Climate fiction, or cli-fi, is a form of speculative fiction that features a changed or changing climate as a major plot device. Here is a list of the titles and descriptions I found searching the New Ulm Public Library online catalog at www.newulmlibrary.org.

“2084: A Novel of Future War” by Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis. In this book, the authors “imagine the consequences of a climate war. By the year 2084, the world is divided into the equatorial countries that bear the brunt of the climate crisis–led by Nigeria, Brazil, and Indonesia–and wealthier countries like China and the U.S., beset by their own problems after a series of civil wars.”

“Wild Dark Shore” by Charlotte McConaghy. “Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. But then, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore.”

“The Parable of the Sower” by Octavia Butler was published in 1993 but did not hit the New York times best seller list until 2020. This well written book centers around the irreversible consequences of climate change. “In 2024 California, a fifteen-year-old girl, suffering from a hereditary trait that causes her to feel others’ pain as her own, flees northward from her small community and its desperate savages.”

“The Light Pirate” by Lily Brooks-Dalton “mirrors the rhythms of the elements and the sometimes quick, sometimes slow dissolution of the world as we know it. It is a meditation on the changes we would rather not see, the future we would rather not greet, and a call back to the beauty and violence of an untamable wilderness.”

“The Forbidden Territory of a Terrifying Woman” by Molly Lynch. “When his wife, Ada, vanishes from their bed one night with their son, Gilles, in the next room, Danny discovers mothers around the world are vanishing from their homes and wonders if the mystery is linked to the forest she seemed magnetically drawn to.”

“The Great Transition” by Nick Fuller Googins is “a hopeful climate crisis novel exploring the possibilities of our near future and humanity’s capacity for change, about one family trying to protect each other and the place we all call home.”

“The Deluge” by Stephen Markle takes place in 2013 California where “environmental scientist Tony Pietrus, after receiving a death threat, is linked to a colorful cast of characters, including a brazen young activist who, in the mountains of Wyoming, begins a project that will alter the course of the decades to come.”

“A Winter Grave” by Peter May is set in the year 2051. “Warnings of climate catastrophe have been ignored, and vast areas of the planet are underwater or [too] hot. A quarter of the world’s population has been displaced by hunger and flooding, and immigration wars are breaking out around the globe as refugees pour into neighboring countries.”

“Walk the Vanished Earth” by Erin Swan is “a sweeping family epic, told over seven generations, as America changes and so does its dream. The author explores ancestry, legacy, motherhood, the trauma we inherit, and the power of connection in the face of our planet’s imminent collapse.

If any of these books caught your attention, visit www.newulmlibrary.org and choose Library Catalog to place your request. Or, stop by the library or give us a call at 507-359-8331. Library staff are happy to assist you.

The library is located at 17 N. Broadway and is open to the public Monday – Thursday from 9:30 a.m. – 8 p.m. and Friday – Saturday from 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. The library will be closed on Friday, June 19 for the Juneteenth holiday.