursion, and they become friends.
This story is a short read, but it packs a big punch. It deals with the potentiality of sentience in AI. It explores the interaction between humans and robots in a charming and clever way. This book feels like a warm hug.
Are there any books you feel are missing from this list?
Let me know in the comments what your speculative fiction recommendations are.
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