The term “eco-fiction” can be applied to fictional stories with strong environmental themes. If thought-provoking questions around climate, accountability, or the relationship between humans and the natural world get you going, check out some of our favorite eco-fiction titles:
The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin (Fantasy)
Essun is on a journey to find her kidnapped daughter, sending her across a dying land that’s prone to cataclysmic geological events. The journey is dangerous, even for an orogene, a person like Essun with the power to manipulate the earth’s seismic and kinetic energy. To find her daughter, Essun must hide her power or lose her freedom while battling a merciless landscape and her own long-dormant wounds.
This book had one of the most gasp-worthy twists I’ve ever read.
Dune by Frank Herbert (Science Fiction)
One of the best-selling sci-fi books of all time, Dune follows Paul Atreides, whose family takes stewardship of desert planet Arrakis, the only source of coveted Spice, one of the universe’s most valuable resources. Paul is soon caught in a war over Spice, and must form an alliance with Arrakis’ native population, the Fremen, to avenge his father and confront his own destiny.
Did you know that Dune was inspired by author Frank Herbert’s environmental work in The Oregon Dunes? It’s not all sandworms and prophecies - Dune deals with ecological concepts like water scarcity, resource exploitation and the importance of Indigenous knowledge in managing fragile ecosystems.
The Windup Girl by Paulo Bacigalupi (Science Fiction)
In a near-future Bangkok ravaged by climate change, undercover corporate agent Anderson Lake combs the streets for foodstuffs thought to be extinct. There, he encounters Emiko, a beautiful, genetically engineered “windup” girl, once engineered to satisfy the decadent whims of a Kyoto businessman but now abandoned. Together, they must navigate a world of bio-terrorism, genetic modification and environmental collapse.
This bio punk science fiction novel has earned both a Hugo and a Nebula award.
0 comments