Books like “Parable of the Sower”

What to read after “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia E. Butler: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
Wool
Hugh Howey · 2011
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia”
In a future where the air outside is deadly, people live in a buried silo and are told that anyone who asks to go outside will be sent there to die. When a sheriff starts asking questions about the world beyond the walls, the silo's careful order begins to crack.
2
Oryx and Crake
Margaret Atwood · 2003
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia”
- Dystopia
- Post-Apocalyptic World
A man called Snowman may be the last human left, living in a tree above a ruined city and watching over a gentle new species. Through his memories the reader learns how his brilliant friend Crake and the woman they both loved brought the world to its end.
3
The Road
Cormac McCarthy · 2006
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia”
A father and his young son walk through a burned America, pushing a cart of scavenged supplies and hiding from bands of survivors who hunt people for food. Their only aim is to keep moving south and stay alive while holding on to decency.
4
The Year of the Flood
Margaret Atwood · 2009
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia”
A religious sect called God's Gardeners expects a coming catastrophe and tries to live apart from the corrupt world around it. Two women, Toby and Ren, tell how they reached the group and what happened to them after the disaster they predicted.
5
The Windup Girl
Paolo Bacigalupi · 2009
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia”
- Dystopia
- Survival
In a flooded, calorie-poor Bangkok kept alive by genetic engineering, an American trader hunts for lost seed banks while a manufactured woman bred as a servant tries to survive. Their paths cross with corporate enforcers and a city about to boil over.
6
The Chrysalids
John Wyndham · 1955
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia”
In a post-nuclear Labrador, communities destroy deformed crops and animals and kill, sterilize or banish people who do not match the true form. A boy who can speak with his mind hides his gift among friends, until discovery forces them to flee toward a fabled safe place.
7
The Darkest Minds
Alexandra Bracken · 2012
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia”
After a disease kills most American children, the survivors develop dangerous powers and are locked in government camps. Sixteen-year-old Ruby escapes and joins a group of runaways searching for a safe haven, while learning the cost of her own abilities.
8
The Giver
Lois Lowry · 1993
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia”
- Dystopia
- Coming of Age
Twelve-year-old Jonas lives in a community without pain or choice, where every life is planned. Chosen to receive memories from the Giver, he learns what the community gave up and decides what he must do with that knowledge.
9
The Fifth Season
N. K. Jemisin · 2015
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia”
In a land torn by earthquakes and ash, orogenes can still the earth but are enslaved for it. Three women, a mother, a daughter and a student, move through a broken world as a new catastrophe begins, and their stories converge on what caused it.
10
The Maze Runner
James Dashner · 2009
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia”
Thomas wakes in a maze with no memory of who he is, surrounded by boys who arrived the same way. Each day the walls open and monstrous machines roam, and Thomas becomes sure he was part of the experiment that trapped them.
11
Uglies
Scott Westerfeld · 2005
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia”
- Dystopia
- Coming of Age
In a future where everyone turns pretty at sixteen through surgery, fifteen-year-old Tally longs for the operation. When her friend runs away instead, Tally is sent to find her, and learns what the surgery and the society that demands it really cost.
12
Red Rising
Pierce Brown · 2014
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia”
On a future Mars, a miner from the lowest caste learns that the paradise he was promised does not exist and that his people are slaves. He is remade as a member of the ruling class and sent into a brutal contest where he plans to bring the whole system down.