If you are like the rest of the world, on tenterhooks for
the next season of The Last of Us, here are some reading suggestions to
tide you over! A few zombies, some apocalypse, and a big helping of the relationships that keep us
watching, reading, and listening!
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon
Vern is on the run from a cult, not a fungal infection, but
the dangers coming after her are very real. Seven months pregnant, she takes to
the forest and gives birth to twins. But she’s being hunted. And as her body
begins to change in strange and remarkable ways, it becomes more and more clear
that there was something in the water at the cult — something that the cult
leaders don’t want getting out. Along with her babies, Vern will have to flee
the forest and fight back if she wants to expose the people who did this to
her.
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
When a retired soldier returns to his childhood friends’
home, both they — and it —prove to be very much changed. Fungal growths
surround a simmering lake and possessed animals scurry in the underbrush. Could
these horrors have anything to do with the changes taking place to the Ushers?
And, perhaps more importantly, is it too late for Alex Easton to stop it?
Wilder Girls by Rory Power
The changes taking place to the students and teachers at
Raxter School for Girls are strange and immutable. Quarantined from the outside
world, the surviving girls must learn how to survive on their own in their strange
new bodies. And when one of them is kidnapped, her two best friends set off
into the deadly forest outside the school’s walls to find her.
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
Leah is changed. A marine biologist, she left for a routine expedition months earlier, only this time her submarine sank to the sea floor. When she finally surfaces and returns home, her wife Miri knows that something is wrong. Barely eating and lost in her thoughts, Leah rotates between rooms in their apartment, running the taps morning and night. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded, Leah has carried part of it with her, onto dry land and into their home.
Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval
Jo is in a strange new country for university and having a
more peculiar time than most. In a house with no walls, shared with a woman who
has no boundaries, she finds her strange home coming to life in unimaginable
ways. Jo’s sensitivity and all her senses become increasingly heightened and
fraught, as the lines between bodies and plants, dreaming and wakefulness, blur
and mesh.
The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
A girl named Melanie goes to class each morning after being
awakened at gunpoint from her cell. Her teacher, Miss Justineau, is heartbroken
anytime she talks about her future. Melanie is told that she’s special. Dr.
Caldwell calls her a genius. But what exactly makes her that way? And why are
all the adults so terrified of her and the other children? There’s a world
outside these walls. But when Melanie finally gets to see it, she finally
understands the horrifying truths being withheld from her all this time.
The Seep by Chana Porter
An alien invasion calling itself “the Seep” might not be the
catastrophic event humanity always imagined, but it forever alters the course
of Trina’s life all the same. At first, she and her wife live happily under the
Seep’s utopian new society. But when Deeba decides to be reborn as a baby to
begin life anew, Trina is left behind and begins to fully self-destruct. The
Seep can’t understand why she craves conflict and won’t assimilate to the
happiness their technology brings.
The Passage by Justin Cronin
When a military experiment is unleashed during a security
breach, the world is changed in an instant. The survivors do what they must to
survive. FBI Agent Brad Wolgast knows that all too well. He’s still haunted by
the things he’s done. But when the opportunity to protect a young girl who was
part of the experiment that triggered the apocalypse is set before him, he
feels it might finally be his chance to do something right.
Genesis by Bernard Beckett
Anax thinks she knows history. Her grueling all-day
Examination has just begun, and if she passes, she’ll be admitted into the
Academy—the elite governing institution of her utopian society. But Anax is
about to discover that for all her learning, the history she’s been taught
isn’t the whole story. And the Academy isn’t what she believes it to be.
The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow
A misunderstanding between humanity and invading aliens led
to mass destruction after humans were deemed dangerous. Emotional expression in
humans is now closely monitored and controlled. Ellie finds solace in keeping a
secret library of books and music, something that is extremely illegal. When
one of her books goes missing, found by a lab-raised alien honor bound to turn
her in, she assumes her fate is sealed. But M0Rr1S finds himself falling in
love with human music, and soon the two set out on a road trip that could be
their salvation — or their doom.
Zone One by Colson Whitehead
Following a pandemic that devastated the planet, there are
two types of people remaining: those who are infected and those who are not.
The uninfected are attempting to rebuild society, and their sights are set on
Manhattan. Mark Spitz is part of a team trying to rid the city of the last of
the infected, particularly the stragglers that exist in a sort of catatonic
state. But coming to terms with this new world, especially in the grips of
Post-Apocalyptic Stress Disorder, is no easy task. Especially when things start
to go terribly, catastrophically wrong.
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin
In a world where anyone with a certain amount of
testosterone goes feral, Beth and Fran hunt them down and harvest their organs
while avoiding the violent factions of TERFs out to kill them. They team up
with Robbie, a loner on the outskirts, and find themselves in a battle for
their very existence. This gory, violent, and sharp novel is as horrifying as
it is enrapturing.
The Genius Plague by David Walton
A mind controlling fungal infection that imbues the infected
with enhanced cognitive abilities tears two brothers apart in this dystopian
thriller. After his mycologist brother is infected by a fungus on a trip to the
Amazon, Neil notices it’s not just his mind that’s different. Paul is working
toward some nefarious goal. And he’s not the only one. Throughout the world,
more and more infected emerge, from regular citizens to entire governments. And
their one desire seems to be the eradication of human free will.
Wanderers by Chuck Wendig
Something strange is taking place across America:
sleepwalkers, unable to be woken, are setting out on a journey to an unknown
destination. Shana, like so many others whose loved ones have become
sleepwalkers, follows their path in order to protect the little sister she
can’t wake up. As fear and violence leap up in the wake of this strange new
epidemic, it becomes clear that it may not be the sleepwalkers but the fear of
them that threatens to tear society apart.
The Marigold by Andrew F. Sullivan
Something toxic is growing underground — something that
threatens everyone in the unfinished Magnolia condo in Toronto. Following a
cast of characters from the developers already at work on construction of
Marigold II to a health inspector investigating a toxic mold rotting the city’s
infrastructure, this book explores a fungal outbreak from all the angels.
How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
In 2030, a grieving archeologist arrives
in the Arctic Circle to continue the work of his recently deceased daughter at
the Batagaika Crater, where researchers are studying long-buried
secrets now revealed in melting permafrost, including
the perfectly preserved remains of a girl who appears to have died of an
ancient virus. Once unleashed, the Arctic plague will reshape
life on Earth for generations to come, quickly traversing the
globe, forcing humanity to devise a myriad of moving and inventive
ways to embrace possibility in the face of tragedy.
Alone Out Here by Riley Redgate
The year is 2072. Soon a volcanic eruption will trigger
catastrophic devastation, and the only way out is up. While the world’s
leaders, scientists, and engineers oversee the frantic production of a space
fleet meant to save humankind, their children are brought in for a weekend of
touring the Lazarus, a high-tech prototype spaceship. But when the
apocalypse arrives months ahead of schedule, First Daughter Leigh Chen and a
handful of teens from the tour are the only ones to escape the planet. This is
the new world: a starship loaded with a catalog of human artifacts, a frozen
menagerie of animal DNA, and fifty-three terrified survivors.
Followers by Megan Angelo
This dark, pitch-perfect novel about our
dependence on technology for validation and human connection is as
addictive as social media itself.” —People
The Power by Naomi Alderman
When girls gain the power to kill with a single touch, the
world rearranges itself overnight. Through the perspectives of the daughter of
a gangster, a Nigerian journalist, a Mayor, and a runaway, we see the impacts
of this change. It’s women, now, upheld as figures of strength, and men are the
ones afraid to walk home alone at night.
Mexican Gothic by
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin
begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to
High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she
will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí
knows little about the region. Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is
the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but
might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many
secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and
faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she
unearths stories of violence and madness.
Tender is the Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica
‘In the end, meat is meat. It doesn’t matter where it came
from.’ That quote is enough to leave any reader hooked on what Bazterrica’s
post-apocalyptic future holds, and it is so much more than you can imagine.
Tender is the Flesh provides a terrible and horrific insight into what
happens when social norms go wrong and the consequences the desire for food can
have.
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
Amanda and Clay head out to a remote corner of Long Island
expecting a vacation: a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality
time with their teenage son and daughter, and a taste of the good life in the
luxurious home they’ve rented for the week. But a late-night knock on the door
breaks the spell. Ruth and G. H. are an older couple—it’s their house, and
they’ve arrived in a panic. They bring the news that a sudden blackout has
swept the city. But in this rural area—with the TV and internet now down, and
no cell phone service—it’s hard to know what to believe. Should Amanda and Clay
trust this couple—and vice versa? What happened back in New York? Is the
vacation home, isolated from civilization, a truly safe place for their
families? And are they safe from one other?
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. the sky is dark. their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. they have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food - and each other.
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
Julia's world is thrown into upheaval when it is discovered that the Earth's rotation has suddenly begun to slow, posing a catastrophic threat to all life.
The Memory Police by Yogo Ogawa
Memory serves as our most important tool for keeping in
touch with our past. But what happens when you can’t trust that memory anymore?
When the Memory Police threaten to take away a young novelist’s editor because
of his memory of forgotten things, she begins to question what it means to
forget and why remembering is so dangerous.
A Beginning at the End by Mike Chen
Six years after a global pandemic wiped out most of the planet's population, the survivors are rebuilding the country, split between self-governing cities, hippie communes, and wasteland gangs. Krista, Moira, Rob, and Sunny are brought together by circumstance, and their lives begin to twine together. But when reports of another outbreak throw the fragile society into panic, the friends are forced to finally face everything that came before--and everything they still stand to lose. Because sometimes having one person is enough to keep the world going.
Edge of Collapse by Kyla Stone
When an EMP destroys all power in the country, it becomes
the greatest day of Hannah Sheridan’s life: her escape. But as her captor
ruthlessly pursues her and all modern technology is lost to the power outage,
Hannah and ex-soldier Liam have to navigate an unknown world to get back to the
one they knew.
Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro
In a blend of Spanish and English, Oshiro weaves a tale of
young Xochitl, who is burdened with the gift of taking in stories from her
village members and absolving their sins. When the burden gets too much for her
to bear, she embarks on a journey to give it back to the desert.
The Silence by Don Delillo
The Silence stays true to its name in its exploration
of yet another society where technology fails. Yet where other books paint a
picture of utter chaos, Delillo’s story is one of introspection and slowly
falling apart as his characters struggle to cope without their dependence on
technology.
The New Wilderness by Diane Cook
Nature and mankind stand at two opposite ends in this book
where human beings live in an overpopulated city and nature is left to its own
devices. Bea and her 5-year-old daughter Agnes become part of an experiment to
unite the two, only for the group to find a connection with nature unlike what
they had expected and become willing to stand against their own to protect it.
Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer
Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for
decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The
first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the
second expedition ended in mass suicide; the third expedition in a hail of gunfire
as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition
returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of
cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern
Reach trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.
Severance by Ling Ma
Candace Chen is a millennial working in an office tower in
Manhattan. She is so devoted to her everyday routine that she doesn’t even
realize when an epidemic of biblical proportions sweeps the world. The Shen
Fever tears down NYC, leaving Candace alone in a deserted city where she soon
becomes an anonymous blogger of the apocalypse. Those affected by the disease
continue with their past life’s routines until their bodies start to
decay.
Hater by David Moody
Society is rocked by a sudden increase in the number of
violent assaults on individuals. Christened 'Haters' by the media, the
attackers strike without warning, killing all who cross their path. The
assaults are brutal, remorseless and extreme: within seconds, normally
rational, self-controlled people become frenzied, vicious killers.
The Kingdom of the Gods by In-Wan Youn, Eun-Hee Kim, and
Yang Kyung-Il
This is the graphic novel that inspired the Netflix
show Kingdom. The young Prince Yi Moon has fled war and famine-stricken
Joseon after surviving an assassination attempt. Alone, he is forced to ask for
help from Jae-ha, a mountain bandit. As they cross the country, they start to
realize that they must survive both the living and the dead.
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
Following Jane McKeene, a young woman who is born the same
year that the dead started to rise from their graves in Civil War battlefields
across America, we watch as both north and south find a common and pressing
enemy in the zombie horde. The Native and Negro Reeducation Act comes into
place, forcing young Black and Native people to be trained in fighting zombies
as proxy soldiers if they ever wish to be free.
https://lithub.com/9-must-reads-for-lovers-and-haters-of-the-last-of-us/
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