Books to Read when the World is Ending (COVID Book List)

As the world gets stranger and stranger as the days go by, many of us are choosing to escape the madness though reading. Here’s a selection of 10 novels that either talk about a weird, future world, or have predicted the way we are living today years before.

‘Station Eleven’ -Emily St. John Mandel (Canada, first published 2014)

This one not only ticks the box for being another ‘civilisation collapse’ narrative, it gets bonus points with the author having just released her new novel ‘The Glass Hotel’ right in the midst of COVID-19. Taking place in the US Great Lakes region, it is based on a time after the ‘Georgia Flu’; a swine-flu pandemic, has devastated the world, killing most of the population.

Corona Rating: Extreme — Swine Flu Pandemic devastation in the US!? Freaky

‘Severance’ — Ling Ma (China, first published 2018)

One of my favourite books of 2018, it now stands as the closest to what could be a COVID-like dystopia — to the extreme. It follows the story of Candace Chen and what happens when “a plague of biblical proportions sweeps New York. Then Shen Fever spreads. Families flee. Companies halt operations. The subways squeak to a halt.” Offbeat and satirical, this is a quirky take on the end of the world.

Corona Rating: Very High — with a Chinese borne fever devastating New York, you couldn’t have picked a creepier narrative pair.

‘The Night Parade’ — Ronald Malfi (USA, first published 2015)

It’s a lot more horrific than COVID; in this book, they call it “Wanderer’s Folly — a disease of delusions, of daydreams and nightmares. A plague threatening to wipe out the human race.” Here they through the wait was over after 2 years, but then David’s wife is dead and he’s on the run with his 8 year old daughter who may hold the key. Road trip meets dystopian plague.

Corona Rating: High — thankfully our plague isn’t as horrific as this.

‘Fever Dream’ — Samanta Schweblin (Argentina, first published 2017)

More horror, less dystopia, Fever Dream is a sickening two person narrative set in a hospital (sound familiar) where Amanda starts a conversation with a young boy called David who works with her to try and remember to her before she came to the holiday. This almost claustrophobic narrative structure between the two will be familiar to all of us limiting social conversations and activities outside of just a few rooms. This one would be good for those looking for a one sit read — clocking in at just 183 pages.

Corona Rating: Medium — watch out; a fever in this climate may out you straight into hospital

‘Oryx and Crake’ — Margaret Atwood (Canada, first published 2004)

For those of us struggling with social isolation, then empathy will be with Snowman. Surrounded by a devastated landscape full of genetic mutations, he finds himself in the bleak situations as a grapples with the thought that he is probably the last human left on earth. Atwood has always been the master of crafting near future dystopias that run very close to the bone, and this one again is a dark tale set against the all too possible fall out of human genetic engineering.

Corona Rating: Medium — the isolation is very real in this one.

‘Terra Nullius’ — Claire G Coleman (Australia, first published 2017)

In just a few weeks since COVID-19, one thing is clear. The post-virus world will be very different from the one we once knew. Which is why this alternative history / sci fi Australian novel is so fitting. Opening in what could be an altered indigenous past or a distant future, it’s a time where the Natives are subjected to brutal colonisation from the Settlers. In a creative mix of alt-history and sci-fi, this should be on the list of Great Australian Novels.

Corona Rating: Medium — as we come out of the worst of it in Australia; what will the future be like?

‘We’ — Yevgeney Zamyatin (Russia, first published 1921)

All of us are acutely aware that the great Spanish Flu took on the world 100 years ago, so it seems apt to take a look at this piece of Russian dystopian fiction first published in 1921. I guess with the Flu and WW1, authors back then had a pretty grim look at the world. In ‘We’, the setting is a world under a complete totalitarian One State which is constructed almost entirely of glass, making mass surveillance pretty easy. Behaviour is built on logic and there is no way of referring to people except by their given numbers. Considering that many conspiracy theorists among us think the current lock down laws are here to stay, this makes current isolation standards look pretty relaxed!

Corona Rating: Low — while there is no Pandemic in this novel, the fact it was written just after the Spanish Flu devastated the world gets this a few extra points

‘The Power’ — Naomi Alderman (UK, first published 2016)

When you watch the (white, male) leaders of the world struggle try and work out how to deal with the COVID-19 crisis, it does make you wonder how things would have been managed with some strong females in charge. (Oh, wait a minute, that’s what happened in New Zealand). In this alternate history / future, we escape to a ‘what if’ world, where women have all the power. This is just one way it could possibly pan out — a very “powerful” book.

Corona Rating: Low — but thank goodness for all the female leaders out there.

Fahrenheit 451 — Ray Bradbury (USA, first published 1953)

The book lovers out there are probably secretly enjoying this shutdown, with fantasies of finally making a dent in their ‘To Be Read’ pile, or splurging on some Kindle purchases. So a book about a future American society where books are outlawed and the “firemen” are to burn any that are found seems abhorrent! While the subject matter might be harsh, it really is one of the great dystopian novels of our time and well worth the (re) read.

Corona Rating: Very Low — though living in a world with no books is pretty extreme.

‘The Last Policeman’ — Ben Winters (USA, first published 2012)

This one definitely is the winner in terms of messed up crazy plots. The end of the world is coming — but not for another 6 months when an asteroid will hit and destroy everything. It’s not the panic of the masses that unfolds, rather the attempt by a New Hampshire detective to investigate a suicide the he believes was actually a homicide. With the backdrop of a world preparing for a projected doom, this is a unique coming together of genres and it works.

Corona Rating: Very Low — though asteroids hitting the earth may add some excitement to our lives.