There is something grimly fascinating about apocalyptical stories and end-of-the-world scenarios.
Perhaps it is born out of curiosity regarding how our civilization could break down. Or, maybe it’s a desire to explore how the remnants of humanity would live should the worst happen—or if they even get to retain the traits that we consider “human.”
Regardless, the best apocalypse books always acknowledge that our way of living is delicate and relies on a balance that can easily shatter in multiple ways. The following ten books are considered some of the best apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction. Each featuring different tones, concepts, and ideas, they shine as some of the best explorations of the end of the world as we know it.
I Am Legend
The oldest entry in our list, I Am Legend is certainly one of the best apocalypse books of all time and a trope codifier for many quintessential elements of the genre.
After a pandemic ravaged the world and transformed the infected humans into vampire-like creatures, Robert Neville remains the last survivor on Earth. Scavenging for supplies and fighting the infected for his life, Neville struggles with his loneliness and growing depression, resorting to alcohol to cope. However, he has one last hope: finding a cure.
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
The United Nations Postwar Commission has sent an agent, Max Brooks, to collect a series of first-person accounts of what happened when, in the early 21 st Century, the Solanum virus spread and turned people into mindless, zombie-like creatures.
World War Z is a grim yet captivating outlook on how a zombie infection could take over the world. While certain aspects may appear dated after the COVID-19 pandemic, the book maneuvers complex international relations and grounded layman’s points of view, allowing Max Brooks to create a tangible alternative universe that feels as real as our own.
The Hunger Games
Where North America once stood, there is a country named Panem, comprised of the wealthy Capitol and 12 poverty-stricken districts ruled with an iron fist.
As a punishment for a failed revolt, the Capitol imposes the Hunger Games—a mandatory, televised fight to the death for children of each district. When her sister is chosen, Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her place.
Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy became a worldwide phenomenon, single-handedly responsible for bringing the dystopic young adult novel genre to the forefront of popular culture and earning respect as one of the best apocalypse books ever written.
The Road
A father and his son travel through a devastated wasteland, the remnants of an unspecified event that destroyed nearly all life forms. Their only hope is to go south to reach the warmer sea. Still, along the path, they find numerous threats—including other survivors.
The Road is not an easy read. It is a bleak tragedy, a post-apocalyptic novel unafraid to showcase humanity’s lowest points and the cruel side that shines through once desperation sets in. It handles heavy topics and dark imagery but never forgets to depict the rays of hope that often shine through.
The Maze Runner
Thomas can only remember his name when he wakes up in the Glade, a vast courtyard surrounded by a stone labyrinth inhabited by other boys just as amnesic. But while they may not know much about their circumstances, they are sure of one thing: freedom is beyond the maze—and the monsters that live within.
The Maze Runner by James Dashner is a young adult dystopian novel series that starts with the titular book and continues across multiple novels, building the world and the mysterious circumstances surrounding it with complex detail.
The Stand
Often labeled as one of Stephen King’s best books and one of the best apocalyptic books ever written, The Stand is a dystopian tale with a dark fantasy flair, blurring the lines between gritty realism and magical horror, creating a novel that feels like an epic.
After a biological attack created a deadly pandemic that wiped out most of humanity, the few remaining survivors start receiving visions of two people—supernatural beings that aim to create two factions in what may or may not be a showdown between good and evil.
Station Eleven
Station Eleven is a 2014 novel with a premise made even more unnerving after 2020—what if a deadly flu pandemic wiped out most of humanity?
The story focuses on a core cast of characters and their deep connections before, during, and after “The Collapse”—all marked by artistic expression. The result is a novel profoundly humane that explores the importance of art and preserving what you love even when the world stops being what it was.
Swan Song
During the Cold War, both superpowers used their nuclear arsenal and submerged the world in nuclear winter. Now, with the United States turned into a wasteland, multiple survivors attempt to navigate the country in search of a better home.
Swan Song is a novel published in 1987 reflecting society’s ongoing fear of mutual nuclear annihilation during the Cold War. However, what makes Swan Song one of the best apocalypse books is how McCammon combines the gripping tale of realistic human survival alongside spiritual and supernatural concepts, woven together through an exploration of the idea of beauty.
Wool
After an unexplained apocalyptic event, humanity lives underground in a self-sustained city called Silo. There is no knowledge of how the world was before, but authorities say the surface is toxic and barren.
Silo has one rule: whoever expresses an interest in the outside world must go out to clean the external sensors of the city. No one that has gone has ever returned.
Unlike other books in this list, Wool began as a short story, but it eventually spanned four sequel novellas. The combination of these five stories is the novel Wool—the first of three books.
The Girl with All the Gifts
The Girl with All the Gifts is a post-apocalyptic novel where humanity undergoes a “zombie apocalypse” derived from the spread of a fungus that transforms humans into mindless beasts that eat human flesh and spread disease. However, some infected children are different—they retain their mental faculties. And out of them all, Melanie is unique.
Clever and complex, The Girl with All the Gifts explores post-apocalyptic zombie fiction with a fresh outlook, making the reader wonder what makes a monster or a human.
Best Apocalypse Books: An Exploration of Humanity
Apocalyptic novels are, at their core, tales about humanity that make us look inward. What makes us human when everything around us collapses? Is human nature good or evil? Are we moving toward destruction or salvation?
The best apocalypse books, like the ones in this list, address the very essence of humanity while also serving as a cautionary tale—poignant critiques of societal flaws that may eventually erode the foundation of life as we know it.
But they are also very good books, and whether you want to read how-to survival books, ponder ontological questions, or enjoy fiction with a good cup of coffee, you may buy these novels on BookScouter at the best price.
