The most appealing part of natural disaster stories isn’t just the threat of impending doom. It’s the way that the impending doom forces people into action, making heroes out of regular people. There’s nothing like the tension of a raging storm to force families closer together, build alliances and reveal enemies. These six exciting natural disaster novels are sure to have you on the edge of your seat.
The Hundred-Year Flood by by Matthew Salesses
The terrorist attacks of September 11th collide with an impending natural disaster in Prague, as Tee, a Korean-American living in Europe, tries to make sense of the loss in his life and the once-every-100-years flood that threatens to engulf him and everyone he loves. Against the backdrop of cataclysmic natural disaster, The Hundred-Year Flood explores race and identity, family and friendships, love, loss and what it means to grow up.
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
While most think immediately of New Orleans with any mention of Hurricane Katrina, the devastation consumed nearly the entire Gulf Coast. Author Jesmyn Ward’s 2011 National Book Award for Fiction-winning novel, Salvage the Bones, takes readers to Gulf Coast Mississippi, where a pregnant teen named Esch and her motherless siblings are waiting for the hurricane’s approach, one day at a time. Inspired by Ward’s own experience with her family waiting out the storm, Salvage the Bones examines the racism and devastation of poverty in the rural south and the endurance required to survive it. BookTrib’s coverage of Jesmyn Ward’s other work can be found here.
Storm Surge by John F. Banas
Brenda Meyers is having a bad day. Her daughter is trapped somewhere in New Orleans right before Hurricane Katrina strikes. Her increasingly estranged husband may be on the verge of losing another job. And her cheating former fiancé claims to have evidence that his wife and Brenda’s husband are having an affair. But nothing matters more than finding and rescuing her daughter. Brenda feels a rescue mission can be made before the storm hits. So, when her former fiancé offers his boat and his help, Brenda reluctantly accepts, knowing her husband and ex cannot get along. Her worries prove correct. While racing the raging storm, she uncovers a fiendish plot to murder her well-insured husband, who happens to harbor secrets of his own. This book shows us that even ordinary people can do extraordinary things in the face of disaster. Read BookTrib’s review of Storm Surge here.
Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin
A sci-fi masterpiece, recipient of many awards, and first entry in the Broken Earth series, this book takes place in the far future, on an Earth that’s completely unrecognizable. The change between seasons no longer means swapping out jeans for shorts. Seasons in this world are massive natural disasters that last decades. The world that N.K. Jemisin builds is unique, unlike anything that’s come before it, drawing on a mix of science fiction and fantasy and grounded in real-life science. The magical world Jemisin builds pulls in elements of geology, with characters who draw their powers from the Earth. There are also massive cataclysmic events that reshape the face of the Earth itself. The complexity of this series is difficult to do justice in a list entry like this, so you’re better off just starting the book.
All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
Despite what’s otherwise a bleak subgenre, Charlie Jane Anders manages to bring some charm to a bleak future. Raging epidemics, starvation, and climate change may provide a grim backdrop but Anders uses her two central characters, Lawrence Armstead and Patricia Delfine, to bring some levity and romance to the genre. Childhood friends who reconnect as adults, Patricia and Lawrence use all the skills at their disposal to try and save the world around them. People often forget that tragedy and comedy are close bedfellows, but Anders does a great job of reminding us.
Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee
On April 18, 1906, an earthquake rocks San Francisco. Mercy Wong, a young teen attending St. Clare’s School for Girls, witnesses her home and her school destroyed in one night. She is forced to wait with her classmates in a temporary encampment for her family, but as fires rage around the city and structures are crumbling around her, Mercy does not want to sit by and simply wait for help. But what can one teenage girl do to help heal the city? Tackling matters of class and race with a healthy sprinkling of grit in the face of disaster, Outrun the Moon has something for everyone.
