Learning how to survive or handle challenging and unforeseen circumstances is one of the necessities of life. You may not have gotten yourself in such situations, but you can still educate yourself on how to survive them through books.
Survival fiction book genres develop their plots primarily on scenarios that need survival. These are mainly some of the most challenging scenarios a human being may have to face. Through the books, you imagine the situations encountered by the character(s).
Characters try to survive with the little they can get, and sometimes, they may even have to get by with nothing. You get to see how various circumstances can be navigated by visualizing what the victim(s) do to survive.
Below are some excellent survival fiction books to read this year.
Firth’s Chasm, by Travis James (2020)
Travis James faces a doomed situation when the jetliner he is on starts to break apart at the Arctic circle. He will have to live through a horrendous ordeal when he realizes that he will be alone and that no one is coming to help him.
Travis goes into survival mode while his damaged body keeps deteriorating. He is trapped in the wilderness and can’t travel south to seek safety. His situation forces him to become a man of means as he aches to go back to his family, who now believe he is dead. Travis will be pushed to his limits and beyond his ability as he navigates an unfriendly terrain.
He finally kicks off push south, but the trail is full of agony and death. Even the civilized world doesn’t concede that anyone survived. Travis is just another homeless man. He is disfigured, and he is in conflict with his mind about whether he should join his family since he now looks different or if he should save his family more grief by wandering off into the sunset. Travis will triumph as he survives with determination, integrity, and love.
I Am Still Alive, by Kate Alice Marshall (2018)
I am Still Alive is a heart-pounding story about revenge and survival in an unforgiving wilderness. Jess’s cabin has just burned to the ground, and she is all alone. She only knows that if she doesn’t act fast enough, she will die from the cold before she can even start worrying about food. But Jess is alive. At least for now. But can it remain so?
Past circumstances forced Jess to move into this cabin. She hadn’t seen her off-the-grid and survivalist dad for more than ten years. Then a car accident led to the death of her mother, and she sustained some injuries. That’s when she came to this remote Canadian Wilderness. Jess was just starting to build a relationship with her dad, but one of his past secrets came to light. Her father died, and she was left stranded.
She now only has her dad’s dog to keep her company. Jess must scavenge and hunt for food, build herself and the dog a new shelter, and try to keep herself warm. She will have bad days when the wild feels like it is out to wreck her. But Jess is strong and even stronger in a way she never thought of. She will have to survive as she seeks revenge for her father. She knows who murdered him.
Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves, by Meg Long (2022)
This book will leave you breathless with its tale of survival and a newfound family with a unique twist.
The sled race claimed Sena Korhosen’s mother’s life half a decade ago. This is one of the reasons she dislikes the sled race. She is alone on a frozen planet and strives to make money in any way she can, up to when he double-crosses one of the local gangsters.
She is highly desperate to escape this place and flees alongside Iska, his prized fighting wolf. Iska has taken an offer from some researchers. They are ready to pay her but under one condition. Sena must use the skills her moms taught her about survival to enable them to finish their race. Tundra is, however, an insidious place. The ice never ends, and the weather is electrically charged.
This race will threaten everyone at every step, and Sena will have to figure out if she is capable enough to help this team survive the wild. She also has to determine whether She and Iska can get everyone out and alive.
Sena and Iska will form a strong bond and fight to get away from giant bears, ice goblins, temperature drops, collapsing ice, and a cruel gang leader out to trap them. The only question and concern driving them forward are where to turn with nowhere to hide.
The Light We Lost, by Kyla Stone (2022)
Sunlight gives life, but the sun can also be a source of destruction. But who will save you after all lights fail?
Shiloh wakes up to a dead body next to her, her brother is missing, and she cannot remember what happened. She decides to go looking for him with the help of the blazing and fiery northern lights.
Jackson Cross is haunted by the past and wants to catch a vicious killer. The problem is that all the clues he unravels lead him further into undefeatable darkness. Eli Pope is out of prison after a wrongful conviction, and he now wants exact vengeance on everyone who betrayed him.
First responder Lena Eston is also on a journey to rescue children belonging to the only one person she was unable to save.
Multiple solar storms are striking the earth, power grids are failing, transformers are exploding, and all the communication networks are cut off. The planet is now in the chaos following a power outage.
With society crumbling further, the survivors have to fight for their lives and all they hold dear. Devastation, depravity, hope, and perseverance are intertwined.
These Silent Woods, by Kimi Cunningham Grant (2021)
Cooper and Finch, his daughter, live in isolation in a cabin in the Appalachian Mountains. They have no electricity or connection to the outside. This is precisely how Cooper wants the situation, considering everything he must keep hidden.
Finch has grown up reading the books in the cabin. Living in the wilderness is beautiful but also brutal. She is now beginning to push back against the isolated life her dad has built for her. Cooper is also haunted by a past and painful truth that got them here.
Scotland and Jake are the only ones who know that Cooper and Finch exist. Scotland seems overly friendly and has obscure intentions. Jake is an old friend of Cooper, and he comes to visit them every winter with food and supplies. It becomes strange when Jake doesn’t show up, and that just sets off a chain of events that reveals how precarious the father and daughter’s situation is.
The boundaries of this safe haven will blur after a stranger wanders and shows up. Finch is also getting obsessed with her, and they may be in danger. Cooper will be faced with tough decisions after a disappearance threatens Finch’s life.
Island of the Lost, by Joan Druett (2007)
In the middle of the Southern Ocean is Auckland Island. The place has howling winds and freezing rain all year round. It is a godforsaken and forbidding place. Getting shipwrecked here certainly means death, but that is just what happened to Captain Thomas Musgrave and his crew in 1864.
The schooner Grafton has a wreck on the island. They are utterly alone in this area which has a dense coastal forest, relentless rain, and stinging blowflies. The captain must inspire the other crew members to act. They barely have anything on their bare hands, but they build a cabin and a workshop to manufacture their tools.
Meanwhile, the Invercauld wrecks on the island’s opposite side during a strong storm, and nineteen men come ashore. The Invercauld’s captain is falling apart from the dismal situation, and his men split up after a fight. Some will result in cannibalism as others die from starvation. Only three are left. Thomas and his men will endure for about two years and plan an escape as they go on a courageous sea voyage.
Lost in the Wild, by Cary J. Griffith (2009)
When you are stuck in the wilderness, a single wrong step can differentiate a delightful delay and death. Lost in the Wild will get you in a realm of fear, pain, and courage as Dan and Jason face unending wilderness frustration and confusion to conquer insurmountable hurdles.
In the year 1998, Dan Stephens led a trip into Ontario’s Quetico Provincial Park one summer afternoon. He steps into a gap within the cedar trees to search for the following route, but he doesn’t come back. Four hours pass, but Dan wakes up with a lump on his head and is now confused after getting deeper into the woods.
After three years, one day during fall, Jason Rasmussen walks alone into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. This occurs after a two-day trek into the woods. He got away from his campsite and made inconsiderable mistakes leaving him lost and separated from his supplies.
These two men face the full dangerous wilderness force with no food and shelter in the places they always went to for tranquility and to get out of city life. They are in a race for survival.
Out of the Wild, by Jack Hunt (2020)
Out of the Wild is an excellent choice of wilderness survival books. The book is packed with different survival situations that are mysterious and exciting.
Henry Shaw and his daughter Kara have no other option but to survive. Henry is a veteran bush pilot, and Kara is a failed California advertiser. They two are on a trip when they end up in the wilderness following a plane crash.
Shaw will be forced to depend on his estranged daughter if they must get through this unforgiving wilderness. She has never been in a survival situation.
They are miles away from civilization, and they are injured. What’s more, winter is bearing down, and for both of them, hope is not something they have. A dreadful turn of events will reveal that this crash wasn’t accidental. Amid all this, tempers are flaring, secrets are unraveling, and past trauma is resurfacing.
Faced with overwhelming odds and unending danger, Kara will have to determine if she will remain here or if she will start a dangerous trek in a harsh landscape to come out alive.
No Way Out, by T.L. Payne (2020)
In No Way Out, an EMP attack occurs, and the whole nation is left in the dark. Afterward, a father and his son will be left stranded by an approaching category five hurricane.
Will boards up his home to prepare for the approaching storm, and then together with his son, they find themselves joining other residents in the evacuation process. Panic will grip the whole city in no time. The town’s lights will go out, communication lines will fail, and cars will stall on the roads. There is no way out of this city, but Will is determined to keep his son alive, whatever it takes.
One good deed will hurl them into a dangerous cat and mouse game while they are in a rush to find shelter after the floods with two other women, Kim and Isabella. They are headed to Savanah’s.
Savanah is Will’s sister who is miles away and in her survival struggle. She is fighting to protect the family’s farm from cruel criminals who want to take it from her. In the middle of it, she must also save her children.
Conclusion
Fiction books about survival make riveting and mysterious reads. They instill courage in readers as they analyze the characters’ almost unfathomable dangerous situations. They also give practical tips that someone may find themselves using in such a scenario.
If you enjoy survival stories, you will enjoy the books on our list.