What counts as “dystopian” fiction anymore? Where is the line between the apocalypses of our beloved sci-fi books, and the climate disaster that surrounds us? Herein enters “Climate Fiction”, set to become the new talked-about genre of 2025.

Being a subgenre of science fiction, “cli-fi” deals partly in the speculative future of the climate crisis. Although it started more firmly positioned in the realm of science fiction, recent releases have ushered in a shift towards a more realistic slant for the genre. Whilst the reason for this shift feels very… ominous, climate fiction also contains the potential to call us to action and show us what is at stake. It has the power to remind readers that if we give in to doom, there is a grantee of failure, but if the fight continues, there is still room for hope yet! Here are five recent releases that we think do a great job of breaking this genre open and providing exciting new perspectives to climate fiction. 

Edendale

Jacqueline Stolos has injected her debut Edendale with all the essential ingredients of a top-tier eco-horror. Foreboding is in the air as northeast LA’s wild fires rage in the rapidly narrowing distance, and interpersonal tensions rise to a boiling point for four millennial housemates stranded in a bungalow.

Ropey closes his checking account and transfers his net worth to his sock drawer. Megan sharpens pencils and chops produce to obsession. Lyle tightens his grip on his girlfriend Egypt, whose growing dependence makes her question everything, especially Lyle. And Captain America, the cat of the house, finds his orange coat giving way to a nest of bleeding sores. As the fires burn ever closer, will the four friends wake up to their false paradise?

Aerth

Aerth by Deborah Tomkins, which won the inaugural Weather Glass Books, was described by prize judge Ali Smith as “a thrilling journey in a story the size of a planet – no, the size of several, all of them altogether strange and uncannily familiar”. Exploring migration, conspiracy theories and the climate, Aerth is set on a planet moving towards an ice age and plagued with a strange virus. After an alternative planet – Urth – is discovered, Magnus vows to travel there in search of a new life and a new world. But is the grass greener on another planet?  What he finds is another hot, corrupt and violent planet, and no way home.

Landscapes

Country-house novels have been a staple setting in the British literary imagination for at least a couple hundred years, tracing back through the likes of Northanger Abbey, Howards End, Atonement, and more. Now, Christine Lai has brought the country house novel into the present climate crisis with Landscapes.

Set in a near-future fraught with ecological collapse, archivist Penelope archives what remains of a country estate’s once notable collection. During her cataloguing, she keeps a diary to document the final months before the estate’s looming demolition and the return of a dangerous figure from her past. Landscapes is a timely novel that reckons with the meaning and place of art in an environment defined by survival and impending collapse.

Send Flowers

“Radical, hopeful stories are exactly what the world needs right now and through her characters, Buchanan gets to the heart of what drives activism now and throughout history: the simple hope that a better world is possible” — Will McCallum, Executive Director, Greenpeace UK

Fiona, better known as eco-influencer @FoliageFifi, hasn’t left her flat since her boyfriend, Ed, died. She blames herself for what happened to him and for the failure of their climate activist group. But when Ed’s favourite plant appears on her doorstep with an anonymous note, Fifi feels a glimmer of hope… then the plant starts talking, and making demands that drive her to risky places. How far will she go to keep him blooming?

Drawing on her own experiences as a climate activist, Emily Buchanan’s eco-feminist debut Send Flowers takes on the climate crisis and grief with originality, humour and magical realism.

After The Clearances

For fans of The Overstory and The End We Start From, Alison Layland’s new novel After the Clearances will be a welcome addition to your TBR pile. Set in 2056, the novel depicts a self-sufficient community The Seeders, who have fled to a remote Welsh island to escape the government’s repressive “Clearances”. But 13-year-old Seeder, Glesni, suspects her family is hiding something. When Sandy, a vengeful mainlander, washes ashore, Glesni is drawn to search for a truth that threatens to put those she loves at risk and maybe even jeopardize the whole community.

Meanwhile, on the mainland, fugitive Winter finds an unlikely friendship with a wild woman living off the land. How are their fates connected? After the Clearances is a thrilling book dealing with resiliance, community, repression and, of course, climate change.

Sea Now

This is a bonus one to keep your eyes out for this October… The country is flooding. Every day the sea claims another kilometre of land. The prime minister holds a daily press conference. Scientists try to find an explanation, without success. Sheep drown in the fields, weighed down by their waterlogged fleeces. The museums are emptied of their valuable works. Some people stay. Most leave. Once the evacuation is complete, and the rest of the world is already moving on, a climate activist, a young poet and an oceanographer voyage across the new sea. They are drawn back into the heart of a changed nation, seeking what they have lost in the deluge.