SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Can anyone list any sci-fi/fantasy titles for middle grade, teens, YA or adults which deal with eco-issues eg global warming, climate change, species extinction etc. I'm not referring to something like Herbert's Dune but more in the line of Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar.

Thanks for your help in advance. Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

GN

Off the top of my head here's a few :

Of the serious variety you could try Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood or The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi.

A lighter read is Zodiac by Neal Stephenson.

On the classic front you could try Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison or The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner again.

I'll go away and have a think, and if I come up with something I'll let you know.

There's The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher.
I'll see if I can think of any others.

A rather old, and unsettling Eco acopalypse novel is The Death Of Grass by John Christopher.

And Ursula K. Le Guin's The Word for World is Forest is often considered to be an anti-exploitation ecological tale. Avatar without the sexy hi-tech Sci-Fi gimmicks.

A possible far future type that might fit is Hothouse by Brian W. Aldiss.

I've not read much of his stuff, but I've got a feeling Gregory Benford does a good line in this sort of Eco thing and might be worth having a look at.

Hope some of this helps a little.

Hey, guys, this is terrific. THANK you so much and please keep it up. I really am very grateful.

If you know of anything which is also not a dystopia or utopia, but more or less contemporary with where the world is now, ie looks at the current changes we are experiencing, that would be a great help as well.

Thank you again for the fantastic community support.

For adults. Antarctica won an Alex Award so it's fairly accessible to teens. Earth by David Brin is probably the most eco- book ever written.

Mother of Storms by John Barnes
Timescape by Gregory Benford
Earth by David Brin
The Quiet War by Paul J. McAuley
Antarctica by Kim Stanley Robinson
Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson
Pacific Edge by Kim Stanley Robinson
Science in the Capital trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson

For younger readers.

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
Flush by Carl Hiaasen
Green-Eyed Monster by Carolyn Keene
Green with Envy by Carolyn Keene
Seeing Green by Carolyn Keene

Drowned world by J.G.Ballard, as the title suggests global warming.

"Dust" by Charles Pellegrino might be what your after: environmental disaster, mass extinctions, and an interesting premise/cause.

Thank you, very much appreciated.

Gaia Dreams might work. Gaia Dreams

Dylan wrote: "Mother of Storms by John Barnes"

NOT for teens. This is a vile, vile book, with truly disturbed characters.

Ok, now just to complicate things a little more, anything that is set underwater, with aquatic humans, please?

I'm really having a hard time finding anything like this, so any help you can give is gratefully received.

Starfarers, first book of an excellent space opera, starts with characters who are and who study a subculture of humans who have chosen to accept cetacean DNA in order to live underwater with their cetacean friends.

Bio Rescue, this and its sequel involve the flipside of the above, where cetacean sentients in a few cases accept human DNA and medical supports in order to go back and forth between land and sea - and to fly space fighter planes! Interesting whale&human romance in here.


Like other books by the author,Drowntide reads more like fantasy than sci fi because it is far in the future on an isolated colony world where humans have adapted to conditions there. WONDERFUL depiction of various kinds of aquatic and semi-aquatic human tribal groups.

There's an astounding amount of YA about mermaids and sirens; I'm assuming those labels are used as loosely as vampire and werewolf, so there's probably a range of aquatic humans involved. See the genre page for mermaids here: http://www.goodreads.com/genres/mermaids

Dylan wrote: "There's an astounding amount of YA about mermaids and sirens; I'm assuming those labels are used as loosely as vampire and werewolf, so there's probably a range of aquatic humans involved. See the ..."

Thanks Dylan, I did look at that. Erm...msg 15 is more in the direction that the novels listed there. But I appreciate you making the suggestion.

Ah, I thought you were still looking for all age groups. That stuff's not really to my taste either. Here are some adult science fiction suggestions:

Starfish by Peter Watts (first of a trilogy)
Medusa's Children by Bob Shaw
Dome by Michael Reaves
Marseguro by Edward Willett
The Deep Range by Arthur C. Clarke (takes place underwater, no aquatic humans)

Anne McCaffrey/Elizabeth Anne Scarborough's Petaybee series may fit some of these interests - the setting is exploitation of a sentient planet, and some of the characters are Selkies (human/seal).

The series starts with Powers That Be by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Anne Scarborough, and follows the next generation of Selkies with a second series starting with Changelings. Maelstrom introduces another sentient underwater species, although I can't remember the specifics.

Blueheart is a SF book set on a waterworld with genetically altered humans.

Thanks for all these suggestions! I have a great reading list if nothing else.