What book would you read if the world would end tomorrow? We’ve all got a series of books on our lists, but we’ve never thought about it this way. Ever since the concept of the world was defined thousands of years ago, people have always worried about the actual end.

But over the past few decades, more and more post apocalyptic survival books flooded the market, not to mention a few blockbusters. It was the year 2000, then the Mayan calendar prediction, well, the good thing is nothing actually happened.

Whether global disasters, wars, or deadly viruses, here are some of the best post apocalyptic books to enjoy.

What Are The Top Post Apocalyptic Survival Stories?

Blackout Trail, by Linda Naughton (2023)

Doctor Anna has been through quite a few disasters, mainly caused by people. She has spent years working as an aid helper in war torn zones all over the world. She thought she had seen everything, but nothing could really prepare her for what's about to happen.

An electrical phenomenon takes the world by storm. Known as EMP, it ruins the power grid, meaning everything is affected, from factories and lighting to all industries and even food. The catastrophe is simply impossible to cope with.

Her working profile changes overnight because now she has to be a doctor, but without all the technology. Her life's about to ease a little when she meets father Mark, in an airport. He convinces her to go with him and his daughter to a remote cabin.

He hopes he’ll find his lost wife, but also survive away from the collapsing society. The little group of friends has to travel through all kinds of scenarios and dangers, but also find other survivors. Anna falls for Mark and his daughter, and she truly hopes to see them well.

But then, the world's gone mad, and everyone's limits are pushed over. Anna needs to hold onto her humanity and prevent her natural survival instincts from taking over. The battle is not just physical, but also emotional.

Burrowed, by Mary Baader Kaley (2023)

I strongly believe they’ll make a movie out of this book. The action takes us far in the future. The human society is no longer as we know it today. Instead, there are two different societies.

One of them consists of the so-called subterraneans, people who are incredibly intelligent, but not physically fit. They’re exposed to all kinds of diseases, and their bodies are weak. On the other hand, the omniterraneans are not too bright, but they're extremely healthy and fit.

Now, the action follows one girl from the subterranean group. She’s clever, but she has a mission. She needs to figure out what's wrong with her people's DNA and fix it. There's obviously an error in their genetic code. The purpose? Reuniting both groups for future generations.

But then, a plague affects the omniterraneans. They're the only ones that can reproduce, and their kids can belong to either category. Zuzan has an extra mission now. She needs to save the other group in order to analyze their DNA and work on reuniting the community.

This is no longer about reuniting people, but mainly about preventing a mass extinction.

There's one plot twist after another, and at some point, the broken genetic code is the last thing she cares about. Instead, she needs to prevent a war, and to do that, she needs to use her heart, rather than her brilliant mind.

Camp Zero, by Michelle Min Sterling (2023)

Who can survive in a warming world? While this is one of my favorite surviving apocalypse books, the truth is it’s inspired from reality. The world is, indeed, warming up, but most of us are not aware of the potential dangers.

Anyway, the action takes us to Canada, somewhere in the north. Camp Zero is basically an American project that hides a series of secrets. Rose's Korean mother has just been displaced due to climate change, and she needs to do whatever it takes to help her.

Therefore, she agrees to travel to Camp Zero and find some secrets. The mission implies spying on the architect. If she does it well, housing will never be an issue for her family. But she doesn’t get there alone. Instead, another newcomer turns up as well. Professor Grant has a goal as well.

They’re both on a mission, but as they dig deeper, they realize there’s more than just a sketchy architect. There’s also an elite group of soldiers working on a climate research project. No one knows who they are or what they do.

It sounds like too many stories in one, but trust me, once you get a few clues, things will quickly make sense. It’s a story about apocalypse survival, getting ready for it, exploring gender and class intersection, but also migration.

Five Years After, by William R. Forstchen (2023)

This is the fourth book in the series, and yes, I've read all the post apocalyptic survival books in it. Don't get me wrong, you don't necessarily need to go through all of them, but it would help you make more sense, and get an idea of the overall scenario.

Anyway, the action takes us five years after The Final Day. The world has never been more unstable. The USA? History. The power is split into multiple groups, and it's the same all over the world. There are conflicts everywhere, yet people are trying to keep things stable.

John has always tried to stay out of trouble and keep it simple. But after a few years, he gets the news that the local president might end up dead after an assassination attempt. He needs to step up and negotiate for it.

He has no idea who the assassins are, but there are rumors about a new military power, an international one hiding in the wreckage of society.

So said, so done, John ends up back in action. He now has to keep the republic together by fighting on a few different fronts. He needs to stop potential attacks that could ruin years of progress. There's plenty of work to do, and he has no idea what to focus on first.

He needs to start all over, and unfortunately for him, things won't always go in the right direction.

Frontier, by Grace Curtis (2023)

This is one of your books that will trigger your apocalypse survival feelings with an excellent adventure. The world has been thoroughly scarred. People of all kinds are roaming around trying to find a purpose, yet no one seems to know what they’re doing.

The climate change has affected everything and everyone. There’s only a small livable piece of land, everything else has been turned into wasteland. The only thing people have in common is an unusual suspicion whenever someone new arrives in their communities.

One night, everything changed. A ship falls out of nowhere. It's the first visitor on the planet in more than three centuries. And there's only one person there. She's fully armed, but she's also scared of what she might find. However, she’s not there for no reason, she’s looking for someone.

That’s when the action begins. It’s one of the best surviving apocalypse books out there because it’s inspired from real facts, but it’s also a thriller with elements of love and loss. There’s a bit of everything in this debut novel from Grace Curtis.

You may expect such mixes to be a bit of a mess, but the author has done a pretty good job at blending everything in.

IRL, by E.A. Field (2023)

E.A. Field has managed to write one of the most authentic post apocalyptic survival books you'll ever read. It's about the future, how technology can affect us, and what it takes to leave the online world to deal with things in real life.

The action takes place in Bunker, Illinois. Nora’s doing well in school and doesn’t face too many challenges. In fact, her only issue this year is to keep her OCD under control. But one day changes everything. Her roommate dies and comes back as a walking body or better said, a zombie.

Nothing makes sense for Nora, and things go even worse when she gets a cryptic message from an uncle. She has no idea what it means, but she believes he needs help. He reaches out to one of her fellow gamers, someone with real life military skills too.

The team must go out into the real world and face an undead pandemic. And as if all these were not enough, real people are also taking advantage of the chaos to gain some benefits.

Things go from bad to worse, especially when Nora finds out that she has an artifact. And that’s when the undead society decides to go after her. It may sound like a zombie book, but it feels incredibly realistic and offers a glimpse into what society may look like hundreds of years in the future.

In the end

I think these are some of the best post apocalyptic survival books released over the past years. I don’t know about you, but to me, they feel extremely realistic, especially when you think that any of these things could actually become reality at some point in the future.

If you are into survival stories, check out also our favorite adventure survival books too.

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