Fifty of the greatest apocalypse novels

Emily Temple holds a BA from Middlebury College and an MFA in fiction from the University of Virginia, where she was a Henry Hoyns fellow and the recipient of a Henfield Prize.

Temple's new novel, her first, is The Lightness.

At Lit Hub she tagged fifty great apocalypse and post-apocalypse novels. One title on the list:

Sarah Pinsker, A Song for a New Day (2019)

Oh, weird, a novel in which a string of terrorist attacks, mass shootings, bombings, and then a pandemic, has resulted in widespread fear, consolidation of corporate power, and the end of all public gatherings. So unrealistic, amirite? Instead of Zoom, though, Luce and her band-mates have to contend with StageHolo, basically a holographic pay-per-view for concerts, and their talent scout Rosemary, who never really knew the world Before. Like all the best apocalyptic fiction, this is actually a book about human connection—the fact that it’s also a cool, queer rock and roll novel is just a bonus.

Read about another entry on the list.

A Song for a New Day is among Publishers Weekly's thirteen essential pandemic novels and Mike Chen's five top novels about finding hope at the end of the world.

The Page 69 Test: A Song for a New Day.

--Marshal Zeringue