The Best Climate Fiction
Last updated: April 29, 2025
As Rudyard Kipling said, "No one in the world knew what truth was till somebody had told a story"—so it's no surprise that some of the most powerful explorations of the challenges we face with climate change have taken the form of novels. Some refer to a new genre: climate fiction or 'cli-fi'—though novelists have been imagining climate change since at least Jules Verne. In addition to the interviews below, other climate novels often recommended on our site include:
The Best Climate Change Novels, recommended by James Bradley
The best fiction allows us to hold ideas in our heads about time and space and causality and connection that are difficult to articulate in other ways, argues the Australian author James Bradley. It helps its readers engage with dangers and possibilities that are at the very edge of imagination
The Best Eco Thrillers, recommended by Manda Scott
‘Eco thrillers’ are books that combine suspenseful plotting with environmental themes. Here, the bestselling novelist and chart-topping podcaster Manda Scott selects five thrilling novels that explore the climate emergency and other ecological crises through fiction, with an emphasis on books that envisage a route forward.
The Best Cli-Fi Books, recommended by Dan Bloom
Fiction that explores issues of climate change is growing at an unprecedented rate today, says the journalist who coined the phrase ‘cli-fi’, Dan Bloom. Here, he picks the five best books of the field, and introduces us to a globally important, underexplored literary genre
