Books like “Wool”

What to read after “Wool” by Hugh Howey: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

About “Wool”

Another favorite book?

Or start with a well-known book

1
Parable of the Sower
Octavia E. Butler · 1993
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia”
In a near-future California wrecked by drought and lawlessness, a teenage girl who feels the pain of others builds a new belief while her walled neighbourhood falls apart. She leads a small group north, looking for land and for something to hold on to.
2
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.
3
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.
4
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.
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
Uglies
Scott Westerfeld · 2005
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia”
- Dystopia
- Rebellion
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.
7
Red Rising
Pierce Brown · 2014
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia”
- Dystopia
- Rebellion
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.
8
Divergent
Veronica Roth · 2011
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia”
- Dystopia
- Rebellion
In a city divided into five factions, Beatrice Prior learns she does not belong to any of them. Choosing the warrior Dauntless, she hides her divergence while uncovering a plot that threatens everyone, and finds herself drawn to an instructor named Four.
9
The Darkest Minds
Alexandra Bracken · 2012
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia”
- Dystopia
- Rebellion
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.
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
Delirium
Lauren Oliver · 2011
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia”
- Dystopia
- Rebellion
In a world where love is treated as a disease, Lena counts down the days to the cure that will keep her safe. Weeks before her treatment she falls in love, and must choose between the orderly life promised to her and the risk of feeling.
12
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.