7 Best Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Novels From 2022

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“I saw a civilization that could destroy itself before it even reached the nearest star.”

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As technology and science becomes more and more advanced at a rapid rate, the lines between real life and dystopia have become more and more blurred. Things that, even a couple of decades ago, would have been considered fantastical have been turned into everyday occurrences, widening our imaginations on what the future might hold for us as a species, and our wider celestial presence. With that in mind, join us here at What We Reading as we take a look at some of the best examples of where technology has gone wrong with these great apocalyptic sci-fi novels from 2022. 

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City Of Orange – David Yoon

Award-winning author David Yoon whisks readers off on a thought-provoking and emotional look into what makes us human in his 2022 dystopian book City of Orange. 

The book follows a man who wakes up in a deserted apocalyptic world with no knowledge of who he is, or what has happened to everything around him. Readers follow the man as he must scavenge the world for food and water before an encounter with a young boy changes his whole perspective on everything he has pieced together.

At times funny and at times unimaginably harrowing, City of Orange has been acclaimed as one of the most ambitious apocalyptic sci-fi novels from 2022. 

How High We Go in the Dark – Sequoia Nagamatsu

The debut novel from Sequoia Nagamatsu, How High We Go In The Dark is a ‘daring and heartfelt’ story that follows a cast of intricately linked characters across hundreds of years as humanity struggles to survive in the wake of a global catastrophe. 

This dystopian work tackles everything from funerary skyscrapers to pigs that can have developed a capacity to speak, the book takes readers on a compassionate journey across continents, centuries and even celestial bodies to explore the infinite potential of human resilience and the ability to dream. 

Sea of Tranquility – Emily St. John Mandel

Space exploration has always captured the human imagination and has been seen as the pinnacle of scientific achievements. Bestselling author of Glass Hotel and Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel taps into this magic with her apocalyptic novel from 2022, Sea of Tranquility. 

Whisking readers on a whirlwind journey from Vancouver in 1912 to a high-tech facility on the moon five hundred years in the future, it is a compelling look into humanity’s ambition as well as the trap falls of our planet in the present moment. 

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Love Sci-Fi thrillers set in space? Check out these great reads! 

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Mickey7 – Edward Ashton

A major motion picture in the making Mickey7 is a thrilling 2022 sci-fi book from Edward Ashton. 

Protagonist Mickey7 is an Expendable: an employee deemed disposable on a human-led mission to colonise the ice planet, Niflheim. Mickey7 is used for all the missions humans deem to be dangerous or foolhardy, replacing him with a new iteration if he dies along the way. A powerful look at the value we attach to our lives, and the well-being of other inhabitants of our planet, Mickey7 is a sharp and poignant tale no sci-fi fan wants to skip out on. 

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Check out the best 2023 Sci-Fi books

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Primitives – Erich Krauss

New York Times bestselling author Erich Krauss tells the poignant story of two of the unlikeliest heroes spearheading humanity’s revival in one of the best 2022 apocalyptic sci-fi novels, Primitives. 

Seth and Sarah find themselves at opposite ends of an Earth ravaged by the outbreak of The Great Fatigue, a deadly plague that has caused humanity to regress back to a primitive state. But, as the pair find themselves in two drastic races to save their race, their journeys will find them questioning whether or not the human race really deserves a spot in the future. 

All That’s Left In The World – Erik J. Brown

A 2022 Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction, Erik J. Brown’s All That’s Left in the World is best described as a play on They Both Die at the End with What If It’s Us.

A queer dystopian sci-fi book, the story follows two boys named Andrew and Jamie attempting to survive the apocalypse (coming in the form of a deadly pathogen), whilst simultaneously facing secrets, fears and feelings for each other across a remarkable journey in search of civilisation. 

The Doloriad – Missouri Williams

The debut novel from New York Times featured Missouri Williams, The Doloriad is a 2022 post-apocalyptic novel following the Matriarch and her incest family clinging on to life after all of humanity was wiped out in a mysterious environmental cataclysm. 

The Matriarch has ambitions of restarting humanity over again, with her at the head. This gothic dystopia novel explores how this strange family struggle to survive in the fallout of disaster, and how the Matriarch’s reign of terror begins to be threatened by forces within.